Henry McLeish is confident Scottish football is beginning to put its house in order, but feels “the mark of respect for a credible game” will come with sponsorship of all its competitions.
The former First Minister was commissioned in 2009 by then Scottish Football Association president George Peat to come up with a series of recommendations aimed at improving the game in Scotland, the findings of which were published the following year.
Speaking at Hampden, McLeish revealed his delight that more than 95 per cent of the 103 recommendations are either completed or under way.
He had called for the merging of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League and the introduction of play-offs, both of which were recently implemented.
The Scottish Professional Football League was formed in June following a merger between the SPL and SFL with play-offs introduced between the top two leagues – the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Championship.
However, the new league set-up and the League Cup has yet to attract a sponsor.
“The mark of respect for a credible game is when we have sponsors for everything we do,” said McLeish. “We don’t have them. But let me tell you why I think things can be different in terms of sponsors.
“A lot of people said three years ago that it was high time that football put its own house in order and you have to help yourself before you can seek help from other people.
“My view is we had to go through three years of torture and hell and kind of torment to get the point where we can more confidently say, ‘look we have done our bit to put our game in order, there are still challenges ahead but we can go to sponsors and investors and say I think we are doing enough’.
“I would be hopeful that with the one league body, with the changes at the SFA, with a purpose behind the game, a lot of sponsors might think ‘okay, this is the time to move’
“It might not be in the next few weeks or months but overall we have to be optimistic.
“We have a situation where we have everything in place and can look forward with confidence to a new era.”