The physical and mental demands of football management are vast and often underappreciated in the unpredictable and volatile environment of professional football.
The responsibility and importance of protecting countless years of history and preserving a long-standing reputation of a club can weigh heavily, and fundamentally requires a talented and trusted person by your side as an Assistant Manager.
A fresh chapter awaited the women of steel after Iain Robinson was unveiled as the Head Coach of Motherwell Women last month. From the first day at the helm, Robinson immediately recognised the perfect candidate to stand by his side.
On the books of Queens Park, David Brownlie burst onto the footballing scene at an early age before joining Rangers at 14 following the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.
After spending four-years in Glasgow, Brownlie departed for Ross County in 2016. A brief loan-spell with Elgin City followed before joining Airdrieonians on a permanent basis.Brownlie continued to rack up appearances across the Scottish footballing pyramid, with tenures at Stranraer, East Kilbride and Linlithgow Rose before concluding his playing career in the Glasgow Southside with Pollok FC.
After departing Newlandsfield, Brownlie sought to utilise his vast experience, and integrate himself as a football coach, achieving his UEFA C-License in 2022 before upgrading to the UEFA B-License in 2024. Brownlie will then undertake his UEFA A-License qualification process this year.
“After hanging up my boots, I knew I wanted to stay in the game,” Brownlie said.
“Having worked under various Managers, I was fascinated by their approach and thoughts towards football. Some were similar, but others varied and saw the game in a completely different way.
“I wanted to implement my own style and philosophy on the game, so I started the process of attaining my coaching badges whilst working towards my degree in Football Coaching and Development from Edinburgh Napier University.”
Graduating after the summer of 2023, Brownlie sought to experience his first academy coaching role, joining the Rangers academy before soon settling into the position of coaching the girls U17/18s academy team alongside Iain Robinson.
“Myself and Iain really adapted seamlessly into working alongside each other,” Brownlie added.
“We’ve both shared a similar vision for how we want our teams to be structured in and out of possession, and having both coached at the academy level, we both shared a real desire to support the development and progression of the next generation of players.
“That foundation has been absolutely vital for us going forward, and we have really stuck to our principles after joining Queens Park Women and then here at Motherwell.”
With Robinson replacing the then departing Head Coach Craig Joyce in Glasgow after being headhunted to become the head coach of Queen’s Park, he sought to bring Brownlie alongside in the dugout.
“After working throughout various stages of academy football, walking into the Spiders and experiencing the Scottish Women’s Premier League felt like an exciting chapter.
“We understood and recognised the difficult nature of the league, with the constraints of part-time football competing against full-time professionals on a weekly-basis, but we wanted to build a team that stuck to our style of play of dominating the ball and seeking to play through the thirds whilst building from the back.
“Despite the tough nature of the league, we felt we were able to really develop the structure of the team, and put in place a strong core identity at the club.”
In their final season in charge, Robinson and Brownlie had the Spiders sat comfortably in the final promotion-playoff position in the Scottish Women’s Premier League 2 table, one point shy of Boroughmuir Thistle in second, with ambitions of restoring the club’s top-flight status.
However, the sudden departure of Paul Brownlie after several years at the helm of Motherwell Women presented an irresistible opportunity in ML1.
“It was an opportunity we simply couldn’t turn down,” Brownlie added.
“From the outside looking in, Motherwell on a part-time status were able to achieve some really impressive accolades over recent years, and we were keen to try to take that forward.
“They had competed amongst the full-time sides and achieved a top-six finish whilst working closely alongside their youth academy which from both our backgrounds is something that we felt was absolutely vital.”
Motherwell Women return to action following the winter break this weekend, when they welcome title-chasers Celtic to K-Park. Brownlie expects a difficult contest, but has been encouraged by the performances on the training pitch.
“We’re expecting a very difficult game with Celtic, but we have been really encouraged by what we’ve seen behind the scenes,” Brownlie noted.
“The players have really bought into what we’re trying to do, and they are a very close-knit group, so it has been a very easy and enjoyable process working alongside them.
“Celtic have qualities all over the pitch, both defensively and in the final third, but we have talent in the dressing room that can cause Celtic problems.
“We head into the game this weekend with confidence, and are looking forward to seeing as many Motherwell fans as possible in the stands.”
