Tiernan Lynch Departs Larne, Calls Timing “Perfect” for New Derry City Role

Tiernan Lynch, the outgoing manager of Larne, stated that the timing of his departure from the east Antrim club was “probably perfect” as he prepares to take on a new role as manager of Derry City, a League of Ireland Premier Division club. This marks the conclusion of his period at Larne. Lynch’s appointment as Ruaidhri Higgins’ successor at the Candystripes was confirmed on Monday night. He concluded his notable seven-and-a-half-year leadership of Larne with a 2-0 victory against Institute in the BetMcLean Cup last-16 on Tuesday night. During his leadership, the former Cliftonville assistant manager oversaw the transformation of the Invermen’s fortunes, guiding them from being Championship strugglers to achieving consecutive Irish Premiership titles, supported by owner Kenny Bruce. Additionally, he achieved a historic milestone by leading Larne to the Uefa Conference League group stages over the summer. Following the successful conclusion of his tenure, Lynch commented that it had been “an unbelievable journey at an unbelievable football club.” Speaking to BBC Sport NI, he stated, “Larne was never going to last forever and I think the timing was probably perfect.” He added, “When we looked at our vision seven and a half or eight years ago of what we wanted to do and what we wanted to try and achieve, we were clear in our mind of where we wanted to go.” He continued, “In the summer we were able to achieve the last piece of the jigsaw and it’s probably time for a change, for a new voice and give those players something to kick on again and even for our own sake a new challenge, an unbelievable opportunity for us and something we’re very proud and privileged to be asked to be part of.” During Lynch’s period, the club also secured four consecutive County Antrim Shield victories and made substantial advancements in improving its off-pitch infrastructure. He mentioned that preparing for Tuesday night’s match was challenging due to the prevailing circumstances. He elaborated, “It was definitely difficult. There were lots of emotions going through your head – all the fans and everyone connected with the club have been unbelievable with us from the moment we walked in the door.” He added, “Hopefully we’ve repaid them with what we’ve done on the pitch and even off the pitch with regard to building a football club and the structures that go with it.” Concluding his thoughts, he stated, “It’s always sad, but the chapter’s over now. It’ll always be a massive part of what we’ve done and we’re hugely thankful, but it’s time to move on.” Lynch acknowledged everyone associated with the club who contributed to the dramatic reversal of its fortunes, noting that the magnitude of these accomplishments made them even more gratifying. He remarked, “That was part of the sweetness of the success, where we came from, knowing how hard we had to work to get it to work. There were a lot of people involved in that, it was a whole collective.” He further commented, “It was hard work but like anything in life that’s worthwhile, you’ve got to work at it.” Lynch commended his players for their resilience, recovering from a 1-0 league loss to Linfield on Saturday to defeat Championship team Institute in Tuesday’s cup match. He stated, “We were obviously disappointed on Saturday to lose to Linfield, it was a game we definitely wanted to win.” He continued, “But great credit to the players, there haven’t been that many times over the last two or three years that we haven’t bounced back from a defeat. Thankfully they showed that same character again.” He concluded by saying, “They’re a very special bunch of boys and they’ll always be a very special bunch of boys in our eyes. I just hope they can go on and continue the success and go from strength to strength.”