Mike Mulraney has branded critics of the Scottish FA executive board as ‘ignorant', as the SFA president defended a motion approved at yesterday’s AGM to double their salaries.
Members of the SFA board have long been subjected to criticism from fans and politicians for being out of touch with supporters, with slurs such as ‘blazers’ being par for the course.
Mulraney knew that a move to bring salaries within industry norms would not be a popular one among those critics. He will see his pay packet increase from £25,000 per annum to £50,000, while vice-president Les Gray’s remuneration package will jump from £15,000 to £30,000, and non-executive directors Alison McGregor and Malcolm Kpedekpo will see their salaries rise to £30,000.
The former Alloa Athletic chairman says though that the move was not prompted by greed, but by an effort to ensure that they can recruit candidates in the future who are not ‘independently wealthy or retired’.
“It always makes me laugh when people call you a blazer,” Mulraney said.
“I’ll show you someone who is ignorant of the facts.
“I don’t worry about people who call us blazers, because I know then they have no knowledge of what we do or respect for what we do. It’s looking for a cheap headline.
“It’s OK to knock the guys who do the job but if they didn’t care about the job they wouldn’t do it. We do it because we think we can move the needle.
“Believe me, there’s not one single person on the SFA board who is doing it for the money.”
Not one of the clubs represented at the Scottish FA AGM yesterday opposed the move to raise boardroom salaries, with Mulraney believing that the level of remuneration compares favourably to equivalent positions in other sports such as golf and rugby.
He also revealed that both he and Gray have deferred their own raises by a year.
“It’s important to stress that the remuneration for non-exec directors and office bearers was assessed and benchmarked independently,” he said.
“The members 100 percent supported the resolution with no objections.
“The vice-president and myself won’t take it this year and so it comes in at the point of next year’s elections.
“We need to make sure we can attract the best INEDs [independent non-executive directors] and best candidates.
“The independent audit came back, and I wasn’t satisfied with where it came back, because it was too high. I said we had to cut it below that in the current environment. So, we did.
“It’s a very small board, it’s a brilliant board but when we’re out there trying to get independent non-exec directors, we need the best.
“We’re the biggest sport, we’re the one who is going to change the landscape of their nation’s sport.
“I think I’ve got the best, but I’ll be looking for better.’ I will never be worried about saying my people are worth it, because they are.
“And not one single member disagreed. Not one.”
