Dempster interview- The Times

[Hibeesmad]

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.”

[theonlywayisup]

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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.

[Hibeesmad]

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😬

[green day]

I'm more worried about losing LD than I am of losing individual players.

She seems to know her stuff, and I liked the non emotional way she dealt with Levein comments.

[duffers]

Good read. I love Leeann

[theonlywayisup]

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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.”

[hibsbollah]

She was a great signing.

[Danderhall Hibs]

Cheers for posting. Is that it all? Feels like it ends abruptly?

[Betty Boop]

A Rangers season ticket holder for twenty years. Wonder if she belted out the party songs ?

[hibsbollah]

I'm interested in the detail of this europa league expansion thing she's talking about. Peter Lawell made reference to it in November and the Daily ****** picked it up but has any other news outlet? And us there any detail anywhere? Can't see it if there is.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

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A Rangers season ticket holder for twenty years. Wonder if she belted out the party songs ?

Would be more concerned with the rangers coming a knocking. They seem to have a cluster **** at board level that needs to be sorted.

[Oscar T Grouch]

I love LD for how she has guided our club over the four years she’s been with us. This sort of article is great for Hibs but I fear being in the national press it will attract interest from covetous clubs down south. Anyway it’s kinda good to hear it’s £3m we’re looking for for SJM and as ever it’s great to see Levein being slapped doon by our CEO.

[Scorrie]

Thanks for posting. A good read and I believe we are very fortunate to have her at our club

[Betty Boop]

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Would be more concerned with the rangers coming a knocking. They seem to have a cluster **** at board level that needs to be sorted.

Yea she worked with Stewart Robertson, Rangers MD at Motherwell.

[Jones28]

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She was a great signing.

The best appointment the club has made in my 24 years as a Hibs fan.

[Ozyhibby]

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I'm interested in the detail of this europa league expansion thing she's talking about. Peter Lawell made reference to it in November and the Daily ****** picked it up but has any other news outlet? And us there any detail anywhere? Can't see it if there is.

The most important part of the interview and good to here we are ready. Massive change is coming to European football whether we like it or not. We need to make sure we are involved.


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[WhileTheChief..]

From the way she talks about Lennon it doesn’t sound like he’s looking to leave for the Scotland job.

Of course she could be lying and be part of some media conspiracy to ruin Hibs progress!

Things are good just now, on and off the park.

The only folk putting the boot in are some fans on here. Weirdos.

[Ozyhibby]

Lawell talking about Europa league expansion.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/...veals-11527511


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[Golden Bear]

I remember the first few weeks after her appointment there appeared to be an organised and concerted group of Hibs fans whose motive appeared to be to get rid of her asap.

I could never quite understand it myself, but I don't do politics myself.

[Steve-O]

Interesting interview. I didn’t know she was a Rangers fan of 20 years. Now interesting why the club kept quiet on all the Rangers stuff...🤔

[Topographic Hibby]

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I'm more worried about losing LD than I am of losing individual players.

This 100%. Players can come and go, but we have a strong, talented CEO that would be a tremendous loss if she left.

[CentreLine]

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Interesting interview. I didn’t know she was a Rangers fan of 20 years. Now interesting why the club kept quiet on all the Rangers stuff...🤔

It was certainly common knowledge and not kept at all quiet when she joined us. I seem to remember seeing it mentioned in several of her interviews. Never bothered me in the least. Best thing to happen to the club since STF saved it. To be fair I don’t think anyone has ever been too bothered by it and that’s why it never comes to the fire too often.

[marinello59]

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Interesting interview. I didn’t know she was a Rangers fan of 20 years. Now interesting why the club kept quiet on all the Rangers stuff...🤔

Behave.

[blackpoolhibs]

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I remember the first few weeks after her appointment there appeared to be an organised and concerted group of Hibs fans whose motive appeared to be to get rid of her asap.

I could never quite understand it myself, but I don't do politics myself.

Was there, i cant remember that?

[Since90+2]

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I remember the first few weeks after her appointment there appeared to be an organised and concerted group of Hibs fans whose motive appeared to be to get rid of her asap.

I could never quite understand it myself, but I don't do politics myself.

Can't remember that ever happening.

[hibs#1]

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Lawell talking about Europa league expansion.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/...veals-11527511


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Would be good to get more Scottish clubs further on in the Europa league (as long as we are in a position to take advantage of that.)

Also as much as I dislike celtic it's a disgrace how many qualifiers needed to get into champions league group stages. That also applies for any team that would win the Scottish league and other smaller nations.

[we are hibs]

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I remember the first few weeks after her appointment there appeared to be an organised and concerted group of Hibs fans whose motive appeared to be to get rid of her asap.

I could never quite understand it myself, but I don't do politics myself.

I think it was more aimed at Petrie and Farmer and people were rightly sceptical at the time due to the previous few years of false hopes and dross

[hibs#1]

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I think it was more aimed at Petrie and Farmer and people were rightly sceptical at the time due to the previous few years of false hopes and dross

That's correct.

[Stonewall]

I remember a few questioning the wisdom of spending money on implementing the structure we now have and the potential knock on effects for the playing budget, given that the budget was going to be tight anyway.

[Col2]

Surprised she didn’t mention anything re fans and massine increase in season tickets and attendances.

Good interview though and absolutely key to taking us forward.