Irvine Welsh opinion of Leeann

[FamousSix]

Small question and answer article in the "i"newspaper today.

Last question to Irvine was "Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

His reply "Leeann Dempster, Chairwoman of Hibs Football Club. She's taken a Club that was ailing,
revitalised it and placed it at the heart of the Community. Last year Hibs won the Scottish Cup for the
first time in 114 years. I don't think it would have happened without her vision, passion and intelligence."

No doubt she has inspired the turnaround at the Club and worthy praise from Irvine.

[Kato]

....and he's correct too.

[Ronniekirk]

Small question and answer article in the "i"newspaper today.

Last question to Irvine was "Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

His reply "Leeann Dempster, Chairwoman of Hibs Football Club. She's taken a Club that was ailing,
revitalised it and placed it at the heart of the Community. Last year Hibs won the Scottish Cup for the
first time in 114 years. I don't think it would have happened without her vision, passion and intelligence."

No doubt she has inspired the turnaround at the Club and worthy praise from Irvine.

Rod will feel miffed no doubt that he isn't getting Credit for appointing her
But agree with Irvine s comments He should of got her a wee cameo role in Transporting 2


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Andy74]

....and he's correct too.

Other than her title which isn't correct.

I think she has done well but there has been a lot of work done at this club over the last few years which has made this possible, which shouldn't be forgotten.

We are also in our third year in this league so the turnaround will be more complete once we are confirmed to be out and when we are challenging at the top end of the league.

[patlowe]

Yep, she's done a tremendous job in terms of giving the club an identity again, bringing the fans back and of course delivering the Scottish Cup. We've failed under Dempster league-wise so far but, looking at the bigger picture, she has taken the club from an absolute mess to a point where the fans are flooding back to see a team they are proud of. No mean feat when you consider where we have been. I still feel like there is potential for more under her stewardship though, starting with promotion obviously.

[Since90+2]

Does Dempster just have a 'standard' working contract ie its open ended or is it similar to playing staff over a set period of time?

[Baker9]

Other than her title which isn't correct.

I think she has done well but there has been a lot of work done at this club over the last few years which has made this possible, which shouldn't be forgotten.

We are also in our third year in this league so the turnaround will be more complete once we are confirmed to be out and when we are challenging at the top end of the league.

What also shouldn't be forgotten is she is responsible for putting these people in a position to do the good work. I am delighted that Irvine Welsh has acknowledged her in this small way - she has been magnificent since she came and what a contrast to Mr Petrie.

[Kato]

I think she has done well but there has been a lot of work done at this club over the last few years which has made this possible, which shouldn't be forgotten.

True, work that was required due to neglect and would never have been on the radar without her being here.

Rod deserves credit for bringing her in.

[Andy74]

What also shouldn't be forgotten is she is responsible for putting these people in a position to do the good work. I am delighted that Irvine Welsh has acknowledged her in this small way - she has been magnificent since she came and what a contrast to Mr Petrie.

Not what I meant - I meant the people that put the infrastructure in place in this club, put the wheels in motion with the write off of the debt and the share offer etc. They also realised at the stage we were at that we needed a new CEO and appointed LD.

The criticism in terms of on the field was valid of course and relegation followed but a lot of the on field criticism is because we were losing finals or not challenging in the top half enough, or the football wasn't nice enough. We've done the winning a final bit but we still need to get back to the levels we were previously getting stick for. When we surpass that then great, job can be claimed to have been done.

[CMurdoch]

There has been a perfect storm at Hibs.
Negligable debt, completed modern stadium, modern self owned training complex, Scottish Cup winners, Upcoming Promotion, Fast growing attendances and importantly Hibs now at the heart of the community.
Leanne, Rod, Tom Farmer and the fans have made this possible.
GGTTH

[Moody Blues]

True, work that was required due to neglect and would never have been on the radar without her being here.

Rod deserves credit for bringing her in.

Petrie deserves NO credit because he made the club into a mess in the first place

[Kato]

Petrie deserves NO credit because he made the club into a mess in the first place

On the pitch I totally agree he was a disaster. Leeann's job is made easier though as RP did oversee the completion of the infrastructure. Useless as a football man though.

