Hearts MD Campbell Ogilvie charged with pushing through key parts of McLeish review, reports Moira Gordon

IT WAS not included among the recommendations typed out in black and white but it is the one on which the success of Henry McLeish's report into the development of grassroots and youth football may hinge. A constant theme throughout the launch of the first part of his Review of Scottish Football, he suggested that optimism and drive were vital to implementing a lasting legacy.

Which is why the former First Minister considers it a coup to have SFA vice-president and Hearts managing director Campbell Ogilvie charged with pushing through the key components of the document.

Think tanks have spewed forth on the ways forward for the game in the past and, acknowledging that few of the ideas highlighted by the consultation process are completely new, McLeish said the one thing that had to be different this time around was the way the recommendations are taken forward.

With every question preceded by apologies for the scepticism or cynicism, McLeish acknowledged there was a place for a certain amount of those qualities, given the futile attempts to revolutionise the game in the past, but he added that "if we are turning a corner, and I think we are, then let's do it positively".

"This time we should mean business and that is why, unlike previous reports, at the end of this one we have around a dozen recommendations and we will also have a Performance Director and somebody like Campbell being involved."

There are few who will now envy Ogilvie his role, though. He is the man charged with not only identifying the best person to oversee matters as the performance director, he will also have to act as lobbyist, diplomat, activist and power broker, as he seeks not only the verbal backing of government and clubs but also their financial support.

"It's one thing for the (SFA] board to have met three times and to embrace the report but it's another to not only flag up the performance director as being absolutely crucial but then they put a person who will be president in future years in charge of taking on this mantle," said McLeish. "I'm very encouraged by that. We have already met to discuss the recommendations and next week there will be further meetings to try to look at some time line and how best to take them forward."

Notoriously, though, the wheels of diplomacy turn slowly in football and in politics and the fear is they could grind to a halt completely when it comes to finding the 400 million McLeish has pinpointed as crucial for financing his main proposals. That money would be used to finance a facilities improvement scheme throughout the country, as well as the creation of at least 20 Schools of Football, the longer opening hours at schools to complement both schemes.

"Campbell's role and my more limited role is to take the goodwill and take it all forward and I think it will work this time. I think he is a great diplomat and I think he is well suited to the challenge but I think the other thing is, let's not forget, this is a government that wants to have a health and fitness revolution.

"They recognise there are problems and what I'm trying to create is a situation where if we have one in ten involved in football we can go to the government and say look, we are not just a sport, it's not just football, it's a package whereby we can help you promote Scotland and all we want you to do is help us by investing."

Said quickly and with an element of conviction, it all sounds plausible but this is funding far outreaching anything the government has earmarked for football and at a time when parties are all warning of budget cutsthe portents are ominous.

The report calls for greater physical literacy and for children to be practicising their skills for three hours every day for ten years to reach the level of 10,000 hours, which is considered the minimum requirement to hone elite performers.

But this is also a country in which the local authorities and the government can't even work together to ensure a basic two hours of physical education a week.

"That has to change now and we have to be serious about making that leap and have somebody in the system who is serious about making that work. Two hours of PE in the curriculum, that's absolutely vital and I wish them every success but I think there's only three councils who have adopted that."

And what he is talking about is time over and above that – after the school day, at weekends, during holidays. "That's how we start the sporting revolution and again that would make sense to the government as well.

"You raise the point about schools and it was the case that up until the mid-1980s and the teachers strike, the schools were the driving force for most of the youth game and the youth FA has developed since then, but aside from the football side of schools, it is an unused resource and at a time when I'm suggesting there is a crisis of facilities, it makes good sense to government and is a good and modest investment to open them up. Some of our schools have incredible facilities, especially, some of the newer ones, and what I'm stressing in the report is that I would like all of the local councils to have a look at their own facilities and have a low-cost or no-cost access to them. It's that important, not just for football but sport generally.

"Nobody will cajole anybody into doing anything but I believe that if the government comes with a bit more investment – it won't need to be a great deal – we could have these facilities opened up after school. There are concerns teachers have, but on the other hand there is a huge community of interest and the schools would get ample support from the community."

Forget not cajoling anybody. If this report is to succeed where others having failed, it will take non-stop cajoling and a whole lot more besides.