Ex-Hatters midfielder leaves St Mirren to take charge of Aberdeen

Former Luton Town midfielder Stephen Robinson has left St Mirren to take over as head coach of fellow Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen.

The 51-year-old had been at the Buddies since 2022, leading the St Mirren Park club to 10th place this term, but has moved to Pittodrie to take over a team who are one place above his former employers, following their decision to sack Jimmy Thelin in January, with Peter Leven having been in temporary charge since.

However, with the Dons knocked out of the Scottish Cup, a competition they won last term, by Dunfermline on Saturday, then the Dons hierarchy have appointed Robinson, who moved to Kenilworth Road as a player in 2002, making 211 appearances and scoring 12 goals for the Hatters, winning the League One title in 2005, before leaving in 2008.

He began life in management with Oldham Athletic, then having a fine spell at Motherwell, reaching the final of the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup, also finishing third in the division to qualify for the Europa League. Robinson also spent time in charge of Morecambe, returning north of the border to take over at St Mirren, where he won the Scottish League Cup by beating Celtic in December, also leading the Saints to a number of top six finishes, returning them to European football in the Conference League qualifiers.

Having joined alongside assistant Brian Kerr on contracts until the summer of 2029, Dons chairman Dave Cormack said: “We are pleased to welcome Stephen and Brian to Pittodrie. Stephen is a proven leader with a strong track record of overachieving at Motherwell and St Mirren, where he delivered three Cup Finals, including winning the Scottish League Cup this season, multiple top six league finishes, including a third place and qualifying for Europe twice.

“He has demonstrated he can consistently deliver strong results, punching well above the resources he’s had to work with, during the last eight years in Scottish football and proven he can build resilient, competitive teams with solid foundations. There is a strong desire to re-establish a clear identity for our club, to become harder to play against and restore competitiveness in our matches. For those reasons we believe Stephen is the right head coach to deliver exactly that.”

Robinson himself added: “When this opportunity arose, there was no way I could turn it down. Aberdeen has a tremendous history and there’s no mistaking it is a huge club. The facilities and resources that will be at my disposal are excellent and more importantly, the fan base is tremendous so I’m excited to work for a club of this size and strive to take it forward.

“I appreciate it has been a tough period for everyone, but players respond to positivity so we’ve got to stick together going forward. We will put a team out on the pitch to get the points we need to finish this season as strongly as we can. Aberdeen have clear ambition but it needs an identity, it needs direction and I aim to give the club that so we need everyone to get behind myself, the staff and the players.”