The SFA have lit the fire under a boardroom shake-up with the introduction of new director Malcolm Kpedekpo.
The 42-year-old joined the board on Thursday as a non-executive member although he wasn’t part of the decision to axe boss Alex McLeish.
And he’s seen as being a major moderniser in the bid to shed the blazer culture still shaming the top of the game’s hierarchy.
Kpedekpo started his career in football as a striker for Aberdeen before leaving the game behind for an impressive career in finance and investment.
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He’s the first new director since previous non-exec Gary Hughes was forced to quit 10 months ago after a 12-year-old reference to Rangers fans as “the great unwashed” surfaced to damage his credibility as an independent voice.
Kpedekpo told Mailsport: “I think I bring with me an understanding of the dressing room as well as the boardroom.
“I’ve played on every step of the pathway from grassroots to professional.
“But obviously my experiences since I stopped playing 22 years ago are the reason I’m here and I’m excited to get the chance to contribute to the direction of the national sport.”
The former striker was given a Dons debut by Roy Aitken in 1995 and played 11 times for the club as a teenager after coming through the boys’ club ranks in his hometown, while still chasing his degree at Aberdeen University.
But despite going full-time he was given few opportunities and left the game behind to pursue his career in 1997.
Recruited by accountancy giants KPMG, he spent five years in Australia before returning home.
After a spell with the Bank of Scotland he became a founding partner of Panoramic Growth Equity, now one of the UK’s leading equity investors.
He also furthered his studies in the venture capital market at Harvard Business School.
And he was seen as a transformational figure in a four-year stint as a non-exec on the board of Scottish Golf, which he stepped down from last month.
His arrival brings the non-exec faction on the SFA board back up to two, joining Dundonian businesswoman Ana Stewart.
The rest of the board is made up of Alan McRae and Rod Petrie as president and vice-president, chief executive Ian Maxwell, Mike Mulraney and Neil Doncaster representing the SPFL from the Professional Game Board, and Thomas McKeown is on from the Scottish Amateur FA representing the non-professional wing.
However more changes will come on June 12 when the heavily-criticised McRae will step down.
Petrie will step up, Mike Mulraney will become vice-president and the clubs will then get to nominate another name from the PGB, strengthening their control and marginalising the Hibs’ chairman’s influence further.
