It has been quite a journey undertaken by Leeann Dempster. The Hibernian chief executive arrived at a club facing relegation and stricken with anxiety in April, 2014, and had to calm everyone’s nerves, and then find a new football manager. As baptisms of fire go, it was quite a challenge.
Eighteen months on, and testament to Dempster’s decision-making, Hibs are in a prolific mood. Fourteen wins in their last 15 games have catapulted Alan Stubbs’ team into a neck-and-neck Ladbrokes Championship race with Rangers, despite the Edinburgh club’s financial disadvantage. Part of this energy springs from Dempster’s appreciation of football’s holistic qualities.
“I love football, it is such a big narrative in our lives,” she says. “I love the raw emotion of it, the magic of the stadium. I remember when I first went in to Motherwell a fan said to me, ‘my heart is broken.’ Emotionally, and in so many other ways, football is so powerful. I love what the game can offer society, both on the pitch and off it.
“It was John Boyle who got me working in football in the first place. I’d worked with John in various contexts and one day he said to me, ‘please go in and fix our football club.’ Motherwell just needed modernising, and I came to really enjoy that dynamic within the game.
“At Hibs we’ve put in place a young, talented, dynamic staff, and I really enjoy being among them, trying to make plans, trying to map our progress. It is a very invigorating environment to work in.”
I asked Dempster if she had experienced much cynicism or disparaging comment as a woman working in a once-harsh and still predominantly male environment. Her answer was refreshing.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my life – I’ve experienced lots of positive attitudes towards women, lots of equality,” she said. “In fact, in some areas I’ve worked there have been more women than men in key positions.
“I don’t find football a negative place at all. I went to a Women in Football forum recently and was thinking, ‘I actually don’t feel I’ve been held back in the slightest.’ But maybe this is just me. My personality is such that I feel confident in what I do.
“I’d worked in media and advertising for 20 years, and maybe that environment, which is very inclusive, gave me confidence. John Boyle was also a mentor to me, and his attitude is very inclusive. I’ve learned what a positive environment at work is all about.”
In this context the question remains: can Dempster transform Hibs and restore them to the top of the Scottish game? The key to that ambition still lies in her appointment of Alan Stubbs as manager, a move that some viewed as a surprise. In Stubbs, Dempster totally spurned the tried-and-tested route.
“I have always felt Alan was the real deal,” she says. “If you are in executive management in football, you have to know the talent out there, and I knew all about Alan’s ability long before I came to Hibs.
“I think he has all the attributes. He is very thorough, very meticulous, and he can change the course of a game during the 90 minutes. He is typical of quite a few young, gifted, technical football coaches in Britain. The other thing I like about him is, he empowers people around him. He is a part of a coaching structure, and he understands that, and empowers others.”
Between them Dempster and Stubbs are heroically charting Hibs on a course to at least match Rangers – so far – in the Championship. As things stand they are joint top on 37 points, but with Hibs having played a game more. Dempster, though, always has the bigger picture in mind.
“We are a Premiership club playing in the Championship – you don’t break even in that situation,” she says. “But you can surely see – on the pitch and off it – that we are moving in the right direction. When I came here in 2014 we’d just been relegated and there was confusion and unrest. Now we’ve got a great vibe around the club and we’re in a much better place. And that is largely thanks to our supporters, who have come through the gates. Football fans come back when they can watch winning football.”
Come January, Rangers should be able to go out and strengthen their squad more forcibly than Hibs. Moreover, in Jason Cummings, currently a prolific Hibs goalscorer, are we not now heading to weeks of speculation about his own future at Easter Road? Dempster and Hibs know all about that following the Scott Allan saga.
“A number of our players are playing well, and quite rightly receiving plaudits,” she says. “So, inevitably, there will be transfer speculation. But I can tell you this – the players at this club really enjoy it here and are focused on helping us get promotion. Jason is a great young talent, but he is part of a bigger picture at the club, and he is committed to us.
“Every club can invest if they want to – it depends how you feel about your squad at the time. Remember, we invested heavily over the summer, bringing in around 14 or 15 players. We will go into the market in January if we need to, but I doubt it will involve half a dozen transactions…maybe just one or two.”
Asked if she thinks Hibs will make it back to the Premiership in May, Dempster returns to her theme of improving every area of the club’s life.
“I am not going to tempt fate by talking about that. At Hibs we are trying to improve the club, and we want to keep our heads and meet the task at hand. This is a massive football club in Scotland’s capital city and we have a very positive vibe around us. Our aim is to get promoted, and we are not going into this blindly. We know the implications if we don’t get promoted.
“We’ve overhauled this club, put in new structures and new management teams. We are part of a big, exciting story at the moment in Edinburgh, including sell-out crowds at Hearts. I think it is great to see. I really think some exciting things are happening in Scottish football.”
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