Donald Park

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Donald Park (born 19 July 1953, in Inverness) is the Assistant Manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. and a former Scottish footballer.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Managerial career 3 First Spell at Inverness CT 4 Second Spell at Inverness CT 5 External link

[edit] Playing career

Educated at Lochaber High School, Park joined Inverness Caledonian as a 16 year old in 1969. He turned professional when signed by Heart of Midlothian in 1972 and spent 6 seasons at Tynecastle, initially as a winger then latterly as a central midfielder. In September 1978 he was transfered to Partick Thistle, in a swap deal involving Denis McQuade, and he played an important role for the Maryhill Magyars as they perennially fought relegation from the Premier Division.

When the Glasgow side eventually suffered demotion, Park returned to Hearts in May 1983, winding down his career with short spells at Brechin City (1985-86) and Meadowbank Thistle (1986-88).

[edit] Managerial career

While at Meadowbank Stadium, Park moved into coaching and he was eventually appointed manager of the club in 1992. He left after a year, spending a short time as joint-manager of Arbroath with George Mackie in 1994 before joining Hibs as a coach in July of that year. He served under managers Alex Miller and Alex McLeish and for a matter of days was interim manager when McLeish left for Rangers in 2001. When Franck Sauzée was appointed as McLeish's successor, Park remained as the Frenchman's assistant.

[edit] First Spell at Inverness CT

The departure of Ebbe Skovdahl from Aberdeen in November 2002 led in turn to the recruitment of the successful Inverness manager Steve Paterson and his assistant Duncan Shearer (a former Dons player and fans favourite), leaving the Inverness post vacant. Following an extensive interview process Livingston F.C. coach John Robertson was appointed on Boxing Day. On the 3rd of January 2003, Park was appointed his assistant, with the title of Head Coach. The pair would lead ICT to the Scottish 1st Division title in 2004 and promotion to the SPL for the first time in their history. In November 2004 following the departure of Craig Levein to Leicester City, Robertson and Park were appointed to be the Hearts manager and assistant respectively.

Robertson and Park's career at Hearts was brief and, despite reaching two cup semi-finals and achieving a fifth place finish in the league, they were sacked and replaced by George Burley in 2005.

[edit] Second Spell at Inverness CT

Following the departure of Craig Brewster to Dundee Utd, Inverness CT appointed Charlie Christie to be interim manager. A number of high profile names were linked with the vacancy including Park himself. Christie was appointed permanently on the 27th of January 2006 with Donald Park as his number two. At the split in the 2005-06 season, ICT narrowly missed out on a spot in the top half of the SPL.

[edit] External link

• Profile at londonhearts.com