Bairns announce new assistant and structure

The Bairns have announced former Motherwell Scottish Cup winner Gordon Young as Paul Hartley’s assistant.

Gordon Wylde will be head of development at Westfield while Richard Mitchell will be an England-based head of recruitment.

Young will move from North California at the Impact Soccer Club and replaces Jimmy Nicholl who left to join Rangers in December.

After leaving the Steelmen as a coach he moved to Sheffield United before returning north to Dundee United where he eventually became caretaker manager. He spent time as Barry Smith’s assistant at East Fife before heading Stateside.

Paul Hartley told the club website: “After losing Jimmy Nicholl to Rangers I spent a lot of time doing my research to make sure we brought the right person into the club. Whilst I haven’t worked with Gordon before he is someone that comes highly recommended, has an excellent track record and is someone that has been very impressive in the discussions we have had so far.

Former East Stirlingshire manager and Clyde assistant Gordon Wylde is well-known to Falkirk Herald readers from his spell at Firs Park. He recently held a position with the Forth Valley Football Academy.

Perhaps the most interesting appointment of today’s trio is the England-based Mitchell.

He has been working for the Bairns since the start of January to identify targets for the summer transfer window. The English market has been identified as a key area for the Bairns to source players following the closure of the Forth valley Academy aligned to what has been described as the ‘Brentford model’.

He was formerly head of recruitment at Ross County, and Bairns boss Hartley added: “All three of these appointments are significant for the club and on a personal note I am delighted to welcome Gordon, Gordon, and Richard to the Falkirk Stadium.

“Gordon Wylde will provide great experience and knowledge to our younger players at the club. He has worked previously in developing youth players and we hope that our Development Squad will continue to progress under his guidance during the second half of this season.

“Richard Mitchell is a crucial acquisition for the club. It is very important to me that we have the proper recruitment structure to allow us to find the best possible players within our budget. Richard has been hard at work over the last few weeks and we will both now turn our attentions towards working on our summer targets.”

The Bairns made the announcement this morning on the club website