Raith Rovers have appointed former Dundee United star Maurice Malpas as the club’s director of football.

The creation of the role comes just days after Alan Young was named club chairman, succeeding Turnbull Hutton, and takes the Kirkcaldy outfit in a different direction.

Malpas (52) has legendary status at Tannadice and won 55 caps for Scotland, earning him a place in the Hall of Fame at Hampden.

But since his playing career came to an end, he earned a reputation for being a first class coach enjoying managerial spells at Motherwell and Swindon before going on to be assistant manager at Dundee United, Motherwell, Inverness and Hibernian.

Rovers boss Grant Murray said he was delighted to welcome Malpas to Stark’s Park, adding: “It’s terrific that we’ve been able to bring in someone of Maurice’s calibre, and Laurie Ellis and I look forward to working closely with him.”