1875STEVE
27-01-2018, 09:57 PM
I meet Leeann Dempster on a busy day at Hampden Park. She is dressed soberly and looks purposeful as she explores a day-long football forum. She seems impressive: assiduous, determined, clear-thinking, and not without a sense of fun. She is also the quiet revolutionary of Hibernian, having transformed the Easter Road club as its chief executive.
In a previous life Dempster was a Rangers season-ticket holder of 20 years standing. She can still humorously quote her Copland Road seat number. She also held down executive positions in the wider media industry before entering football as the CEO of Motherwell. As a woman with power in football, Dempster is a prominent figure, but also tends to shy away from publicity.
“About 95 per cent of the time I absolutely love my job,” she says. “But there are always times when you reflect and think, ‘I’ve not had the best day.’ You have to have a particular kind of personality and drive to work in football. It looks glamorous but it is a six or seven day a week thing, it takes a bit of commitment. Also, on social media there is a visibility out there that you have to cope with, and keep your focus, and just get on with it.”
Hibs look very different under Dempster. For one thing, over the four years that she has been there the club has moved to being roughly 30 per cent fan-owned, where once Sir Tom Farmer owned Hibs almost entirely. Dempster acknowledges Farmer’s generosity in releasing shares to supporters, with the money going back into the club. It was also on Dempster’s watch that Hibs boldly purchased John McGinn in 2015, a player they will soon sell for £3 million-plus.
“Getting back into the top league has allowed us to really start rebuilding the club,” she says. “We are not yet in a position where we can say we are super cash resilient, but we are in a position where we can make our own decisions. And the financial success of Hibs is still very much based upon the support that the fans give us.
“We are always spinning plates. When we bought John McGinn it was unheard of for a club to be relegated but then move into the transfer market, but that is what we did. We’ve paid transfer fees for a few other players as well, such as Ofir Marciano and Vykintas Slivka.
“People use this phrase ‘live within your means’ and to a greater extent that is what we must do. We will do it responsibly and, hopefully, the supporters will see this club prosper. We will get to a position where I think we will be able to say that we are significantly cash-resilient.”
Dempster is ambitious for Hibs. She says she doesn’t just want the club to be a top-six team this season, but is also now holding out hope of getting a European spot via a high Ladbrokes Premiership finish. On her watch Alan Stubbs has been hired, a Scottish Cup has been won, and then Neil Lennon came along.
It surprised some, thinking them to be very different animals, but Dempster and Lennon get on well. “I think Neil is revelling in it,” she says. “I think he has found his club, at this moment in time, at this point in his life. And I think we’ve absolutely found our manager as well.
“He has brought raw passion and emotion. When Alan [Stubbs] left and I heard that Neil might be interested I immediately thought: ‘this is the bit that is missing from this club’. As a coach he had everything else we needed but he also had that bit that we were missing.”
Lennon breezed through the doors of Easter Road in June 2015 and, in his opening press conference, slapped down his new club about being all style and no substance.
“I agreed with him about ‘boy band’,” Dempster says. “I think he was right about that. And he has brought the absolute opposite of it to Hibs: grit and determination and a total sense of disappointment when we don’t win.
“We get on well. He is an entirely likeable person. We’re not ‘mates’ as such but we are great colleagues. We have a great professional relationship. What I like about him, and what he likes about me, is that we tell each other the truth. We don’t sugar-coat things.
“Neil also understands our structure. We free him to be the first-team coach but he supports and understands our recruitment people and our medical people. He understands the skills-set of the people around him, and it allows him to be what he is, which is a very good football coach.
“Sometimes you just find a moment in time. This is it with Neil. He found us and we have found him and we are in a great period together. I think there are bits about him which he saw in guys like Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan. He has been in those dressing-rooms and seen it.”
Dempster appears to be good at building relationships. She gets on well, she says, with Ann Budge, the Hearts owner, despite the fierce rivalry of the clubs. The two women met five years ago, when Dempster was still at Motherwell, and she and Budge spent a day discussing the strange marriage that is football and business. Looking back, perhaps Budge espied her own fate ahead of her, and wanted to pick Dempster’s brains.
