Tony Fitzpatrick announces St Mirren retirement as chief executive steps down after 'truly incredible journey'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick is to step down from his role at St Mirren. He will retire from his position on March 31, 2022 having also played for and managed the Buddies.

Fitzpatrick took over the role in 2016 with the club battling to avoid relegation from the Championship. They are now Premiership mainstays and have been regularly pushing for a top six finish under Jim Goodwin.

The club legend will not go away completely though, with the 65-year-old staying on in an ambassador role.Fitzpatrick told the club website: "It has been a real privilege to be involved at this wonderful club."When I returned to St Mirren in 2016 it was always my plan to stay here until retirement age and build upon the work done by my predecessor Brian Caldwell and the former board."It’s been a rollercoaster ride from narrowly avoiding relegation to the third tier of Scottish football to our current position in the cinch Premiership."The last two years in particular have been an incredibly difficult time for us all, but we have made great strides at the club.

Last season we reached the semi-finals of both the League and Scottish Cups for the first time since 1981/82 as well as achieving our highest top-flight league position since 1989."Fan ownership was achieved five years ahead of schedule with SMiSA taking over the majority shareholding on the club in July."We have also seen a number of academy players make their debuts for St Mirren with some moving on to big opportunities across the world and managed to attain Elite level status for the academy over the last year."I would like to thank the players and staff at the club over the past number of years who have worked tirelessly to try and give you a club to be proud of."I would also