The former Aberdeen forward, who serves as an independent non-executive director to the Board of the Scottish FA, has been recognised in the Administration category for his work in football governance at the ceremony which took place in London last night.

The Football Black List, founded in 2008 by sports journalists Leon Mann and Rodney Hinds, highlights trailblazers working across all areas of the game from the Black community.

A panel of experts drawn from the football industry and the Black community independently vote on nominations made by the public to determine who makes the list.

In the players' category, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong were among the nominees, while Burnley manager Vincent Kompany and Birmingham City Technical Director Hope Powell were included in the coaching and management category.

Kpedekpo, who joined the Scottish FA Board in 2019, is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Director, who has global experience in corporate finance and private equity across a range of sectors.

Having joined Aberdeen as a schoolboy, he made his debut in 1995 at age 18 and made several first-team appearances while completing a university degree in Management and Accountancy.

He left Pittodrie - and gave up professional football - to take up a role with KPMG, firstly in Aberdeen and latterly in Australia, returning to Scotland to work in the venture capital arm of the Bank of Scotland before leaving to set up a private equity firm alongside two of his colleagues. He subsequently spent time at Harvard Business School, where he focused on the international private equity and venture capital market.

He also served as a board director of Scottish Golf, prior to joining the Scottish FA board.

Scottish FA Director Malcolm Kpedekpo: “To achieve this unexpected recognition from such a fantastic and worthwhile initiative is a great honour.

“The work that The Football Black List does across the game is vital and I would like to extend my thanks to the panel and those who put me forward.

“I am grateful to find myself in such illustrious company and I offer my congratulations to all the others recognised in different categories.”

The full Football Black List 2023 is listed below:

LGBTQI+ AWARD

Caz Simone – Huddersfield Town Women

Players - Off The Pitch

Nikita Parris – Manchester United Jess Carter - Chelsea Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool Jeremie Frimpong – Bayer Leverkusen Lyle Foster - Burnley

Ugo Ehiogu - Ones To Watch

Keah Forino-Joseph - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, The FA Josh Booth-Sawyerr – Senior Account Manager, Ten Toes Olivia Portas – Assistant Producer – BBC Sport Khadidia Timera – Judge, FIFA Dispute Resolute Chamber William Bitibri – Founder, Down The Wings

Commercial

Christina Taylor - Founder, Aim Sky High Talent Kemi Benjamin – Senior Brand Director, Nike Roscoe Bowman – Founder, Squad Sports Ini Umotong – Player Management Executive – Women’s Football Adidas Kenny Annan -Jonathan – Creative Director, Crystal Palace

Media

Helen Campbell – Multi Camera Director, SCC Media Miles Addy – Founder, The Content Club Kevin Ramsey – Director of Studios, Sky Ade Oladipo – Presenter, DAZN Boxing, talkSPORT Seb Hutchinson – Commentator, Sky Sports

Coaching and Management

Hope Powell – Technical Director, Birmingham City Liam Rosenior – Head Coach, Hull City Vincent Kompany – Manager, Burnley Nicole Farley – Coach, West Ham Darren Moore – Manager, Port Vale FC

Practitioners

Ifeanyi Odogwu – Sports Law, Premier League Judicial Panel Anika Leslie-Walker – Chair, Manchester FA Inclusion Advisory Board Marcus Gayle – Club Ambassador, Brentford Fern Whelan - EDI Women’s Football Executive, PFA Kerry Downes – CEO, Luton Town FC Community Trust

Administration

Eartha Pond – Founder, ESP Foundation Charity Abiola Ijasanmi – Chief Operating Officer, Confederation of African Football, Tony Burnett – Chief Executive, Kick It Out Malcolm Kpedekpo – Director, Scottish FA Matthew Ryder KC – Senior Barrister, Matrix Chambers

Community and Grassroots

Cordell Lake-Benjamin - Targeted Intervention Youth Worker at the Palace for Life Foundation Andrew Ducille – Operations Manager, BCOMS Billie Graham - Women and Girls Football Development Co-ordinator, Arsenal in the Community Richard Taiwo – ESOL Teacher and Coach Solomon Paul – Groundsman, Highfield Rangers FC

Cyrille Regis Award

Sam Allison – Referee, Premier League Akil Howson – Assistant Referee, Premier League