David Martindale: Livingston manager approved to remain after facing questions over his criminal past

David Martindale was surprised to get Scottish Football Association approval to continue as Livingston manager after finding his previous Hampden hearing more daunting than sitting in the dock at the High Court.

The 46-year-old has been swiftly passed as a "fit and proper person" to be included in Livingston's list of officials following talks with representatives of the SFA professional game board.

The West Lothian club's former assistant manager and head of football operations led Livi to the Betfred Cup final on Sunday to make it nine wins and two draws in 11 matches since succeeding Gary Holt in late November.

But he faced questions over his criminal past, having been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail in 2006 over drugs and money laundering charges.

Livingston manager David Martindale is seen during the Betfred Cup Semi-Final match between Livingston and St Mirren at Hampden Park on January 24, 2021 in Glasgow. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

He said: "I'm delighted, it's wee bit of a weight off my shoulders and I don't need to worry about it now, I can focus on being the manager of the football club now.

"I'm delighted at the SFA to be honest because I wouldn't say I was overly positive before. I wasn't worried about the decision but I didn't think it was going to go in my favour.

"I have been sitting in the dock at the High Court and I found the experience I went through last year in front of the panel quite daunting to be honest.

"I remember sitting there absolutely sweating and looking round the room thinking 'I didn't expect this'.

"So the experience I had previously and the exchanges of emails leading up to today, I probably took a lot of it very negatively. I found this meeting very positive, it wasn't what I was expecting.

"Hats off to the SFA because I honestly do think it's the correct decision. It sends the right message to society.

"From a personal point of view, from 2004 right up to January 2021, it's been a long process, but I feel as if I have climbed my last wall and people will maybe take me at face value for who I am today and not who I was previously."

Despite bouncing back from his low point by doing a university degree and getting involved in football coaching, Martindale refused to express pride in his transformation.

"I have turned my life around but you have got to remember where this came from. This came from a massive negative," said Martindale.

"If I didn't have that in the background I would be sitting more proud of myself.

"It's still a massive regret. I put a lot of people through a massive negative experience - my wife, my son. I will always remember where I've been and what I've done because I think that's important."

To that end, Martindale is keen to speak to offenders to help with their rehabilitation process and the local Addiewell Prison has already invited him to do so.

He has experienced help himself this week from politicians and criminologists who lobbied the SFA.

He said. "It's unbelievable what football can do. It just shows it can get out there to the masses and the different genres of society that have contacted the club is absolutely incredible.

“There has really been no negativity and that just shows how open-minded society is becoming.

Reporting by PA

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.