'I would love to take Livi back to Hampden'

BBC News

5 hours ago

Livingston manager David Martindale has set himself a target of taking the club to another national final at Hampden and potentially earning a European place with the West Lothian club.Martindale signed a new contract with Livingston last week, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2027.The 51-year-old joined Livi in 2014 initially as a volunteer but worked his way up the ladder eventually becoming manager in 2020."I would love to take the club to a cup final," he said. "We won a cup (Challenge Cup) last year with fans. "We got to a cup final in previous years at Hampden with no fans. So, one of the main ambitions is I would like to take the club back to Hampden."Whether that's a semi-final, whether that's a final, it's a big ambition for me."However, Martindale is wary of aiming too high too soon, and says they must first consolidate their top-flight status."I'd love to have a shot at European football with Livingston," he said. "But to do that, you need to consolidate in the league and you need to get a top-six finish."But we've shown as a club, shown as a group, staff, myself included, that we're more than capable of getting top six."We're more than capable of getting the cup finals. But I think the short-term aspirations this season is consolidating the league."But longer-term objective is always going to be taking the club back to Hampden with fans behind us. And then hopefully trying to achieve European football at some stage."