Craig Brown yesterday called time on his career as a football manager and admitted that tomorrow's Clydesdale Bank Premier League game at Celtic Park could be his last in charge of Aberdeen.

The 72-year-old, who joined the Pittodrie club from Motherwell in December 2012, announced he will retire at the end of the season, but will step aside earlier if a successor is appointed quickly.

He said that, within two hours of the news being made public, he had received mes-sages from other managers keen to step into his shoes. Brown also disclosed that the death of his daughter-in-law recently, and the need to see more of his nine-year-old granddaughter, had played a part in his decision, though he has accepted a place on the Pittodrie board as a non- executive director.

"The game against Celtic could be my last as Aberdeen manager," he said, "and I would like to try to emulate Motherwell who had lost three out of four and then beat Celtic and Hearts and got six points. That put them back in second place. Six points would put us back into the top six and possibly Europe."

Brown expects to be con-sulted on his replacement with Derek Adams, the Ross County manager and a former Aberdeen player, leading the contenders while Derek McInnes, a success at St Johnstone but later sacked by Bristol City, and Craig Levein, unemployed since losing his job as the Scotland manager, are also in the frame.

"I don't think there is anyone sitting there ready to come in," he insisted. "That's my feeling, but I was only offered the job on the board on Wednesday so I haven't spoken with the others to discuss a replacement. No-one has asked my opinion about potential candidates but I've already had text messages from managers, both in and out of work, and from agents inquiring about the job.

"When I offered my resignation, I didn't think I was going to be asked on to the board. So, to be honest, I wasn't caring who was going to come in next. Now I'm really interested, because I'm involved in the club. It was a difficult decision to step down, but I think it was the appropriate time to give the club the opportunity to find a successor.

Archie [Knox, his assistant,] and I still have the ambition to take this club into the upper echelons of the league. We haven't ruled that out. Far from it.

"I had 16 years with the SFA," he added, "and we had four qualification attempts and got out of the group in three of them, which is quite exceptional. In every job, I've had success and happiness. I want to finish this one successfully.

"I was at five major tournaments with Scotland. Only the doctor can equal that. Alex Ferguson took me to Mexico, my first World Cup.

"I was assistant to Andy Roxburgh at Italia 90 and I was in charge in '98. Scotland have only been at two European Championships ever – '92 and '96 – and I was at both of them. I can't ask for any more in my career in terms of satisfaction and legacy."