Grant McCann's warm words for departing Doncaster Rovers media man and former Free Press editor
Doncaster Rovers boss Grant McCann has led the goodbyes for outgoing media manager Liam Hoden.
Last weekend's draw with Stevenage was Liam's last home game working for the club, following a restructure within Rovers' media department.
His association with the club stretches back more than 15 years. He first started covering them for the Doncaster Free Press in 2011 as a sports reporter and later combined this with editorship of the newspaper, before leaving in February 2022. He then seamlessly moved into the vacant role of media manager at Rovers a month later.
Safe to say then, that he's experienced a myriad of highs and lows in that time, working on both sides of the media fence: "Three promotions, four relegations, two play-off semi-final penalty shoot-out defeats and the lowest finish in two decades."
McCann had nothing but warm words for him having worked alongside him on a day-to-day basis in this spell as manager, and in his previous stint at the helm when Liam was at the DFP.
"I've known Liam for a long time," said the Northern Irishman after the Stevenage game, with Liam in close proximity inside the press room. "Obviously, from the first spell I was here when he was doing the reporter side of things, I always had a good relationship with him.
"I know he's sitting in the room now so it's a bit uneasy for him to hear! But he's been brilliant and he's going to be missed. The players just presented him with a nice shirt downstairs and a little donation to say thanks. And that's the type of group of boys we have here, because they think about things like that. So as I say, he's going to be missed and it'll not be the same without him. I'm sure he'll go on and do whatever he has to do next in his new role but he's welcome back any time."
One of the most popular brainchild of Liam's since taking up his role at the club is the 'A Coffee With..' series that sees him interviewing players or staff on camera in a relaxed setting. The final episode aired last weekend with the concluding part of his in-depth chat with McCann earning plenty of praise from Rovers fans online.
The restructure at Rovers means Liam's role of media manager isn't being replaced directly although an advert recently went out for a 'content executive' to work within the new set-up.
The man himself has already begun working in a new communications role elsewhere, but has been working matchdays at Rovers until the season ends. His final game is this Saturday away at Peterborough.