Ann Budge and Leeann Dempster have both been voted onto the board of the SPFL.
Both ladies have made a big impact on the game and have been bold enough to criticise Neil Doncaster- most notably when the SPFL chief tried to stagger the final day fixtures of the 2014/15 Championship season.
Budge from Hearts forced Sevco chief Stewart Robertson to abandon his election plan while Dempster was voted on by Championship clubs alongside Eric Drysdale of Raith Rovers.
Following yesterday’s voting the SPFL website announced: “Elected to serve on the 2016/17 SPFL Board – alongside SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster, SPFL Chairman Ralph Topping and independent non-executive director Karyn McCluskey – were:
-
Ladbrokes Premiership representatives: Peter Lawwell (Celtic), Ann Budge (Heart of Midlothian) and Ian Maxwell (Partick Thistle)
-
Ladbrokes Championship representatives: Leeann Dempster (Hibernian) and Eric Drysdale (Raith Rovers)
-
Ladbrokes League 1 and League 2 representative: Ken Ferguson (Brechin City)
In 2015 Doncaster attempted to put the final day Championship fixture between Hearts and Sevco back to Sunday lunchtime- a day after the other final fixtures were completed.
The decision prompted a storm of criticism with Budge stating: “ The way in which Scottish football is being run really does need to be examined and explored.
“I’m not talking about personalities, I’m talking about the process. I have never run a business by committee. I find it very difficult that in certain situations you need 42 clubs to say yes before you can make any change.
“So the whole way in which Scottish football is run is something we do need to look at and keep challenging if things are wrong. The attitude of ‘well that’s the way it’s done in football’ needs to be challenged.”
Dempster said: “I think there needs to be a look at the governance of the organisation if they believe that this type of decision is acceptable to the clubs.
“And, let’s be frank here, the league put the onus on clubs like ourselves to make a decision to ask for a move, rather than the league itself deciding what the best way forward was.
“That is not our job. Our job is to go and win football matches. Our job is not to sort fixture lists. I think that responsibility ought not to fall on the clubs.”