New Queen of the South assistant manager back to where his career started

Colin McMenamin is back where he started after being appointed as Queen of the South assistant manager.

He told how his career kicked off at Palmerston as a raw recruit in his teenage years.

Now McMenamin has returned as boss Peter Murphy’s number two and he said: “I started here when I was a 14-year-old S-form (schoolboy) signing, then was captain of the club and I’m now back as assistant manager to Peter, so I have kind of gone full circle.

“When I played we got to the final of the Challenge Cup, but unfortunately I was cup tied and never got to the play in the cup final. So I missed out on a cup final, but other than that it was a good season.

“We were fourth in the Championship that year and the manager was Kenny Brannigan back then. I was here for six or seven months after Dundee went into administration before going to Ross County. I had a good time here and the club seems to be in a good position.

“It is good to be back at the club and the chairman is obviously making a big difference. If we can get the fans back, hopefully we can give them a club to be proud of. He is making great striding and trying to make the whole experience better for the fans.”

McMenamin, who joined from Annan, added: “I saw a game here last season when there were just 600 fans and obviously we cannot have that happening, so we need a decent product on the pitch.

“We will have more players coming in for the fans to get excited about.

“And it is massive to get the fans onside with us

“We don’t want to dwell too much on last season. We want to get the players playing the way that we want to play and if they buy into it and the fans come back then we can head back towards the top of the table.

“I am a local lad and well known and I have already had someone chapping on my car window asking who are we going to sign.

“Once we get another three or four more players in, then the rest of the squad will be excited as well as they see what we are building for the new season.”

But one thing supporters will not see is McMenamin listed on the subs bench.

Last season at Annan he was a regular as the Galabankies’ stricken squad was forced to list him on the bench.

He said: “I never got on but I must have set a record as the long unused sub in Scottish football history. I was only going to play in an emergency.”