defeat to Ards at the Oval, with the club citing his performances were not good enough. The team was sixth in the league at that stage. Haveron did, however, lead the Glens to a 2017 Boxing Day victory, beating Linfield 2–1. McFall (2018–2019) Following Haverons dismissal, Glentoran reappointed Ronnie McFall as manager. A management reshuffle was announced which saw Gary Smyth become his assistant manager and Paul Leeman become a coach at the club. Kieran Harding was also an assistant to McFall. McFalls second spell proved unsuccessful. McFall left the club on 3 January 2019. At that point, the team were 9th in the league table, 5 points above the relegation zone. Smyth (2019) Gary Smyth became the caretaker manager of Glentoran on 3 January 2019. His first match was a 4–1 defeat to Crusaders in the Irish Cup. Paul Leeman was his assistant, with Kieran Harding, who was assistant to McFall becoming a coach. The months after saw an improvement in form. Smyth, who did not hold the required coaching qualifications to lead the club into the playoffs or UEFA competition was replaced on 31 March 2019, the deadline day for UEFA Licensing by Mick McDermott. New ownership and management (2019–) Mick McDermott became manager as a part of a deal which involved a group of investors putting finance into Glentoran. An EGM was held on 16 May 2019 for shareholders to vote on the proposal. 96% of shareholders approved the investment. Paul Millar rejoined the club as Mick McDermott's assistant manager. Kieran Harding remained as a coach, however Gary Smyth and Paul Leeman were not seen in the dug-out for the following matches. On 21 May 2019, Glentoran announced Smyth had left the club, a controversial decision amongst some fans. Leeman left two days later despite both being offered to be retained in the same roles and with the same benefits under the new and correctly qualified management team. On 4 February 2020, the Glentoran Chairman Stephen Henderson announced on behalf of the club, that it was finally free of external debt. Once having been £1.77 million in the red, the Board of Directors had cleared 80% of the debt across the decade and prior to the new investment in the club. A combination of the investor and the old board then settled the final remaining debt with the last outstanding creditor. During McDermott's first full season in