Access All Areas - Iain Blair

What does your job at the SPL involve?

I am responsible for managing the competition itself.  Everything from fixtures to rules and regulations and player registration.  I am a member of the SFA Professional Football Committee and am a Trustee of the SPL Trust, our charitable organisation.  I also have an involvement in the European Professional Football Leagues (a trade association for premier leagues in Europe) and Football DataCo (the company which deals on our behalf with pools companies and bookmakers).

What is the best part of your job?

I have the great good fortune that I am able to watch some of the best football in Scotland and beyond and it is part of my job.  I also have the opportunity to travel which is mostly very enjoyable, but sometimes a lot less so.  But I know I am lucky.

What is the worst part of your job?

There isn’t really a worst part.  Like all jobs there are pressures and deadlines to deal with but I don’t see these as a bad thing, just part and parcel of what I do.  I have no complaints.

What do you do on a Saturday afternoon?

Half of the time I will be attending a Clydesdale Bank Premier League match somewhere.  These provide an ideal opportunity to talk with the club Chairmen and Chief Executives in a less formal atmosphere than a Board Meeting or Club General Meeting.  The other half of the time you will find me in the Cow Shed at Cappielow.

What has been the highlight of your time at the SPL and football in general?

I am a fully paid up member of the Tartan Army and two of my highlights relate to that.  My first Scotland game was Scotland v Cyprus in the 1970 World Cup Qualifying.  Scotland won 8 – 0 and Colin Stein scored 4 goals (the last hat-trick by a Scotland player) I knew then that Scotland was the best team in the world.  I was also at Anfield in 1977 when Scotland beat Wales 2 – 0, Kenny Dalglish scored the winner, and we qualified for Argentina 78.  Great memories!

From the SPL point of view my highlights have been the two UEFA Cup Finals which I have attended as SPL Secretary, Seville in 2003 and Manchester in 2008.  When I joined the SPL no Scottish club had been in any European final for more than a decade, yet I have been fortunate enough to attend two in 5 years.