[CropleyWasGod]

Petrie deserves NO credit because he made the club into a mess in the first place

Really?

It was all his doing?

[Moody Blues]

Really?

It was all his doing?

Most of it was,when he sold our players eg brown,Thompson, murphy etc...and replaced them with Van Zanten,Kerr etc and also his hiring of a succession of useless managers. Everything on the cheap.

[CropleyWasGod]

Most of it was,when he sold our players eg brown,Thompson, murphy etc...and replaced them with Van Zanten,Kerr etc and also his hiring of a succession of useless managers. Everything on the cheap.

And, on the credit side....

Appointing Dempster
Appointing Mowbray
Appointing Collins and overseeing a LC win.
Reducing the debt from ridiculous levels which, arguably, were unavoidable in the first place.
Overseeing the stadium redevelopment
Overseeing the building of EM.

This is an argument which has been done to death in recent years. It's one that will continue, and will never be resolved. But... all his fault? :rolleyes:

[Geo_1875]

Most of it was,when he sold our players eg brown,Thompson, murphy etc...and replaced them with Van Zanten,Kerr etc and also his hiring of a succession of useless managers. Everything on the cheap.

If everything was done on the cheap why did we have so much debt?

[NAE NOOKIE]

Deserved praise ..... I agree that promotion is the only real failed aim in her time here, but her job was to put into place the football staff capable of doing that and I think she did that to the best of her ability and the resources available, the fact that we fell at the final hurdle in both seasons was as much down to the fact that we had a total rebuild to do in the first season and the success of the club in cup competitions in her second one as any other factor ...... hells bells we came within a baw hair of holding the League and Scottish cups at the same time, an unthinkable prospect in any period of my time as a Hibs fan and a feat that would have elevated that team to the same level of reverence as the Famous Five in my opinion.

We are now on course for promotion, but that isn't the end of the work, in fact its just the beginning and LD will know that more than anybody ..... If we do go up from there the job gets twice as hard, it wont be easy to keep things moving forward and the fans on board in the numbers we are likely to see next season when the defeats start rolling around, we wont always make cup finals and we will lose games to the likes of Aberdeen, Celtic, Sevco and yes even the Yams ....... That's when the feelgood factor around the club will be tested to its fullest.

We devote a lot of time to the community aspect of the club and LD has without a doubt been the driving force behind that ... IMO that admirable strategy has hit its first stumbling block with the controversy over 'behind the goals' .... a lot of fans will raise eyebrows if it looks like we are being asked to make sacrifices to accommodate community projects, in this case the loss of a fans matchday facility and like it or not a move by the club which has denied some supporters access to a part of the stadium due to the loss of the FF lift.... I for one will think of it as a retrograde step if BTG isn't replaced ..... as I've said before, these community projects were touted as making full use of the stadiums underused facilities .... they were never touted as a money making project and certainly not at the fans expense by giving over facilities the fans do use to outside bodies in their entirety.

Everything will be fine so long as Leeann Dempster and the board don't lose sight of the one community that matters more than any other .... the community of people who physically and financially support this club on a Saturday.

So far so good ..... LD has done a great job, especially in the thing that was most important, re engaging the club with the fans ... lets keep it that way and not lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day the fans matter more to the good health of this club than any other factor surrounding it.

[where'stheslope]

Not only has it been good for Hibs to get plaudits, but coming from someone outside of Football, Leeann must take a bow and all the congratulations that goes with it.

[jacomo]

If everything was done on the cheap why did we have so much debt?


Debts went up to c.£18m in the crazy years around the turn of the century. Rod was at the helm but tbf most clubs were doing the same and the banks were happy to lend.

Then the tv deal collapsed and the banks got tough.

We had some hard times, but the upside is that we cleared our debts and not only stayed at ER but rebuilt the stadium.

Other, less scrupulous clubs found themselves in the same position but decided to cheat instead.

[Andy74]

Deserved praise ..... I agree that promotion is the only real failed aim in her time here, but her job was to put into place the football staff capable of doing that and I think she did that to the best of her ability and the resources available, the fact that we fell at the final hurdle in both seasons was as much down to the fact that we had a total rebuild to do in the first season and the success of the club in cup competitions in her second one as any other factor ...... hells bells we came within a baw hair of holding the League and Scottish cups at the same time, an unthinkable prospect in any period of my time as a Hibs fan and a feat that would have elevated that team to the same level of reverence as the Famous Five in my opinion.

