Larsen had been the assistant coach of Celtic overseeing the last season, where the club finished in their best position in a decade, a creditable sixth place. Larsen was instrumental in that success and proved his worth time and again, with an astute tactical acumen, a terrific work ethic and the respect of the players, technical team and the management.

Larsen proved that without his massive contribution, the club would not have reached the heights it did when he was a vital cog in the technical team.

He had a huge voice in the acquisition of players, and all of the new signings met with his approval, and this once again showed that he has all the attributes to make a success at his new role.

Larsen is a young, hungry coach with a great pedigree, and the club sincerely believes he is the right man for the job. Bloemfontein Celtic is laying the platform for consistency, and feels that the next few years will be amongst the most successful in the club’s history. Celtic has assembled a powerful squad and the man at the helm will prove vital in bringing the best out of the team.

The club put Larsen through a vigourous evaluation, as he was not the only name in the hat, but he showed such incredible passion, vision and integrity that he was impossible to ignore.

The club decided to go with a South African coach, as he has an understanding with the culture of local football, and an intimate knowledge of all the players plying their trade in the country. Larsen’s vision focuses a lot on youth development from within and the club will be looking into making 1 or 2 more acquisitions before the close of the transfer period. He has also indicated that the team that he has assembled this season will definitely be challenging for silverware and will most certainly improve on their league finish of last season.

The club would like to thank all the applicants for expressing their interest in the Celtic coaching job.