Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

It’s getting stronger – but it is not as strong as it could be: Hibs chief Leeann Dempster calls on the SFA to do more for the women’s game

© SNSHibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster
Hibernian chief executive Leeann Dempster

Leeann Dempster will be an enthusiastic supporter of Scotland at the World Cup Finals and, in particular, of manager Shelley Kerr.

As chief executive of Hibernian, Dempster is one of the leading lights in the men’s game, who just happens to be a woman.

In her time at Easter Road, and while fulfilling the same role for Motherwell prior to that, she has shown herself to be adept at steering a club in the right direction and boosting season-ticket sales and attendances.

She has watched the growth of the women’s game with interest, and was pleasantly surprised with the 18,555 attendance at Hampden for Scotland’s final warm-up game with Jamaica last Tuesday.

However, while Dempster expects Scotland’s participation in the World Cup to lead to an upsurge of interest in the women’s game – at all levels – she warns of the necessity of getting the infrastructure right to capitalise on it.

© SNS
A record attendance

“The women’s game is getting stronger, but that doesn’t mean it is as strong as it could be or is as strong as it needs to be,” she said.

“I think there is definitely a lot of development potential, and discussions with clubs and the Scottish FA – looking at things such as sponsorship – to be had.

“How do we fund the women’s game? How do we bring it the commercial rewards it deserves? I think those are the key questions.

“The fundamental challenge is how do we grow the women’s game?

“First of all in the UK, and then secondly in Scotland, we are always going to be facing some of the same issues the men’s game has to deal with.

“How do you compete with bigger clubs in England, who are richer and better financed than those women’s teams associated with Scottish clubs? That is always going to make it difficult.

“Like everything else, it is not just about money – but money is a big factor.

“Our women’s team could come and play a game at Easter Road Stadium. Of course, that would make it attractive as people will want to come to the stadium.

“There isn’t a cost issue, and there is not an issue with using the pitch, and so on.

“The issue for me, though, is how do we grow the game?

“Who takes the bigger responsibility for the game in Scotland? Where does it sit? Who takes the lead?

“In the men’s game, the role of the SPFL is quite clear. The role of the national association is clear.

“I think it is less clear in the women’s game to a novice like me.

“Don’t point at a club and say, ‘You should do this, and you should do that.

“You should say, ‘How do we work to grow the women’s game?’

“Other associations and leagues across the world have done, and are doing, better than us.

“But then you look at the achievements of Shelley and her team in qualifying for the World Cup, even with some of the issues we are talking about.

“That perhaps makes the Scotland women’s team’s achievement all the better and more surprising.”

© Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Sophie Howard celebrates her winner against Jamaica with teammates

With the game against England just round the corner, hopefully the surprises aren’t finished yet.

Dempster admits: “It has been a long time since I have felt that excitement about watching Scotland in a competition.

“It is magnificent that the women have qualified for the World Cup.

“It is a spectacle, a global event, a massive competition – and Scotland are participating in it.

“I think we only need to look at Steve Clarke’s recent comments to show the impact it has had.

“It is really exciting for people to be looking forward to a summer of football where we have a concern.

“I am unsure about how competitive we might be because, truth be told, I don’t know enough about the wider women’s game.

“But, like everyone else, I will go into the games hoping we do really, really well and get as far in the competition as we can.

“If anyone can do it, Shelley Kerr can. I know her reasonably well. I think she is an impressive person, and absolutely the right person to lead the Scottish women’s team.

“I think it was right that the role of managing the Scottish Women’s National Team should go to a woman.

“You are talking positive discrimination.

“She has all the qualifications her equivalent male colleagues have.”

Men outnumber women coaches at the Finals by 15 to 9, so the Hibs chief’s mention of wishing for positive discrimination in the appointment of the Scotland women’s coach is significant.

Normally, her policy is that the only thing that matters is an individual’s ability to do the job.

“We all love football and want it to be open to everybody,” she said.

“If you are the right person for the job, and if you show the right energy and commitment, determination and want to come and work for us, then that is all that really matters.

“If you look at the stands in the men’s’ game on a Saturday, the old-fashioned demographics don’t apply.

“There is a good split between men, women and families.

“A lot of women and girls come to Easter Road. They make up a strong proportion of season-ticket holders and pay at the gate, so why shouldn’t they be represented at all levels?

“As it is, there are definitely more women working in the game across the board.

“I’ve been at Hibs for five years. Before that, I was at Motherwell for six.

“Then you have Kirsten Callaghan, Kilmarnock’s chief executive.

“She has worked there for a long time and has grown at that club and is doing brilliantly.

“There are a lot more women working at a high level, and leading clubs in the UK.

“But hopefully my position at Easter Road is not the most interesting thing about me as an individual.

“It is not the most usual thing, so it is something people tend to focus upon.

“I look forward to the time where it is very normal, and I am just one of the people in sport who have the privilege of leading their clubs.

“Football is so diverse. There are so many different elements to a club.

“There is the business side, medical, illustration, communications, marketing, sales. So there are opportunities for men and women.

“Certainly, within Hibs, there is not a prerequisite to gender balance. We openly recruit people who have the capabilities and energy to perform in the required roles.

“Scotland is an open society. It has some of the most progressive laws and family laws in the world.

“So it follows you would like to make sure you act on that.

“I am a female. It is well publicised that I am gay. So there are a number of pigeon holes you can put me in. If I am able to break through that, great.

“It is incumbent on people who have the opportunity – and a bit of visibility – to be in some small way an inspiration for people, and to let them know there are opportunities out there for them.”

Shelley Kerr and Scotland – over to you.