We are now on course for promotion, but that isn't the end of the work, in fact its just the beginning and LD will know that more than anybody ..... If we do go up from there the job gets twice as hard, it wont be easy to keep things moving forward and the fans on board in the numbers we are likely to see next season when the defeats start rolling around, we wont always make cup finals and we will lose games to the likes of Aberdeen, Celtic, Sevco and yes even the Yams ....... That's when the feelgood factor around the club will be tested to its fullest.

We devote a lot of time to the community aspect of the club and LD has without a doubt been the driving force behind that ... IMO that admirable strategy has hit its first stumbling block with the controversy over 'behind the goals' .... a lot of fans will raise eyebrows if it looks like we are being asked to make sacrifices to accommodate community projects, in this case the loss of a fans matchday facility and like it or not a move by the club which has denied some supporters access to a part of the stadium due to the loss of the FF lift.... I for one will think of it as a retrograde step if BTG isn't replaced ..... as I've said before, these community projects were touted as making full use of the stadiums underused facilities .... they were never touted as a money making project and certainly not at the fans expense by giving over facilities the fans do use to outside bodies in their entirety.

Everything will be fine so long as Leeann Dempster and the board don't lose sight of the one community that matters more than any other .... the community of people who physically and financially support this club on a Saturday.

So far so good ..... LD has done a great job, especially in the thing that was most important, re engaging the club with the fans ... lets keep it that way and not lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day the fans matter more to the good health of this club than any other factor surrounding it.

Excellent chat.

[MWHIBBIES]

Petrie deserves NO credit because he made the club into a mess in the first placeDoes Rod employ himself like? Farmer is the owner, not Petrie.

[Smartie]

Petrie's been at the club for a while now, and when you hold a senior position in an organisation over that time period you'll have highs and lows.

We haven't half had a few highs and lows with Petrie.

In fairness to the man, we've bounced back from our last serious low to have a really good spell, where more than anything a good few us fell in love with our club again.

The appointment of Dempster was central to all of the good work that has been done since and Petrie deserves huge credit for her appointment.

Dempster herself though deserves massive credit for what has been achieved during her time at the club, and the praise from Irvine Welsh is richly deserved.

Hopefully we drag ourselves over the line and get ourselves promoted. That will feel like the end of a chapter to me, and we can really start to get our teeth into the challenges that lie ahead.

[DarlingtonHibee]

Don't think he's taken a salary for a good few years.

[Swedish hibee]

I think Alan Stubbs team set up on the day was brilliant and that's what got us the cup. I was in the ground and the amount of folk I heard questioning his set up, "what no Henderson" starting?!!!!!!
But as we all know, he brought him on as super sub and the rest is history... that we'll never ever forget.

[SanFranHibs]

And, on the credit side....

Appointing Dempster
Appointing Mowbray
Appointing Collins and overseeing a LC win.
Reducing the debt from ridiculous levels which, arguably, were unavoidable in the first place.
Overseeing the stadium redevelopment
Overseeing the building of EM.

This is an argument which has been done to death in recent years. It's one that will continue, and will never be resolved. But... all his fault? :rolleyes:

Yes, that's all well and good....but what have the Romans ever done for us?

:greengrin

[DarlingtonHibee]

Yes, that's all well and good....but what have the Romans ever done for us?

:greengrin

Agreed 100% cwg

[cmcd]

Most of it was,when he sold our players eg brown,Thompson, murphy etc...and replaced them with Van Zanten,Kerr etc and also his hiring of a succession of useless managers. Everything on the cheap.

When did Petrie sign a player .Answer Never . The manager signs players not the Chairman

[StevieCowan]

When did Petrie sign a player .Answer Never . The manager signs players not the Chairman

Done to death but when did Petrie refuse to sign a player that the manager wanted and was in the ball park affordability range. Answer plenty.

[scoopyboy]

Done to death but when did Petrie refuse to sign a player that the manager wanted and was in the ball park affordability range. Answer plenty.

