On Thursday (30 November), the Scottish FA Convention will take place for the fourth consecutive year at Hampden Park.
The Convention offers all Scottish FA member clubs a forum to share best practice, discuss current trends and participate in workshops geared towards improving the game.
It is the centrepiece of the Scottish FA Congress, a forum that is now fully representative of the Scottish football family with the incorporation of PFA Scotland, Coaches’ and Managers’ Association, sportscotland, Scottish Senior Football Referees’ Association and Scottish Football Writers’ Association.
The day will be hosted by Richard Gordon and Eilidh Barbour and an array of speakers will take to the stage to educate attendees and provide food for thought on how they can further develop their own clubs.
Maurice Tollenaar of UEFA and David Elleray of IFAB will consider how technology will change football as they talk about new trends in media rights and the use of video technology respectively.
Omar Chaudhuri from the 21st Club will tackle the subject of recruiting the right people and challenge participants to think differently around bringing new people into their organisation.
In the afternoon three workshops will take place.
Alyson Evans of the Scottish FA will discuss children’s wellbeing and Kerry Keenan from Celtic FC will explain how the club celebrated the 50th year anniversary of the Lisbon Lions conquering Europe.
Members of the Scottish FA Youth Ambassador programme will also lead a workshop reflecting on the work they have done within the organisation following a year of being paired up with Scottish FA staff.
All attendees will also hear from Southampton FC’s Director of Football Operations Ross Wilson who will focus on club and player development before the day is rounded off with Malky Mackay.
The Scottish FA Performance Director will be joined by Scotland Women’s head coach Shelley Kerr along with former Scotland midfielder Murdo MacLeod for a panel discussion on what it takes to be a winner.
Live updates of the Scottish FA Convention will be tweeted from the Scottish FA Twitter account.
Scottish FA Chief Executive Stewart Regan said: “The football calendar can be relentless but the Convention on Thursday will allow us all to draw breath, share ideas and discuss ways to deal with the challenges that we are all facing.
“The programme for the day has been designed bearing that in mind with a variety of speakers lined up to educate those in attendance.
“The Convention is now in it’s fourth year and provides a relaxed environment for all our member clubs and the football family to learn more about a number of different areas in the game and think differently about how they approach situations in the future."