Larne will embrace biggest change of recent history says club CEO Niall Curneen

Larne FC CEO Niall Curneen believes the appointment of Nathan Rooney as manager is the start of "a very exciting chapter" for the club as it goes through its biggest change in recent history.

Rooney takes over at Inver Park following Tiernan Lynch's successful tenure which has seen the club claim back-to-back Premiership titles and reach the group stages of the UEFA Conference League.

Curneen admitted they knew clubs would come calling for Lynch given his success at Inver Park with the club having started its succession planning several months ago. Now Larne are hoping for more big nights under their new manager.

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"It's probably the biggest change that we've gone through in the last seven-and-a-half years," said Curneen. "There's been lots of change behind the scenes and change is something we welcome and embrace. This process has been going on for a period of time. It’s well known that there was interest in Tiernan a number of weeks ago, so this isn’t a complete shock.

“To be brutally honest, I received a call from Kenny Bruce the day after we qualified for the league phase and we had a discussion about succession planning because we knew it was only a matter of time that someone would come and knock on our door.

“When you achieve that level of success, interest in your manager is inevitable. Nathan has been on our radar for some time. Football is a small world and we’ve built a network of contacts beyond here. The Gibraltar League is one we’ve always kept an eye on, as a comparison.

“We were aware of what Nathan had achieved in that league. We also ran some stats on him and were impressed. We’ve done our due diligence on Nathan. We’ve talked to a lot of people who know him and have worked with him.

“The appeal for us is, he fits nicely into our environment but at the same time he will bring some change. And we’re not scared of change. It's the end of a fantastic chapter in the club's history and one that we'll all be able to look back on fondly.

"But when you listen to the energy and enthusiasm Nathan has...it's the start of a very exciting chapter hopefully moving forward. And I've got no reason to believe we haven't got more big nights here and end-of-season parties that we've come to enjoy over the last couple of years.

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"We're looking forward to it, we've very excited behind the scenes. I know our fans will be the same when they get to start to know Nathan...I've seen it in our players' body language this morning after just six or seven minutes' discussion. Change is good...we've enjoyed the last seven-and-a-half years and we're looking forward to the next seven-and-a-half, hopefully."

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