The 43-year-old was officially named as team manager at a meeting at the Yarrow Park clubrooms on Wednesday night, along with assistant coaches Davie Main (formerly of Selkirk Victoria and Hawick Waverley) and Selkirk's own Ian Potts.

Brownlee has been part of the coaching set-up at Yarrow Park for two years, having previously coached Selkirk Victoria and played for both outfits.

Employed as a textile foreman with local firm Heather Mills, Brownlee is now relishing the prospect of taking the team forward for the forthcoming season.

He told The Wee Paper: "I was keen to stay on board after Fraser (Lothian) and Ally (McCulloch) left and I am delighted to be staying on as manager.

I feel we have a unique situation here now as most of us are Selkirk born and bred and I am looking forward to working with Davie and Ian to build on the progress that has already been made.

We have one of the best junior set-ups in the Borders here and there is no reason why we can't build a good team from that and our existing team."

Chairman Craig Douglas has also intimated that he will be stepping down due to work commitments, although the club has had no official confirmation as yet.

Acting chairman Jim Moody explained: "I read in a local newspaper on Wednesday that Craig had resigned 24 hours after Fraser (Lothian).

"Craig was down at the club after that and hadn't said a thing to us.

"I received a text message from him this week to say that he would be standing down and would send a letter in when he returned from a business trip in Singapore, but as yet we have had no official confirmation.

"The club is a bit disappointed that this all seems to have been done through a newspaper, but at the same time Craig has been a great servant to the club and we thank him for his service here.

"We have to put all that behind us now because from now on Selkirk Football Club is all about moving forward and working together and I'm pleased to say that the committee, coaching team, and players are 100 per cent behind that.

After the turmoil of the last few weeks, during which three key players Craig Tyson (Coldstream), Craig Livingston (Dunbar Youths) and Alan Jackson (Kelso) have also left the Selkirk club for pastures new, Jim and the rest of the committee are delighted with the new coaching set-up and all at the club are looking forward to an exciting future.

Jim said: "We are now looking to start building again from the roots up.

"Nobody is expecting miracles and it will take time to build the team back up but everyone is working together.

"We will be working closely with Aaron Biggs (development officer) and Selkirk Victoria to ensure the club continues to produce and bring on local players and maintain the unique identity of Selkirk Football Club."

Selkirk FC are currently working towards becoming the first club in the Borders to achieve the SFA Silver Quality Mark.