Jamie Stott 'relieved' at Derry chance

Jamie Stott admitted he is both excited and relieved to be given an opportunity at Derry City as his former club Morecambe plunged into further turmoil this week.

The left-sided centre-half has signed an 18-month deal at the Brandywell and is eager to get going as quickly as possible and put a difficult chapter in his career behind him. This week, Morecambe were suspended by the National League and face possible expulsion due to its perilous financial situation.

“I'm not going to lie, it was a big relief when Derry came in,” he admitted. “There was massive interest there and something I just couldn't say 'no' to. Not just because of the situation I was in but because of the ongoing project here. It's a sad situation at Morecambe and I really hope it gets resolved as soon as possible.

“It was sad to see and a sad thing to be involved in but for us as players it's not a long career you get and unfortunately, I had to move on not just for myself but for my family as well. I'm just thankful Derry took an interest in me and once I heard of the interest it went very quickly.”

Stott admitted it had been a ‘crazy’ 48 hours from discovering Derry City’s interest to confirming his move to the Brandywell.

“It was crazy to be fair,” he acknowledged. “Obviously I knew of the interest a while ago but it only got finalised two days ago and yesterday morning, I flew out at 6am and got in at Belfast at 7am and at 8am I was at the training ground and we've gone from there. I've had two days training now so it's been a whirlwind but I'm glad to be here and glad to have got started.

“I'm not going to lie, I didn't know much [about Derry City] but I spoke to the gaffer straight away and of course you do research. Straight out I was like 'wow', they're in the top three, they've got a chance for the league still and that’s what we want to go for. They're still in the cup and lost in the cup final last year so hopefully that's one we can put right and get the chance to play European football as well is massive. So, once I did my research it was a no brainer for me.”

While last season ended in relegation from League Two for Morecambe, Stott made enough of an impression to be named ‘Players’ Player of the Year’.

“Last season I played a lot of games there and luckily the boys voted me for Players' Player which is a massive honour - one of the biggest ones for your teammates to vote you for player of the season,” he reflected. “I really enjoyed my season last year although it wasn't the best for the club. I felt like I did well. I was gutted to get relegated in the end but it was a pleasing way to finish the season.”

For Tiernan Lynch, this was a necessary signing following the departure of Kevin Holt earlier this month.

“We’ve been obviously looking at strengthening since Holty went back,” he said. “It’s not easy to get centre-backs that have the experience that Jamie has, and left-footed, and also one of the biggest things that attracted me to Jamie, was his willingness and his eagerness to come across to Derry. We had a conversation on the phone initially, and as we were leaving the conversation he said to me “Can you please make sure this happens?”, and I think that was enough for me.”

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“He played 48 games last year in league One. He’s a big, strong lad who’s aggressive and who likes to play. He’s a good communicator, so we’re delighted to add him into what we’re doing.”

With other new signings Dipo Akinyemi, Alex Bannon and Brandon Fleming all performing well against Bohemians last Friday, the City boss is encouraged by the state of his squad at present.

“I think to bring any player from league One into Derry, it’s not just a matter of bringing them in,” he explained. “If you’re throwing mad money to bring people in, then you’d be thinking that they’re not coming for the right reasons, but they are coming here because they want to be here. We have talked to them about the project, about where we want to go and what we want to do, and they’ve bought in and that speaks volumes for them as players.”