Edinburgh City’s second season in the Scottish Football League was arguably more difficult than their first as they finished second bottom in the League Two table.
Manager Gary Jardine was a major factor in their recent success, having guided them in the league, but he spent last summer having to almost completely rebuild his squad whilst the club also made the move from the Meadowbank Stadium to Spartans Ainslie Park home.
They made a desperate start to the season, losing six of their opening eight league matches and it proved to be too much for Jardine, who resigned following a 3-0 defeat against Stenhousemuir which poignantly came at Ochilview Park, the same venue which had seen them win promotion back in May 2016.
James McDonaugh, a former Hibernian coach, was appointed as his successor and he struggled to get to grips with the job. He inherited a squad beset with injuries and failed to win any of his first nine league matches. It was only due to the plight of Cowdenbeath, who spent the entire season bottom of the table that prevented the Citizens from having to face the panic of a relegation battle.
A 3-0 home win over Berwick Rangers on the 2nd of January gave McDonaugh his first win and they finished the season in 9th place, eight points ahead of Cowdenbeath. He was able to rely on a spine of goalkeeper Calum Antell, defender Craig Beattie, midfielders Josh Walker and Marc Laird and striker Ashley Grimes.
There were at least two separate occasions where some of his players failed to turn up for matches and admitted he needs to start again this summer with the aim of not battling to avoid the bottom but to take a chance.
