Premiership

Glentoran have identified Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton as their preferred candidate to take over from Declan Devine.

Devine left the Oval club on Monday after two years in charge following a poor start to the season.

Assistant managers Paddy McCourt and Tim McCann oversaw Tuesday night’s home defeat by Irish Premiership leaders Coleraine.

Magilton has emerged at the front-runner with the Glens making a formal approach to speak with the Cliftonville boss, with the clubs set to meet in an Irish Premiership fixture at Solitude on Saturday.

The 57-year-old former Northern Ireland international was appointed Cliftonville boss in 2023, succeeding Paddy McLaughlin, and led the club to Irish Cup glory the following year, ending a 45-year wait for the trophy.

Magilton, who previously worked at Ipswich Town, the Irish FA, Dundalk and Melbourne Victory, also led the Reds to the 2025 BetMcLean Cup, beating Glentoran in the final, but lost to Dungannon Swifts in the Irish Cup decider two months later.

TIG’s takeover has been a far from a smooth journey and has taken over two years with their first attempt halted when club members stopped talks before the group took their offer off the table in January.

However, in June, the members authorised for the club’s management committee to enter formal negotiations with TIG and Monday’s eventual vote passed with 81% in favour.

“If you stand back and look at this, Cliftonville is a club that is held dearly by so many people,” he added.

“It was owned and controlled by the membership, so obviously, members are going to be reluctant to let it go effectively, especially to a private company. I understand all of the complexities around that.

“If you want to be open and honest about it, it just goes to show how much this club means to people. I just hope when it is complete, we can move together stronger as a team.”

Devine added that the Canadian consortium will be investing long-term and that it is a “passion project” for the group.

“This is a long-term play, this is not a five, six or a seven-year thing,” said Devine.

“One of the first things the guys said to me when we looked at this was that they are 25-year people, they are long-term. That is very unusual.

“These guys have spoken about ROIs [return on investment] or return in money; this is a passion project and an impact investment into the local area.”