The Scottish FA have just announced that Chief Executive, Stewart Regan, has taken the decision to step down from his position at the association.
His resignation comes almost eight years after he took up the position and in his time Scotland failed to qualify for a major tournament, are currently without a manager and just last week suffered the embarrassment of having the ONLY candidate shortlisted for the job decide to stay on as Northern Ireland boss.
But it is his record in the governance of the game that makes Regan one of the biggest disasters ever to have hit the Scottish game. Some believe he was actually a place-man, put in there to accommodate what was to come with the inevitable collapse of the debt ridden doomed Rangers club that had been run into the financial grubber by Sir David Murray.
After Murray got out for pound, Regan awarded Craig Whyte a licence to participate in European football only for the incompetent Ally McCoist to squander the ill-gotten gain not one but twice in the space of a few weeks. But with the Wee Tax Case becoming a hot topic, people started asking how Regan managed to grant that licence with outstanding taxes due.
Regan could never shake off what became known as Resolution 12 and while he has dismissed calls for an inquiry into the Rangers tax cheating after they eventually lost in the Supreme Court last July, he couldn’t get rid of the Res 12 bhoys. Persistence it seems, does beat Res12tance.
The project to have a fans’ led Judicial Review into the flawed Lord Nimmo Sinth decision hit the rocks when the Advocat paid to look at the matter reckoned that it was the SFA’s ba’ and they could kick it where they wanted. The fans it seems weren;t important enough.
Regan talked about not raking over hot coals and told us to forget it.
But Res 12 wouldn’t go away and those troublesome Tims had actually got the top brass at UEFA involved. They even placed a newspaper ad in the Swiss paper that the UEFA read with their morning coffee. It was all becoming a little too inconvenient.
Regan ignored all of this in his statement: “I have devoted my time in Scotland to modernising, protecting, developing and promoting the game, whilst facing into some extremely challenging head winds during my time in the job. While it has been tough, I am proud to leave having overseen a period of significant change and substantial growth following the McLeish Report in 2010.
“We are now at another staging point and I recognise that it is now time for further change. I have decided to step aside to allow new leadership to take the organisation forward.
“I would like to thank the staff for their energy, hard work and support during my tenure. Their love of the game mirrors Scotland’s passion for football and I am proud to have served the Association.”
Apparently Chief Operating Officer, Andrew McKinlay, will manage the day to day business during the interim period.
Alan McRae the SFA President, said: “I would like to place on record my thanks and appreciation to Stewart for his commitment to Scottish football.
“He has worked tirelessly and has helped drive through a number of improvements to the governance of the game in the country.
“The search for a new Chief Executive will begin immediately as we will continue to drive Scottish football forward on and off the pitch.”
Regan will have a confidentiality agreement in place, a big pay off and will walk away having accomplished the ultimate switcheroo.
As the SFA draw up candidate lists for vacancies with only one name on it, there is only one name that jumps out as the man most qualified to do a decent and honorably job, cleaning the game from top to bottom.
That man is Auldheid.
Resignation of Stewart Regan leaves #SFA with no chief exec, no national manager, no idea about future of national stadium and as yet no replacement for main sponsorship deal with expires this summer.
— Chris McLaughlin (@BBCchrismclaug) February 1, 2018
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