Hibs chief and former Easter Road figure elected to SPFL board

The Easter Road figurehead, who took the reins in February following the untimely passing of predecessor and club owner Ron Gordon, will be joined by the newly-elected James Bisgrove, CEO of Rangers, and Ross County director James MacDonald on the ten-strong board, joining SPFL chief Neil Doncaster, chairman Murdoch MacLennan, and independent non-executive director Karyn McCluskey.

Seven individuals are elected by the 42 SPFL teams at the governing body’s AGM, comprising three cinch Premiership representatives, two from the Championship, and two for League and League 2, with one serving as an alternate director.

Joining McPherson, Bisgrove, and MacDonald to represent the second tier this year are Paul Hetherington of Airdrie, who represented League 1 and 2 last year, and ex-Hibs sporting director Graeme Mathie, currently managing director at Ayr United. Forfar’s Alastair Donald and the newly-elected Peter Davidson of Montrose will represent Leagues 1 and 2, with Davidson assuming the role of alternate director.

Hibs' non-executive chairman Malcolm McPherson has been elected to the SPFL board. Picture: Paul Devlin / SNS Group

At the AGM clubs voted unanimously in favour of a recommendation from the club licensing and membership criteria group headed up by Stenhousemuir chairman Iain McMenemy that all SPFL clubs be required to hold a bronze licence in terms of Scottish FA club licensing, as well as a recommendation from the competitions working group, chaired by Aberdeen’s Steven Gunn, that the 12 top-flight clubs be required to operate a ‘multi-ball system in league matches’ with the remaining 30 clubs to signal their preferred system to the SPFL ahead of the start of the league season.