After another dreadful season, Brechin City were defeated in both legs of their play-off with Kelty Hearts and are relegated to the Highland League. They appealed the legitimacy of the play-off system, but their argument was rejected.
Brechin’s steep decline began in 2017/18 as they exited the Championship with no wins and only 4 points. They fell straight through League One, and finished bottom of League 2 in consecutive seasons.
Brechin must have had hopes they had bottomed-out, but poor form continued throughout the season with only 2 wins. They had the weakest attack (13 goals) and the worst defence (46 goals). Facing an exit from League Two, they failed to score in their last 3 matches at home.
In a desperate attempt to avoid the drop they brought in some highly experienced players such as Hutton and Osman but still finished 11 points adrift of Cowdenbeath.
Player/manager Michael Paton promised to stabilise Brechin when he took charge in November 2020. He failed and his inexperience as a manager was clear to see. Brechin’s rapid decline should be a lesson to all clubs.
Brechin are now consigned to the new challenge of the Highland League. They will need to rebuild their squad with no certainty of bouncing straight back up.
