By . Brian Marjoribanks . It’s not often little Albion Rovers send tremors across the world football - but that’s exactly what they did in March when the part-timers from Scottish football’s lowest tier were just 12 minutes from eliminating Rangers in a Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox. There was a similar, if not so well publicised, aftershock earlier this month when the Coatbridge club announced they had sacked the manager responsible for their best run in the tournament since 1936. Not only was James Ward brutally binned despite steering the club to its biggest-ever payday – earning £400,000 before losing to Rangers in a replay – his bulleting came just weeks after he had penned a new one-year contract and signed 15 new players for the new season. Sacked: Manager James Ward (right) lost his job after guiding Albion Rovers on their best run since 1936 . Gone: Ward got within 12 minutes of masterminding a win over Rangers in the Scottish Cup quarter-final . In his place have come rookie boss Darren Young, the former Aberdeen and Dunfermline midfielder, and experienced sidekick Sandy Clark. On the back of Ward’s achievements, Rovers had garnered bucket-loads of positive publicity on their way to the last-eight, especially after donating £10,000 of their cup cash to a children’s charity. His abrupt departure shone a less favourable spotlight on the uncharacteristic ruthlessness of Rovers, as Ward bemoaned his ‘shock’ and ‘surprise’ at being shown the door after a run that also saw Motherwell eliminated. On Tuesday, however, as new boss Young was officially paraded, the impressively plain-speaking Rovers chairman John Devlin set the record straight in pretty damning fashion. For all the plaudits that accompanied their best cup run in 78 years, last season’s seventh place finish in League Two was deemed ‘unacceptable’. The team’s end-of-season performances, after Ward had signed his new deal, were deemed as particularly unappetising. New manager: Darren Young has taken over at Albion Rovers and was paraded at the club . Demanding: Albion chairman John Devlin (right) deemed last season's seventh-place finish 'unacceptable'
Albion Rovers sacked James Ward after going on best run in 78 years and within 12 minutes of knocking Rangers out of Scottish Cup quarter-final .
Ward earned Albion their biggest-ever £400,000 payday from cup exploits .
He had just signed a new one-year contract and brought in 15 new players .
Darren Young becomes his replacement .
By . Brian Marjoribanks . It’s not often little Albion Rovers send tremors across the world football - but that’s exactly what they did in March when the part-timers from Scottish football’s lowest tier were just 12 minutes from eliminating Rangers in a Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox. There was a similar, if not so well publicised, aftershock earlier this month when the Coatbridge club announced they had sacked the manager responsible for their best run in the tournament since 1936. Not only was James Ward brutally binned despite steering the club to its biggest-ever payday – earning £400,000 before losing to Rangers in a replay – his bulleting came just weeks after he had penned a new one-year contract and signed 15 new players for the new season. Sacked: Manager James Ward (right) lost his job after guiding Albion Rovers on their best run since 1936 . Gone: Ward got within 12 minutes of masterminding a win over Rangers in the Scottish Cup quarter-final . In his place have come rookie boss Darren Young, the former Aberdeen and Dunfermline midfielder, and experienced sidekick Sandy Clark. On the back of Ward’s achievements, Rovers had garnered bucket-loads of positive publicity on their way to the last-eight, especially after donating £10,000 of their cup cash to a children’s charity. His abrupt departure shone a less favourable spotlight on the uncharacteristic ruthlessness of Rovers, as Ward bemoaned his ‘shock’ and ‘surprise’ at being shown the door after a run that also saw Motherwell eliminated. On Tuesday, however, as new boss Young was officially paraded, the impressively plain-speaking Rovers chairman John Devlin set the record straight in pretty damning fashion. For all the plaudits that accompanied their best cup run in 78 years, last season’s seventh place finish in League Two was deemed ‘unacceptable’. The team’s end-of-season performances, after Ward had signed his new deal, were deemed as particularly unappetising. New manager: Darren Young has taken over at Albion Rovers and was paraded at the club . Demanding: Albion chairman John Devlin (right) deemed last season's seventh-place finish 'unacceptable'
sacked the manager responsible for their best run its biggest-ever payday – earning £400,000 before one-year contract and signed 15 new players for the new season. Sacked: Manager James Ward (right) lost his job after guiding Albion Rovers within 12 minutes of masterminding a win over Rangers in the Scottish Cup quarter-final . In cup run in 78 years, last season’s seventh place