Glenavon set to confirm Gary Hamilton exit as manager

A meeting of Glenavon’s Board of Directors was believed to have been held on Sunday – with former Northern Ireland international Hamilton then understood to be in conversation with club officials on Monday evening.

Glenavon sit on four points from the opening seven Sports Direct Premiership games, with the sole success against a Ballymena United side at the bottom of the top-flight table.

Hamilton signed a contract extension in March 2021 that would push his stay in the Mourneview Park hot-seat to the end of the 2024/25 campaign but that now appears at a close.

Sources with connections to the Lurgan club have outlined to the News Letter how fan resentment has been growing more vocal from last season, heightened during a 10-game run without victory.

It is understood pressure was building from within sections of the support for the directors to act at that point and even a vote requested over his future.

But Hamilton reversed the slump and steered Glenavon to a 10-game unbeaten run, ultimately producing a seventh-place finish and European play-off shot.

Although support for Hamilton has remained within sections of the Glenavon boardroom – and in the stands – it is expected that a change could be confirmed within 24 hours.

It would mark a significant change in direction for Glenavon given Hamilton’s longevity in the role at his boyhood club, commitment to a youth development pathway which has yielded success in terms of first-team appearances and transfer fees and his general ownership of affairs across all aspects of the playing structure.

Hamilton, a boyhood Glenavon fan, was appointed in December 2011 and highlights from his decade-plus run include Irish Cup triumphs in 2014 and 2016 and a record-breaking points return for a league campaign.

In an interview with the Glenavon club website to celebrate his decade in charge, Hamilton said: “I’m honoured to have been in the job for 10 years...it makes it even more special as Glenavon is a club I’ve supported my whole life.

"I’m from here, my Grandad supported them all his life, my Mum and Dad too and of course my two uncles have played for them also, so it makes it really special.

“Bringing success back to the club has meant a lot to me. Bringing the club back to Europe, the Irish Cups, having friends and family in the terraces and stands celebrating the successes has just meant so much.

"It’s not about me, it’s about the club.”

Now it appears as if Hamilton’s links to Glenavon have come to an end.