For the sake of debate, name the players that Petrie refused the manager funds for.

[tamig]

When did Petrie sign a player .Answer Never . The manager signs players not the Chairman

Exactly. And my recollection is that every manager since JC has been backed handsomely. The managers are the ones who have blown the budget on mediocrity and pish. Not RP.

[DarlingtonHibee]

Listen we have all made mistakes over our career,but I don't believe any of us has had the stick Rod has had. He has stuck in when many would have quitted.

[CropleyWasGod]

For the sake of debate, name the players that Petrie refused the manager funds for.

Are we allowed to mention the £150k for Leigh? :greengrin:greengrin:greengrin

[scoopyboy]

Are we allowed to mention the £150k for Leigh? :greengrin:greengrin:greengrin

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[DH1875]

Listen we have all made mistakes over our career,but I don't believe any of us has had the stick Rod has had. He has stuck in when many would have quitted.

Defo takes a lot of crap. Some of it might be warranted but to be fair, most of it's a load of bollocks.

[RIP]

As someone who worked at close quarters with Rod and the board to set up LWT I used to evaluate all things Hibs from my boring perspective of a business consultant. The trouble was that the 'supporter engagement' process suffered the same fate as similar initiatives at the club inasmuch as they were too 'corporate'.

Over the period of financial pressure and infrastructure development Rod had tried to appoint and delegate to a Chief Executive role. Scott Lindsay was promoted from CFO to CEO in 2008 and was a hardworking guy but with 3 accountants (Rod, Scott and Jamie) on the board, Hibs lacked sufficient football entrepreneurship. The East Stand was a great project and we were still producing a top 6 SPL side under Yogi. After Scott left, Rod then promoted Fyfe Hyland, who I also had a lot of time for but I felt he offered more creativity than he was offered within our board structure. Brian Houston joined the board and those of us in LWT genuinely felt that he could bring about the improvements spelled out in 'The Hibernian Way' proposal created by the LWT Vision Group.

When Fyfe resigned and after 5 months of Scott coming back in temporarily to hold the reigns we ended up back without a CEO again. Rod, devoted as ever, was then trying to wear 3 hats (SPL/SFA, Chair and CEO) and sadly this coincided with a managerial merry-go-round of Hughes then Calderwood then Fenlon then Butcher. All able and proven managers but none of them with a football-savvy CEO and football operation to support them. The other issue with the absence of a CEO and the top-heavy decision-making hierarchy (Board, Rod, Sir Tom) was that after a promising start, the LWT initiative started to falter. After a presentation to the board the 'Hibernian Way' proposal didn't get the traction that Brian Houston, Matty Fairnie and Vision Team's efforts had warranted.

Around the summer/autumn of 2013 LWT started to lobby for a CEO & DOF to be appointed. Brian Houston and Bruce Langham would have been strong candidates but as they were retired from full-time business our attentions turned to head-hunting. For us as supporters, Leanne Dempster was a standout, given the improvements she had engineered at Motherwell. She also sat on the SPL board along with Rod. So when 8 months later in April 2014 her appointment was announced to some of us in advance of the press release, the PR guru at Hibs said - "you lot will be happy now!!" He was referring to the 'not so subtle' lobbying campaign that had taken place over the winter behind the scenes, in LWT supporters groups and on message boards.
http://www.hibs.net/showthread.php?270339-Director-of-Football-and-CEO&p=3727400&viewfull=1#post3727400

As for Leeann being a success - that's 100% down to her!

[DarlingtonHibee]

As someone who worked at close quarters with Rod and the board to set up LWT I used to evaluate all things Hibs from my boring perspective of a business consultant. The trouble was that the 'supporter engagement' process suffered the same fate as similar initiatives at the club inasmuch as they were too 'corporate'.

Over the period of financial pressure and infrastructure development Rod had tried to appoint and delegate to a Chief Executive role. Scott Lindsay was promoted from CFO to CEO in 2008 and was a hardworking guy but with 3 accountants (Rod, Scott and Jamie) on the board, Hibs lacked sufficient football entrepreneurship. The East Stand was a great project and we were still producing a top 6 SPL side under Yogi. After Scott left, Rod then promoted Fyfe Hyland, who I also had a lot of time for but I felt he offered more creativity than he was offered within our board structure. Brian Houston joined the board and those of us in LWT genuinely felt that he could bring about the improvements spelled out in 'The Hibernian Way' proposal created by the LWT Vision Group.

