Chief Executive & President
The Scottish FA Council met last Friday to discuss the proposed changes to the Articles of Association in time for the AGM on June 7. Stewart Regan and Campbell Ogilvie continue their roadshow to promote the new strategy.
Commercial and Communications
UEFA Grassroots Festival
As part of UEFA Grassroots Day, wewill be running a UEFA Grassroots Football Festival on the morning of the Scottish Cup Final where 120 kids are coming along with their coaches from Celtic, Motherwell and Queen's Park FC to play 4's, 7's and 11's in order to showcase the player Pathway.
The kids will then form part of the Scottish Cup Final parade, led by Stevie Kirk and Tom Boyd.
Katy Perry will provide the pre-match Fireworks and Carling, the official beer of the Scottish Cup, will host the ‘Carling Mates Challenge’ at half time with Scotland v Czech Republic tickets up for grabs.
Carling Nations Cup
Craig Levein will name his CNC squad on Tuesday. Whisper it, but WTH? has learned Ross McCormack will return to the international fold . . .
Visit www.fai.ie for ticket details.
New Teamwear Range
Greaves Sports and adidas launched their new teamwear range last week so if you run a football team and are looking for new strips or teamwear in the latest designs, check out this fantastic range.
Scotland v Spain
Scotland supporters will be heading to the holiday hotspot of Costa Blanca when Craig Levein’s side take on World Champions Spain on 11 October.
The Spanish FA has confirmed that Scotland’s final match of the Euro 2012 campaign will be played at the 30,000 capacity Estadio Rico Perez in Alicante.
Kick-off time and details of Scotland’s ticket allocation are still to be confirmed.
Customer Services
So far around 2300 Supporters Club members have bought tickets for the Wales match and 3300 will attend the match against the Republic of Ireland. Keen SSC member Barry Fitzpatrick has also won the chance to become our official blogger for the Carling Nations tournament.
Football Development
Goodbye, Farewell
We are sad to announce that Mark Munro has left us for pastures new. I’m sure we’d all like to thank him for his 6 year dedication as the South East Regional Manager and wish him all the best for the future in his new job. David Drummond will replace Mark as the Regional Manager for South East Region. There will be a vacancy for the Club Development Manager post for South East.
Now that’s what I call good luck
Sheila Begbie has been appointed the UEFA match delegate for the Women's Champions League final at Craven Cottage in London later this month and she also won the bonus ball at the weekend! Hopefully her luck continues and we wish her well in the Women’s Champions League Finals.
A & B Licence
Just a reminder that our A Licence Intro starts May 22nd - 30th and the assessment is the 28th May – 2nd June. For the B Licence the intro is 4th -12th June and the assessment is 11th -14th June.
Student Award Night
Young coaches from the West Region's 'College Student Football Volunteer' programme were celebrated at Hampden Park on the night of the Scottish FA Youth Cup Final.
South East Coaching Conference 2011
Coaches from the Scottish FA South East Region were once again treated to a high profile line up at this year's Coaching Conference.
IT & Special Projects
IT are currently working on 28 active projects, 11 in progress and 17 in requirements gathering stage. The most high profile of these is a new disciplinary processing system and online registration for Senior and Junior clubs.
The department was recently reviewed by an external consultant, the AMOR Group, Scotland's largest IT Company, specialising in software and strategic planning and consultancy. The AMOR Group reviewed department practices and plans in 12 key strategic areas and the feedback was the best rating of any IT Department they had reviewed.
Referee Administration
Preparations have been finalised for the Referee Grading Meeting over Thursday 19th and Friday 20th May, after an interesting season in the world of refereeing. The Referee Committee will convene to decide on the promotions and demotions before attending the Scottish Senior Football Referees’ Association Gala Dinner, which the Disciplinary, Referee Development and Referee Administration Departments will be guests at.
Referee Development
The Referee Recruitment & Education Manager post is now on the website and Craig Thomson netted another prestigious appointment (Europa League Semi Final 1st Leg, Benfica v Braga) and sets his sights on Euro 2012.