Paatelainen out to help Spartans take ‘next step’ – Daily Business

Former Hibernian and Dundee United boss Mixu Paatelainen is back in Scottish football as The Spartans’ sporting director.

Capped 70-times for Finland, the 58-year-old will have a wide-ranging role covering the men’s League Two side, its under-20s squad and the women’s SWPL team.

Spartans won promotion to the SPFL two years ago and have more than held their own, narrowly missing out on promotion to League One last season and just missing a play-off spot this season under long-serving manager Dougie Samuel.

Paatelainen hopes he can help the club “take the next step”, saying: “I’ve been very impressed how people go about things, how organised they are, how good the people who are in charge are, and their ambition.

“Everybody knows that Spartans is a community club who do a lot for the kids – boys and girls – which is fabulous. The facilities are fantastic and what struck me straight away is that people are very ambitious, they don’t want to be a League 2 club all the way, they want to go forward and do better, and it’s a wonderful club, wonderful people, so I want to be part of that.

“We want to  try to make us stronger and hopefully improve us enough to take the next step.”

The Spartans play their home matches at Ainslie Park, a modern facility with a capacity of around 3,000. 

Chairman Craig Graham added: “Mixu’s appointment brings us so much expertise.  He will support me, my fellow directors and all our coaches as we continue to grow and develop our club.  We are an ambitious club and Mixu will help us drive forward all aspects of our strategic agenda.”