It is believed that the Irishman informed the players of his decision last week before the team’s 27-18 loss at Perthshire last Saturday, a result that leaves them deep in the relegation mire.

It is believed that the Irishman informed the players of his decision last week before the team’s 27-18 loss at Perthshire last Saturday, a result that leaves them deep in the relegation mire.

The McKane Park side are second bottom of BT National League Division Three and 10 points adrift of safety with just two matches remaining but it is thought that other commitments outside of the club have made up O’Riordan’s mind.

As well as his coaching role with Dunfermline, he is involved with the Scotland women’s national team – who are bottom of their Six Nations campaign with three defeats from three games – and runs his own sports consultancy firm.

O’Riordan was unavailable for comment but club treasurer Rory Cooper said, “It has been intimated to me that he is stepping down at the end of the season. I can only assume that the combination of his work commitments, his extra-curricular activities with the SRU and the fact he has a young family have made his decision, but I haven’t spoken to him directly about it.” O’Riordan took charge at McKane Park in 2013 alongside assistant Caine McIntyre and, after they had suffered three relegations in four years, led them to promotion from the Caledonia Regional League Division One at the end of his first season.

The step up to the national leagues has proved difficult for his young side, earning just four wins and one draw from 20 matches, and to beat the drop they must earn bonus point wins in their final games and hope other results go their way.

Cooper added, “It is looking unlikely but all we can do is keep going to the end, win our final two games and see where we are. But while there would be a bit of an extra expense in going down with a couple of trips to the north-east and one to Caithness, it won’t affect us too much because we know it’s coming so have been able to prepare for it. We’ve been to these places before and been OK so we know what to expect.”