Stenhousemuir have appointed Marvin Bartley as their first-team manager on a full-time contract, handing the former Livingston and Queen of the South boss the lead role at Ochilview. Neil Hastings will join him as assistant manager, while Gregor Buchanan will take on a new player-coach position and continue his playing duties.
The move gives Stenhousemuir a new management team at a time when the club is trying to build on the momentum of recent seasons. Bartley arrives with experience from across the Scottish game, having previously moved from playing into coaching after a career that included spells with AFC Bournemouth, Burnley, Leyton Orient, Hibernian and Livingston.
For Bartley, the appointment adds another step to a coaching path that has already taken him through Livingston, Queen of the South and back to Livingston again. He joined the club in 2019, captained the side, led them out at Hampden in the Betfred Cup Final, became assistant manager in 2021 and later returned as men’s first-team coach before taking charge during the 2025/26 Scottish Premiership campaign.
His reunion with Hastings carries the clearest sign of continuity in the new set-up. The pair worked closely together at Livingston, where Hastings progressed from first-team coach to assistant manager, and the two left the club together in May. That timing makes Stenhousemuir’s move feel less like a fresh experiment than a deliberate handover to a pairing that already knows how each other operates.
Buchanan’s new role adds another layer to the change. The defender arrived from Dumbarton in May 2023, was quickly made captain and then led Stenhousemuir to the historic 2023/24 cinch League Two title, the club’s first league championship. He again set the standard during the promotion-winning 2025/26 campaign that carried Stenhousemuir into the William Hill Championship.
The club has not said when Bartley and Hastings will begin their duties, leaving the handover as the one detail still to be filled in. What is clear is that Stenhousemuir have chosen to move quickly, pairing a new full-time manager with an assistant he knows well and keeping one of their most important leaders on the pitch as well as beside it.
