Personal touch of Dempster means she is ideal for SFA, insists Allan

SCOTT ALLAN has very personal reasons for valuing the influence of Leeann Dempster on his career — and his life.

The pair renewed their working relationship when Allan joined Hibs for a second time in midweek and the midfielder admits he would be loath to see the club’s chief executive depart for a vacancy with the Scottish Football Association.

The resignation of SFA figurehead Stewart Regan has left a void at Hampden and Dempster has quickly been talked up as a potential successor. Allan believes her style of management would be perfect for the job.

‘If it’s right for her, then great,’ said Allan. ‘She gets things done. You have to take your hat off to her.

‘It would be a loss for Hibs but a gain for Scottish football if she moved.’

Dempster’s links with Rod Petrie, who doubles as the Hibs chairman and SFA vice-president, have been cited in favour of her candidacy — the reality is that is more likely to disadvantage her chances of moving out of Easter Road.

Petrie stepped out of the firing line when Dempster was poached from Motherwell in 2014, her time in office commencing just as the club came to terms with relegation from the top flight.

Following his release from West Brom, Allan was one of the first players signed under her watch. After four loan spells in two seasons, he needed somewhere to settle and found a welcoming environment and one in which he went on to play the best football of his career, earning the Championship Player of the Year award and a transfer to Celtic.

There were also unexpected benefits away from the pitch, with Dempster encouraging Allan to make a virtue of his diagnosis with diabetes.

Supporter engagement had been a key plank of Dempster’s work at Motherwell and, with the Edinburgh club coming to terms with its new status as a Championship club at that point, the importance of reaching out had never been greater.

Allan was invited to join in with

a special project and admits he got as much out of it as any of the invited guests.

‘Myself and Leeann did the diabetes thing together,’ he recalled. ‘We had 300 type-1 diabetic kids come in to Easter Road and I gave them a talk.

‘I spoke to them about how I dealt with my diabetes as a footballer. It was a joint project and Leeann was a big part of pulling it all together.

‘It worked well for all the kids, their families and the club. But it was good for me, too. It was a really great thing we did.’

The vacancy for a boardroom leader at Hampden coincides with the need for a new national coach. Following Regan’s failure to replace Gordon Strachan with Michael O’Neill, there is concern that the SFA is back at square one in the process of identifying suitable candidates.

In this regard, Dempster’s track record looks good. Prior to her appointment at Hibs, the club had moved through a succession of dreadful managerial appointments — from the uninspiring Colin Calderwood and Pat Fenlon to the ruinous reign of Terry Butcher, the man who presided over relegation.

With Petrie taking a back seat, Dempster was behind the decision to go with Alan Stubbs, the man who brought the Scottish Cup to Easter Road for the first time in over a century.

When Stubbs quit, she plumped for Neil Lennon, who achieved promotion and now has the club competing in the top half of the Premiership.

If we are to reasonably expect that the new chief executive will be in situ to preside over the naming of a new Scotland boss, Allan believes Dempster can be trusted to get the right man.

‘The recruitment over the years and how the club has moved forward under her and George (Craig, Hibs director of football) they have done a great job,’ he said.

‘I think everyone feels part of something bigger at Hibs.’