Campbell Ogilvie bids farewell to Tynecastle to put McLeish report into action

HEARTS managing director Campbell Ogilvie is to leave the club at the end of next month in order to concentrate on his duties with the Scottish Football Association.

• Picture: Kenny Smith

Currently the SFA's senior vice-president, Ogilvie will spend much of his time working on the implementation of the Henry McLeish report into Scottish football which was published in March. He is due to succeed George Peat as president next year, and hopes to have made substantial progress on McLeish by then. After spending 27 years as Rangers general secretary, Ogilvie joined Hearts in 2005, initially with the title of operations director.

His promotion to managing director in March 2008 was an indication of how much Hearts majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov valued his work.

He will remain as a consultant with Hearts until May 2011, but his eventual departure from Tynecastle will deprive the club of a depth of political experience which is unequalled in Scottish football.

Hearts director Vitalijus Vasiliauskas, who has been in charge of the planned stadium redevelopment since being appointed in March 2009, will now take charge of all commercial duties, but the Gorgie club has yet to decide on how Ogilvie's other responsibilities should be shared out.

"The club will seek the best replacement for Campbell in terms of professional skill and personal qualities," Hearts director Sergejus Fedotovas said. "Campbell has been a great asset to the club and while we will be sorry to see him leave Hearts we fully understand his commitment and desire to improve the game in Scotland.

"This desire was one of the main reasons we approached Campbell five years ago and his knowledge, integrity and understanding of the game have been highly beneficial to the club in that time. We have agreed an ongoing consultancy relationship with Campbell in order that we can still benefit from his wide-ranging football expertise at both domestic and European levels."

Ogilvie, one of the most popular and respected figures in the game, explained his belief that his SFA duties require his full attention. "I am both delighted and very proud to have worked with Heart of Midlothian Football Club," he said. "It is a club that is an institution in Scotland and is recognised positively worldwide and I am grateful for the opportunity it has offered to me.

"I'd also like to thank the staff, supporters and sponsors for their support in my time at the club. I'd particularly like to thank everyone at the club who has made myself and my family so welcome since my very first day at Tynecastle.

"I am sure, however, that people will understand I have a new challenge ahead which is a task that requires 100 per cent focus."

Office-bearers at the SFA do not receive a salary, and although his new, enhanced duties will almost certainly take up more than a normal working week, Ogilvie will not become a member of the payroll. Friends have said Ogilvie's sole motivation in concentrating on his work there is altruistic. "He has a real hunger to try and improve the game," one said last night.

The veteran administrator is also sticking to his insistence that he does not want to succeed Gordon Smith as chief executive.

When Smith resigned last month, Ogilvie was quickly linked with the vacancy, but he made it clear at an SFA board meeting that he did not wish to be considered for the post.

Romanov had earlier warned that Ogilvie's reputation could suffer if he were to take over from Smith. "It is useless to change the faces while the system remains the same," the Kaunas-based businessman said.

"Campbell is an honest person and experienced professional. But the system of Scottish football may turn any angel into a villain." By staying on at the SFA in an enhanced role with specific responsibility for the McLeish report, Ogilvie hopes he can change the system while most of the faces remain the same. Those who have seen his reputation for civility and efficiency steadily enhanced will remain confident that if he were susceptible to transformation from angel to villain it would have happened long ago.

Meanwhile, Hearts have released youngsters Rocky Visconte and Ryan Wallace.

Visconte has returned home to Australia to join Brisbane Roar having made just three first-team appearances for Hearts in three and a half years. He made his debut in the Active Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen in January.

"I have had a very enjoyable time here at Hearts and I would like to wish the club all the best," he said.

"There are so many good people and I have made a lot of good friends in my time at Tynecastle.

"It will be a wrench to leave but I have been offered a year's deal at Brisbane Roar and have decided to go for it.

"The highlight of my time has to be my debut in Aberdeen. I have no regrets and will miss Hearts."

Hearts manager Jim Jefferies said of the departing duo: "We would like to wish the players all the best with their careers and hope they go on to be successful."