SFL Focus: Knox has Stranraer flying high and keeping wolf from the door

• Keith Knox is proving the perfect manager for his hometown team Stranraer in their current financial position Picture: SNS

Having replaced Derek Ferguson, Knox found himself in a situation where not only was there little or no money to bring in fresh players for a Second Division campaign, the very existence of Scotland's third oldest professional team was at stake.

"It was unfortunate on Derek," Knox explains. "He came in here and tried to build a team and then the financial troubles came out in public. It was harder from him because he didn't come from Stranraer; I come from the town, I knew the ins and outs of it, and I know how close the club came to going out of business."

A back-to-basics approach has served Stranraer well. Relegation to the Third Division at the end of last season was almost inevitable on account of of-field bother - the club owed about 250,000 on various fronts - even if Knox points out that, from Christmas onwards, performances improved. "We only missed out on the play-offs by four points," he says. "That was after basically having to release all our players and working with what was left and available out there. We had no budget at first then, when we knew what it was, all the players we would have wanted had signed elsewhere."

Short-term pain suffered at Stair Park appears, so far, to have been worth it. Stranraer head to Hampden today - to face a Queen's Park side who have not beaten them in a decade - as the leaders of the Third Division. A new team assembled by Knox and with a distinctly local flavour has started the season with impressive touch.

"This year has been totally different," Knox says. "Although the budget is the same as last year, we knew that before the end of last season and were able to identify players then.

"We are still in debt but local businesses have all been paid the money they were due. The only debt remaining is to the bank and the tax man, which is all on scheduled payments, so we aren't any different to other clubs in that regard.

"We basically cut what we were paying out because we couldn't afford to keep running like that. The locals helped us out, had a fighting fund and rallied round so that support was great.

"As a manager, I still chap the treasurer's door and ask him about bringing in more players. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't. And he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't say 'no'. We are not out of the woods, but things are a lot better."

Knox, a local postman and former Stranraer player, typifies the club's new approach. It is one he has passed on to his squad, and to the community coaches who are striving to produce more players from the coastal town for his first team.

"The players have to realise that there is no big money going about at the smaller clubs now," Knox says. "Maybe a few years ago, you could drop down to the Third Division and pick up a good wage but not now, outside of one or two players maybe.

"I tell these young guys that I'll give them an opportunity to come here and play senior football. They are in the shop window and if a bigger club comes in for them, we will have done our bit and be rewarded for that.

"We have four local lads in the first team just now, which creates a local interest. I'm not criticising individuals, but for a while we had people coming here simply for the money. They would collect that and head back up the road again, week after week.

"This year, the supporters can see all the players want to be here."

Knox concurs with the widely-held view that Scotland's fourth tier is as tight as the proverbial three coats of paint. If Stranraer can maintain their current run and achieve promotion, they would remarkably have played in a different division for nine seasons in succession.

"I think everyone is astounded that my old club, Clyde, are bottom of the league," the Stranraer manager adds. "Last season was different because Livingston were pretty comfortable in winning the league but it is generally very exciting.

"It is very easy for me at the moment, the easiest job in the world in fact, managing a team that is winning. I'm sending the same guys out there week after week.

"It's when you are losing, and thinking about new formations and new personnel from game to game, that things get difficult."

More so, of course, when your club is facing a battle to survive.