“We get on quite well, I think,” she says. “I’ve met Ann on a number of occasions since she’s been involved at Hearts. I’d like to think our relations are good and strong. Even though there is competition on the field and through the supporters, both of us understand the value and importance in trying to build this strong footballing culture in Edinburgh.
“I think it is fair to say that, in years gone by, neither Hibs nor Hearts did as well as they might have done. But now, if both clubs are starting to prosper, and supporters are coming back to our stadiums, that can only be good for us and good for Edinburgh. There is a strong footballing culture all over Scotland and our two clubs are a major part of that.”
She is not all about diplomacy, however. When I ask Dempster about Craig Levein’s comments last weekend about “restoring the natural order” following Hearts’ Scottish Cup win over Hibs, she isn’t angry so much as derisory. “Och, Craig was playing to the gallery,” she scoffs. “If Hearts beating Hibs once in ten games is restoring some sort of order, well, that’s fine. Hearts hadn’t actually beaten us since August 2014. I think I get the natural order bit.”
Dempster doesn’t once use the word “brand” in our conversation but I get the impression she is aware of its meaning. She wants the best for Hibs and Scottish football but believes it has some way to go yet. “We need to strive to make sure — all of us — that the league is as competitive as it can be. Celtic went on that 69-game unbeaten run, and it was great credit to Brendan Rodgers and his players. But I don’t think, if you are looking in on Scottish football, it plays well for us.
“What it shows is that we are in a league that is dominated by just one team. So we need to grow that competition back again. I’m not being anti any club in saying this, I just think it’s needed in Scotland. It’s a blunt fact.”
There will be opportunities ahead, too, for Hibs, she believes, in an imminently changing landscape. And she wants to be ready for it.
“There are big decisions coming our way over the next few years. Things in Europe will change. For example, there could be more opportunity in the Europa League. As a club — and as a country — we need to be ready for these opportunities when they present themselves.
“The Europa League could expand, offering more participation. If so, that is a game-changer for us. The financial door could be thrown open and, if it happens, I want Hibs to be ready. We must be there to take advantage of it.”
In a previous life Dempster was a Rangers season-ticket holder of 20 years standing. She can still humorously quote her Copland Road seat number. She also held down executive positions in the wider media industry before entering football as the CEO of Motherwell. As a woman with power in football, Dempster is a prominent figure, but also tends to shy away from publicity.
“About 95 per cent of the time I absolutely love my job,” she says. “But there are always times when you reflect and think, ‘I’ve not had the best day.’ You have to have a particular kind of personality and drive to work in football. It looks glamorous but it is a six or seven day a week thing, it takes a bit of commitment. Also, on social media there is a visibility out there that you have to cope with, and keep your focus, and just get on with it.”
Hibs look very different under Dempster. For one thing, over the four years that she has been there the club has moved to being roughly 30 per cent fan-owned, where once Sir Tom Farmer owned Hibs almost entirely. Dempster acknowledges Farmer’s generosity in releasing shares to supporters, with the money going back into the club. It was also on Dempster’s watch that Hibs boldly purchased John McGinn in 2015, a player they will soon sell for £3 million-plus.
“Getting back into the top league has allowed us to really start rebuilding the club,” she says. “We are not yet in a position where we can say we are super cash resilient, but we are in a position where we can make our own decisions. And the financial success of Hibs is still very much based upon the support that the fans give us.
“We are always spinning plates. When we bought John McGinn it was unheard of for a club to be relegated but then move into the transfer market, but that is what we did. We’ve paid transfer fees for a few other players as well, such as Ofir Marciano and Vykintas Slivka.
“People use this phrase ‘live within your means’ and to a greater extent that is what we must do. We will do it responsibly and, hopefully, the supporters will see this club prosper. We will get to a position where I think we will be able to say that we are significantly cash-resilient.”
