SDS Staff

Alan joined the Council of Supporters Direct Scotland in the summer of 2017 and became our Chief Executive in May 2018. He has been on the board of Raith Supporters Trust since 2004, and his work on the SDS Index has given supporters across Scotland greater insight into the ownership status of their clubs as well as their approach to transparency and supporter engagement, and he has had several articles published regarding the ownership structure of his own club.

When he’s not writing, thinking, talking about or playing football (badly) his work in a specialist management consultancy sees him focus on the implementation of strategy – planning this with senior teams, developing communication approaches to key stakeholders, engaging and enrolling teams and functions, and tracking the impact of these strategies on business results. His role in Supporters Direct Scotland sees him use these skills to enhance our offer to supporters groups, football clubs and our governing bodies.

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Andrew is a Lecturer and Teaching Fellow in Sports Management at the University of Stirling, and leads our Club Development Consultancy service. He
He is passionate about social enterprises and using sport for community development, and in 2010 he co-founded the Scottish charity Africa On The Ball.

He has a ILM Level 5 in Social Enterprise Support, an MSc in Sport Management from the University of Stirling, and a PhD from the University of Strathclyde in Social Sciences (conducted in collaboration with the Scottish Football Association).

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Nick is Chief Financial Officer of Supporters Direct Scotland.

He is a Chartered Accountant with 32 years’ post qualification experience including 27 years as finance director. Between 1997 and 2012 Nick was West Ham United’s Finance Director.

Since 2013, Nick has been engaged as a consultant on numerous projects for supporters’ trusts aspiring to gain control of their clubs, including the successful conversion to community ownership of clubs such as Newport County, Grays Athletic, Peacehaven & Telscombe and St Mirren.

Nick also lent his experience to Supporters Direct initiatives such as the Expert Working Group on Supporter Ownership and Engagement.

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