Ex-Hatter Robinson leaves Morecambe to take over at St Mirren

Ex-Luton midfielder Stephen Robinson has left League One Morecambe to take over as manager of Scottish Premier League side St Mirren.

The 47-year-old, who was Tottenham Hotspur as a youngster, featured for Bournemouth, Preston North End and Bristol City before moving to Kenilworth Road in June 2002.

The Northern Ireland international made 211 appearances for the Hatters, scoring 12 goals, before hanging up his boots in 2008.

He went on to manage a number of age groups for his country, moving to Motherwell as assistant manager in February 2015, and then took his first role as a number one when appointed Oldham Athletic chief in July 2016.

Robinson left Boundary Park after six months, returning to Motherwell to assist Mark McGhee in February 2017, before moving into the hot-seat once the former Scotland boss left.

He resigned in December 2020, heading to Morecambe in the summer, with the Shrimps sitting 21st in League One this term.

However, he has agreed to take the reins at the SMISA Stadium, with the seventh-placed Buddies paying a compensation deal to Morecambe, as speaking to the club's official website, he said: "It's an absolute honour that St Mirren have come in and were willing to pay the compensation.

"It came out of the blue and when I spoke to the guys at the club it really impressed me what they are trying to do.

"We spoke in-depth about where we can take the club and there's real exciting times ahead.

"With the foundations that have already been built by Jim (Goodwin) it's up to me to take them on and build on what's already been done."

St Mirren chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick said: "We are all delighted to welcome Stephen as the new manager of St Mirren.

"Stephen fits the profile of what we are looking for in a manager.

"He has great experience of the Scottish game and had good success on the park with Motherwell which saw him reach the finals of both the League and Scottish Cups as well a third-place finish and qualification for the Europa League.

"Stephen also did a tremendous job of developing young players at Motherwell which was an important consideration for us with the St Mirren Youth Academy one of the main pillars of our football club.

"We would like to thank Morecambe FC for their co-operation in getting this deal completed."