Wayne Mackintosh honoured to become Nairn County manager
New Nairn County manager Wayne Mackintosh admits he was surprised to be offered the job – but says it's an honour to take it on.
The Wee County have named club legend Mackintosh as their new boss.
The Station Park outfit have been looking for a permanent manager since Ross Tokely departed in January, with Brian Macleod holding the fort on an interim basis since then.
Mackintosh retired from playing at the end of the season after 16 years and 411 appearances in Nairn's midfield across two spells.
He played for County from 2004 to 2017 and helped them win the North of Scotland Cup twice and R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup.
Mackintosh then moved to Formartine United, who he helped to win the Highland League Cup, Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup and Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield.
He spent the 2021-22 season at Rothes and was part of their North of Scotland Cup winning squad, before returning to Nairn in September 2022 and helping them win the North Cup again in November 2023.
Mackintosh didn't apply to become Nairn manager, but revealed his delight at being asked to take on the job.
The 37-year-old said: 'It came as a bit of a surprise to me, I'd decided to retire from playing and I was actually looking forward to having a break.
'But then the club hadn't appointed as a manager and they approached me and had a conversation about the job.
'It was a surprise to me, but when I thought about it I decided it was a really good opportunity.
'I've always thought I would like to get into coaching, although I didn't anticipate it being as Nairn first-team manager.
'But it's an honour to be considered for the role. I've got a passion for the club, I wanted to retire as a player at Nairn and now becoming manager is something I'm delighted about.
'I want to see the club do well so for me coming into management it probably makes it easier to be doing it with Nairn.
'There's a really good squad here, it's a great bunch of boys so hopefully I can help them improve individually and collectively to make the club successful.'
Nairn finished 13th in the Breedon Highland League this season and looking ahead to next term Mackintosh believes the squad at his disposal is capable of better.
He would also like County to challenge in the cup competitions next season.
Mackintosh, who has also had a spell in charge of Nairn's Under-18s side, added: 'I want to get the club up the table. For the quality we have at the club I think we underachieved this season.
'We want to move up the table and I also want us to be more competitive in the cups.
'We went out in the first round or second round of every cup this season.
'So being competitive in the cups and trying to bring some silverware back to Nairn is what I'd like to do.
'There's a good core of a squad at Nairn which is very competitive and if we can make a couple of additions that would only make us better.
'Playing alongside the boys I know there's real quality there and hopefully we can be more competitive next season.'
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