Dempster is ambitious for Hibs. She says she doesn’t just want the club to be a top-six team this season, but is also now holding out hope of getting a European spot via a high Ladbrokes Premiership finish. On her watch Alan Stubbs has been hired, a Scottish Cup has been won, and then Neil Lennon came along.
It surprised some, thinking them to be very different animals, but Dempster and Lennon get on well. “I think Neil is revelling in it,” she says. “I think he has found his club, at this moment in time, at this point in his life. And I think we’ve absolutely found our manager as well.
“He has brought raw passion and emotion. When Alan [Stubbs] left and I heard that Neil might be interested I immediately thought: ‘this is the bit that is missing from this club’. As a coach he had everything else we needed but he also had that bit that we were missing.”
Lennon breezed through the doors of Easter Road in June 2015 and, in his opening press conference, slapped down his new club about being all style and no substance.
“I agreed with him about ‘boy band’,” Dempster says. “I think he was right about that. And he has brought the absolute opposite of it to Hibs: grit and determination and a total sense of disappointment when we don’t win.
“We get on well. He is an entirely likeable person. We’re not ‘mates’ as such but we are great colleagues. We have a great professional relationship. What I like about him, and what he likes about me, is that we tell each other the truth. We don’t sugar-coat things.
“Neil also understands our structure. We free him to be the first-team coach but he supports and understands our recruitment people and our medical people. He understands the skills-set of the people around him, and it allows him to be what he is, which is a very good football coach.
“Sometimes you just find a moment in time. This is it with Neil. He found us and we have found him and we are in a great period together. I think there are bits about him which he saw in guys like Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan. He has been in those dressing-rooms and seen it.”
Dempster appears to be good at building relationships. She gets on well, she says, with Ann Budge, the Hearts owner, despite the fierce rivalry of the clubs. The two women met five years ago, when Dempster was still at Motherwell, and she and Budge spent a day discussing the strange marriage that is football and business. Looking back, perhaps Budge espied her own fate ahead of her, and wanted to pick Dempster’s brains.
“We get on quite well, I think,” she says. “I’ve met Ann on a number of occasions since she’s been involved at Hearts. I’d like to think our relations are good and strong. Even though there is competition on the field and through the supporters, both of us understand the value and importance in trying to build this strong footballing culture in Edinburgh.
“I think it is fair to say that, in years gone by, neither Hibs nor Hearts did as well as they might have done. But now, if both clubs are starting to prosper, and supporters are coming back to our stadiums, that can only be good for us and good for Edinburgh. There is a strong footballing culture all over Scotland and our two clubs are a major part of that.”
She is not all about diplomacy, however. When I ask Dempster about Craig Levein’s comments last weekend about “restoring the natural order” following Hearts’ Scottish Cup win over Hibs, she isn’t angry so much as derisory. “Och, Craig was playing to the gallery,” she scoffs. “If Hearts beating Hibs once in ten games is restoring some sort of order, well, that’s fine. Hearts hadn’t actually beaten us since August 2014. I think I get the natural order bit.”
Dempster doesn’t once use the word “brand” in our conversation but I get the impression she is aware of its meaning. She wants the best for Hibs and Scottish football but believes it has some way to go yet. “We need to strive to make sure — all of us — that the league is as competitive as it can be. Celtic went on that 69-game unbeaten run, and it was great credit to Brendan Rodgers and his players. But I don’t think, if you are looking in on Scottish football, it plays well for us.
“What it shows is that we are in a league that is dominated by just one team. So we need to grow that competition back again. I’m not being anti any club in saying this, I just think it’s needed in Scotland. It’s a blunt fact.”
There will be opportunities ahead, too, for Hibs, she believes, in an imminently changing landscape. And she wants to be ready for it.
“There are big decisions coming our way over the next few years. Things in Europe will change. For example, there could be more opportunity in the Europa League. As a club — and as a country — we need to be ready for these opportunities when they present themselves.
“The Europa League could expand, offering more participation. If so, that is a game-changer for us. The financial door could be thrown open and, if it happens, I want Hibs to be ready. We must be there to take advantage of it.”