COUNT MEOUT
...but SFA & SPFL must get closer, says Leeann
LEEANN Dempster has issued a plea for the Scottish FA and the SPFL to work together more closely for the greater good of Scottish football after ruling herself out of the running to replace Stewart Regan.
The Hibernian chief executive had been regarded as one of the favourites for the same role at the SFA following the resignation of Regan earlier this month, but is adamant she is not interested in any other job in Scottish football away from her current post at Easter Road.
Dempster has confessed to being flattered to have been mentioned as a possible successor to Regan, who fell on his sword following his failure to land Northern Ireland’s Michael O’Neill as the new Scotland manager.
However, she insists she remains happy at Hibs and excited by the task of trying to continue the improvements made at the club since arriving from Motherwell amidst significant unrest in the wake of relegation from the top flight in 2014.
“It’s absolutely true that that job is one of the best, if not the best football job in Scotland,” she said, “and any normal person who is linked with it wouldn’t be telling the truth if they said they never stopped and blinked.
“But that’s effectively what it was, I stopped and blinked for a second and then reflected on life here and t he work t hat’s happening here.
“It’s a big challenge for whoever goes in there, and that’s not something I wouldn’t be up for, but I’m enjoying life here. So, I just need to focus on this and make sure that’s where my energy is.
“When it happened, it was lovely, because people you work with and colleagues, external colleagues, put your name forward and say great things about you.
“But I see my time in Scotland firmly at Hibernian. I don’t really see myself working in Scotland at another organisation in football outside this club.
“If the truth be told, at a point in the future, I think every chief executive has their time.
“But I don’t see an opportunity or an option to do anything else in Scotland, so that inevitably means my life will head somewhere else at a point in the future.
“We’re in a period where we’ve got a chance now, I think, to either kick ourselves on again, and that’s what want to do, or we can can let it drift by. I see myself and the people round about me as quite a core part of that.”
WITHOUT a national team manager and a chief executive at the same time, the SFA have been characterised by some as an organisation in turmoil and floundering from one mistake to the next after being pilloried for procrastinating over their apparent pursuit of Walter Smith.
However, Dempster insists there is plenty to be positive about in Scottish football at present. That said, she is convinced that greater co-operation between the SFA and the SPFL could significantly benefit Scottish football, and sees the current situation as a chance for change.
“There are opportunities to improve the game in Scotland,” she added, “and, with the events of the last couple of weeks, I think we’re at a stage now where we’ve got a chance to look towards the future.
“And really for both organisations to formalise a bigger strategy for the game and understand what each of them do best, because the two of them have very distinct roles.
“We need to get into a situation where they are working as closely and as collaboratively as they possibly can.
“It’s probably a staging point for us and a good opportunity to get into that position.”
The chief executive job is one of the best, if not the best football job in Scotland