'We must seize this rare chance for change'

NO-ONE IS claiming that it is going to be thrill-a-minute. Indeed, as annual general meetings go, the Scottish Football Association's AGM on Tuesday promises to be as drawn-out and as complicated as the worst of them.

However, according to Henry McLeish, it could also be the making of the game in this country - or at least the saving of it.

"The last six months have not been great for Scottish football but the next six months could be," he suggested, in what amounted to a challenge to the multitude who will gather at Hampden Park next week.

Officials from clubs, leagues and associations will all be present. They may sense the hand of history on their shoulder as the coffee is being poured. They may also still hear the echoes of McLeish urging them to be brave yesterday.

"There are far too many memories and not enough dreams," McLeish said. "I don't think what we are doing will be about dreaming - it will be taking the harsh reality of the worst period we have seen in Scottish football for many, many years and turning it into the best years.

"That, to me, is an incredibly attractive proposition. It's all very well us talking about the importance of Tuesday, but everybody there needs to take it into account."

Without implementing the changes he has outlined in his review of Scottish football, McLeish claims the game will stumble on as it has been doing.

The international team will continue to fall short of major finals, while the internal workings of the governing body will remain strangled by bureaucracy.

"The stakes are very high," warned McLeish yesterday, as he peered down at another list of bullet points to go with the pages and pages of findings and recommendations which formed his review of the game, and which has been delivered in two, often revolutionary, parts.

He has much to lose, too, since he has spent the best part of two years poring over Scottish football, and identifying where it has gone wrong. His time will have been wasted should the 93 member clubs who will decide on the future of the game in this country opt for conservatism and self-interest next week. But then what's that when compared with over 130 years of history which McLeish believes will continue to be flushed away should Scottish football elect not to embrace change.

"I hope it will be a memorable day in Scottish football, I truly believe it can be a historic day," said the former First Minister.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to not only change the face of Scottish football, but to hopefully change the mood of Scottish football."The melodrama is at odds with the often dry details of what is being proposed next week. "It will be about technicalities, amendments, resolutions and re-writing the articles of association," said McLeish, in a sentence not designed to set pulses racing.

"But this will lay the foundations for what the fans want, which is a better product on the pitch, better achievements domestically and internationally, and an opportunity to see Scotland qualify for every international tournament."

Since McLeish made over 50 recommendations in his second report, it is worth clarifying some of the main changes being put to the vote next week.

McLeish advised that the bureaucratic committee structure should be streamlined, while disciplinary procedures will be re-written, and a new autonomous judicial panel convened. A new compliance officer will also be installed. The board, it is proposed, will also be reduced from 11 to seven, a number which will include an independent member.

"The anticipation is that this will bring all of that into the 21st century, it will take Scotland to a position that very few international associations have arrived at," said McLeish.

All the former First Minister now needs is for 75 per cent of the vote to be in favour of the changes.

Having projected himself as a force for reform, it is all Stewart Regan, the new chief executive of the SFA, desires, too.

"Stewart Regan was a very, very wise appointment," commented McLeish. "He's had a quick learning experience and had to rise to the curve very quickly.

"But he has done an enormous amount of work to make sure that everything goes smoothly on Tuesday."

For things to proceed as Regan, McLeish and others plan then clubs will need to unplug the wiring which ensures their only concern is what is best for them.

Self-interest threatens to keep Scottish football clinging to a precipice.

"I believe that on Tuesday all the participants will rise to the occasion," said McLeish.

"In any form of institution there is vested interest," he added.

"Vested interest is part and parcel of a modern world, an old world, maybe an ancient world. But that's not the issue.

"What we're talking about is bigger and more significant than any individual, any player, and manager, any chairman, any board member, any official within the SFA or SPL.

"This is about the future of the game and everyone should recognise they are in football because of the game.

"I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime, once-in-a-generation opportunity," he continued. "I think that's why people will seize it.

"I think people know the game is not in good shape. People know the game has many problems and difficulties and this is the first time I have seen the prospect of change actually happening. If we don't see the changes put through on Tuesday, Scotland will have lost a marvellous opportunity. It may not happen again."Unsurprisingly, McLeish dipped into politics when providing some colour, recalling former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's speech about the wind of change sweeping through Africa.

But he agreed that a - slightly tinkered - quote from literature is just as apt.

It is the worst of times, but it could also be the best of times.