When Fyfe resigned and after 5 months of Scott coming back in temporarily to hold the reigns we ended up back without a CEO again. Rod, devoted as ever, was then trying to wear 3 hats (SPL/SFA, Chair and CEO) and sadly this coincided with a managerial merry-go-round of Hughes then Calderwood then Fenlon then Butcher. All able and proven managers but none of them with a football-savvy CEO and football operation to support them. The other issue with the absence of a CEO and the top-heavy decision-making hierarchy (Board, Rod, Sir Tom) was that after a promising start, the LWT initiative started to falter. After a presentation to the board the 'Hibernian Way' proposal didn't get the traction that Brian Houston, Matty Fairnie and Vision Team's efforts had warranted.

Around the summer/autumn of 2013 LWT started to lobby for a CEO & DOF to be appointed. Brian Houston and Bruce Langham would have been strong candidates but as they were retired from full-time business our attentions turned to head-hunting. For us as supporters, Leanne Dempster was a standout, given the improvements she had engineered at Motherwell. She also sat on the SPL board along with Rod. So when 8 months later in April 2014 her appointment was announced to some of us in advance of the press release, the PR guru at Hibs said - "you lot will be happy now!!" He was referring to the 'not so subtle' lobbying campaign that had taken place over the winter behind the scenes, in LWT supporters groups and on message boards.
http://www.hibs.net/showthread.php?270339-Director-of-Football-and-CEO&p=3727400&viewfull=1#post3727400

As for Leeann being a success - that's 100% down to her!

Great post.

[jabis]

Great post.

x2

[offshorehibby]

As someone who worked at close quarters with Rod and the board to set up LWT I used to evaluate all things Hibs from my boring perspective of a business consultant. The trouble was that the 'supporter engagement' process suffered the same fate as similar initiatives at the club inasmuch as they were too 'corporate'.

Over the period of financial pressure and infrastructure development Rod had tried to appoint and delegate to a Chief Executive role. Scott Lindsay was promoted from CFO to CEO in 2008 and was a hardworking guy but with 3 accountants (Rod, Scott and Jamie) on the board, Hibs lacked sufficient football entrepreneurship. The East Stand was a great project and we were still producing a top 6 SPL side under Yogi. After Scott left, Rod then promoted Fyfe Hyland, who I also had a lot of time for but I felt he offered more creativity than he was offered within our board structure. Brian Houston joined the board and those of us in LWT genuinely felt that he could bring about the improvements spelled out in 'The Hibernian Way' proposal created by the LWT Vision Group.

When Fyfe resigned and after 5 months of Scott coming back in temporarily to hold the reigns we ended up back without a CEO again. Rod, devoted as ever, was then trying to wear 3 hats (SPL/SFA, Chair and CEO) and sadly this coincided with a managerial merry-go-round of Hughes then Calderwood then Fenlon then Butcher. All able and proven managers but none of them with a football-savvy CEO and football operation to support them. The other issue with the absence of a CEO and the top-heavy decision-making hierarchy (Board, Rod, Sir Tom) was that after a promising start, the LWT initiative started to falter. After a presentation to the board the 'Hibernian Way' proposal didn't get the traction that Brian Houston, Matty Fairnie and Vision Team's efforts had warranted.

Around the summer/autumn of 2013 LWT started to lobby for a CEO & DOF to be appointed. Brian Houston and Bruce Langham would have been strong candidates but as they were retired from full-time business our attentions turned to head-hunting. For us as supporters, Leanne Dempster was a standout, given the improvements she had engineered at Motherwell. She also sat on the SPL board along with Rod. So when 8 months later in April 2014 her appointment was announced to some of us in advance of the press release, the PR guru at Hibs said - "you lot will be happy now!!" He was referring to the 'not so subtle' lobbying campaign that had taken place over the winter behind the scenes, in LWT supporters groups and on message boards.
http://www.hibs.net/showthread.php?270339-Director-of-Football-and-CEO&p=3727400&viewfull=1#post3727400

As for Leeann being a success - that's 100% down to her!

