Duncan Ferguson takes first managerial job at Forest Green Rovers

Duncan Ferguson has taken on his first job as manager, joining Forest Green Rovers as their new head coach.

The former Scotland international and Everton icon left his coaching role at Goodison Park last summer with the ambition to become a manager and has now been appointed as the successor to Ian Burchnall at The Bolt New Lawn.

Ferguson said he was pleased to be joining the League One side, whose eco-friendly policies and club structure have seen them recognised by FIFA and the United Nations as “the world’s greenest football club”.

The former Rangers and Dundee United star is excited by the task ahead at a club where the immediate priority is climbing off the foot of the league table.

“I’m really delighted to join FGR for the next step of my career, and I plan to be here for a while,” Ferguson told the club’s website. “We have a bit of a fight on our hands to stay up in League One and I am ready for the challenge.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to come and lead such a progressive and forward-thinking club too. Their world-leading green creds are seriously impressive. I want to thank Dale for bringing me in – I’m looking forward to getting started!”

Club chairman Dale Vince said: “We’re all excited to welcome Duncan, he is someone I have admired from a far for a while. It’s just fantastic to have the opportunity to work with him in this next phase of our journey toward the Championship.”

Ferguson developed strong bonds with Everton over two spells on Merseyside as a player. In 2011, five years after hanging up his boots, he asked the club for an opportunity to begin a coaching career and worked his way up from the youth sides to the first team.

The Scot took the reins on a temporary basis after the sackings of both Marco Silva and Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park, fuelling his desire to become a manager in his own right.