A great insight to the recent past of the upper management at ER.

[Bostonhibby]

Yes, that's all well and good....but what have the Romans ever done for us?

:greengrin
Or what did romanov do for the poppy thieves?

Looking at where we are today I think petrie has played a blinder at becoming less significant in relation to our on the pitch performance and we've raced away from shabbier clubs with decaying stadiums and dubious balance sheets whilst he's looked after everything else.

Not a fan but I'll give him that.

[brog]

As someone who worked at close quarters with Rod and the board to set up LWT I used to evaluate all things Hibs from my boring perspective of a business consultant. The trouble was that the 'supporter engagement' process suffered the same fate as similar initiatives at the club inasmuch as they were too 'corporate'.

Over the period of financial pressure and infrastructure development Rod had tried to appoint and delegate to a Chief Executive role. Scott Lindsay was promoted from CFO to CEO in 2008 and was a hardworking guy but with 3 accountants (Rod, Scott and Jamie) on the board, Hibs lacked sufficient football entrepreneurship. The East Stand was a great project and we were still producing a top 6 SPL side under Yogi. After Scott left, Rod then promoted Fyfe Hyland, who I also had a lot of time for but I felt he offered more creativity than he was offered within our board structure. Brian Houston joined the board and those of us in LWT genuinely felt that he could bring about the improvements spelled out in 'The Hibernian Way' proposal created by the LWT Vision Group.

When Fyfe resigned and after 5 months of Scott coming back in temporarily to hold the reigns we ended up back without a CEO again. Rod, devoted as ever, was then trying to wear 3 hats (SPL/SFA, Chair and CEO) and sadly this coincided with a managerial merry-go-round of Hughes then Calderwood then Fenlon then Butcher. All able and proven managers but none of them with a football-savvy CEO and football operation to support them. The other issue with the absence of a CEO and the top-heavy decision-making hierarchy (Board, Rod, Sir Tom) was that after a promising start, the LWT initiative started to falter. After a presentation to the board the 'Hibernian Way' proposal didn't get the traction that Brian Houston, Matty Fairnie and Vision Team's efforts had warranted.

Around the summer/autumn of 2013 LWT started to lobby for a CEO & DOF to be appointed. Brian Houston and Bruce Langham would have been strong candidates but as they were retired from full-time business our attentions turned to head-hunting. For us as supporters, Leanne Dempster was a standout, given the improvements she had engineered at Motherwell. She also sat on the SPL board along with Rod. So when 8 months later in April 2014 her appointment was announced to some of us in advance of the press release, the PR guru at Hibs said - "you lot will be happy now!!" He was referring to the 'not so subtle' lobbying campaign that had taken place over the winter behind the scenes, in LWT supporters groups and on message boards.
http://www.hibs.net/showthread.php?270339-Director-of-Football-and-CEO&p=3727400&viewfull=1#post3727400

As for Leeann being a success - that's 100% down to her!

A superb post. Really good to get factual insider info as opposed to inane comments based on prejudice & ignorance. Thank You!

[Cosmic Truth]

Yep, she's done a tremendous job in terms of giving the club an identity again, bringing the fans back and of course delivering the Scottish Cup. We've failed under Dempster league-wise so far but, looking at the bigger picture, she has taken the club from an absolute mess to a point where the fans are flooding back to see a team they are proud of. No mean feat when you consider where we have been. I still feel like there is potential for more under her stewardship though, starting with promotion obviously.

On the face of it, that's true, but there have been unusual circumstances that have gone aagsinst the team in the last couple of years. Two teams, Hearts, and The Rangers, have been in the championship when they've not really been in there due to the traditional method of getting bad results in the previous season. I believe Hearts ended up third in the premiership the season after they won the championship, and now The Rangers are in third place in the top division.

This season has been one where opponents are there due to league placings the season before, and not some relegation due to points deducted for administration, or a club with a far bigger budget climbing the leagues due to going into liquidation, and starting up again. Now that things are more equal, Hibs are well in front of the other teams, and are about to win the league. I think she's done a tremendous job so far.