1. Getting married very young

I GOT married when I was 19 and in hindsight I was very young. At that time, the thinking was if you met a good man and got married you didn’t really need to worry much about a career.

Now, having two grown-up grand-daughters who are 22 and 20, I realise how young I was at that time, and I think: “Oh my goodness, how on earth were we married at that age?” Nevertheless, I don’t have any regrets.

I met Joe at the youth club in Clydebank when I was 16 and he was 20.

Joe was a basketball player for the Clydebank Hustlers and I used to travel with him to the games. He worked in the shipyards as a welder and I worked in an office doing admin.

Clydebank was an industrial town. I remember going to see the QE2 being launched and it really resonated with me, as most people worked in the shipyards or the Singer sewing machine factory, including my own family.

2. Having children

WE were married in 1973. Our daughter was born in 1975 and our son in 1978. I didn’t go back to work after my daughter was born as at that time there was no real support system to help you. While I appreciate and support women who want to go back to work after they have their children, I have to say that was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. It was a lovely time, your friends were all in the same boat and you could spend your time together watching your children grown and learn, which was great. I would wander along and see my mother and mother-in-law and that kept the nucleus of the family together.

Having children gave me a different perspective on life. I remember being on the bus one day after a day out in town and watching office workers through the window and thinking, “gosh, look at them – they all think they’re doing important work, but I’m the one who is doing the most important job”.

Bringing up children is underrated. Nobody says “well done” or that you’re doing a good job – which would be nice, because I believe that a lot of mothers feel as if they’re just muddling through.

3. Going back to work

The 1986 Commonwealth Games

ONE of the girls I worked with in my previous job, Maureen McGregor, recommended me for an opportunity to work with Scottish Amateur Wrestling.

It was the run-up to the 1986 Commonwealth Games and they were running the Commonwealth amateur wrestling championships and wanted someone in admin for six weeks. I was there for seven years.

I was working with Sandy McNeil, who was president at the time, and Sandy was great to work for. He delegated and gave me responsibility to carry through my ideas and trusted me to get on with the job. I feel like he really shaped a lot of my future working in sport as he gave me the confidence to do the job.

Sandy couldn’t attend one of the Commonwealth wrestling annual meetings held in Malta, and he elected me to represent the organisation – I was delighted.

I was never made to feel that there were any issues about women not being able to do the job and it was a good grounding for me.

4. Scottish Women’s Football

I ONLY worked part-time at first because of the kids, but then I was asked by sportscotland to consider doing a couple of days a week for Scottish Women’s Football (SWF), an organisation that was not very well established at the time. It turned out that it would take a good few years of my life – 20, in fact.

Women’s football had about 18 senior clubs then and no youth leagues, and the SWF were responsible for every aspect of football: development, schools, international and domestic. I could see right from the start the potential for the sport, but also recognised that there were a lot of stumbling blocks to overcome to help progress the game. There was no relationship between the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and women’s football, and it was a big barrier to break down. It’s difficult enough now, but it was even more difficult back then.

5. The European Championships

ONE of the first things I was asked to do was to put together a paper to submit to the SFA to apply to the Football Trust for funding to take a team to the European Championships.

We met with the SFA and asked for £12,000. I remember one SFA member said that was fine as long as we didn’t get the Faroe Islands in the draw – as getting there would use up the £12,000. Naively, I thought: “What are the chances!”

We got the Faroe Islands.

At the time, you had to fly first to Copenhagen then to the Faroes. I had a couple of sleepless nights then decided the best plan was to try to hire a small plane. We found someone in Aberdeen and we flew in a 32-seater to Wick, refuelled and went on to the Faroes. We stayed in a hotel one night, played our game – which we won – and they kept the airport open so we could fly back afterwards. The plane cost around £3300, so we had money left for the other games.

For the home games, one of the things we had to do was fly the Fifa flag and the flags of the participating countries. The grounds we used at that time didn’t have flagpoles so I borrowed the portable ones from the local garage.

One of my other tasks was getting the national team kit. We created a tartan shirt. The first time they wore it for an international I heard two men chatting in the stand and saying they looked like they were playing in their pyjamas!

I thought, “you just don’t know how hard I worked to get this deal and give the players an identity”.

Or something similar!

6. The SFA deal

The Women's World Cup

BROKERING a deal with the SFA to take responsibility for the international team was a huge breakthrough.

They also agreed at that time to house women’s football in their offices in Glasgow, and sportscotland agreed to cover salary costs. I had to apply for the full-time executive administrator post and was fortunate enough to get it. They told me it was because of my passion for the job and sport. I was quite relieved I came through that process. We then became an Affiliated National Association and I became the first woman to sit on the SFA council.

One of the first events I was invited to was a pre-match meal for a men’s international. Beforehand, someone said to me I would be sitting at the women’s table.

I thought she was joking, but when I got there they put me at the table with all the council members’ wives rather than the people I worked with. The next day I spoke with chief executive Jim Farry about this. I sat with my male colleagues next time.

There were a lot of firsts after that. I was the first woman to go to a PFA dinner and the first to go to the Football Writers’ Association dinner, so I had lovely opportunities working with the SFA. I was also the first woman to sit on the Scottish FA’s Non-Professional Game Board.

It’s brilliant the women’s national team played at the Fifa Women’s World Cup, and it’s nice to think that I played a small part in that by brokering the deal with the Scottish FA many years ago.

7. Being a grandmother

I AM now the proud grandmother of three grandchildren: two granddaughters aged 22 and 19 and one grandson aged six.

It has been really lovely and for me it was fab being a younger granny. I can do things with my granddaughters and we have a laugh together. Now there’s another wee one coming through and he gives me a different perspective in life again, and that’s just great.

When he was about three, I remember taking him to the park and showing him the football pitch and telling him that was where the girls and boys played football. He said: “Gran, don’t be silly. Girls don’t play football.”

Twenty years working in women’s football and he was telling his gran to stop being silly!

It brought home how low the profile of the game is in the media, and no matter how hard we’ve tried to change attitudes, culture change takes a long time.

8. Launching Scottish Women in Sport

BACK around 2012/13, every time I jumped in the car and put on the radio Claire Balding was being interviewed about the status of women’s sport and how there was no investment in it and little media coverage.

It made me realise that there was no organisation in Scotland that brought together people who wanted to make a difference for women in sport. So I decided I should do it.

In November 2013, with help from various people, I launched Scottish Women in Sport at the Emirates Arena, courtesy of Glasgow City Council. Judy Murray, Katherine Grainger and Elaine C Smith were there, along with Alison Walker, who hosted the event, and lots of sportswomen from various sports. This got more media attendance than I had ever had while trying to promote women’s football.

I registered SW/S as a charity and it’s been hard work. However, it’s been fabulous. I love working with all the sports and helping to bring gender equality to the forefront.

9. Girls Do Sport

WE secured a grant from Awards For All in 2017 to launch Girls Do Sport. I wanted to do something to help all Scottish sports promote their women in sport.

We received £10,000 and invited all sports to hear our plans. A total of 27 sports came forward on the night, but we could only choose nine.

Along with students from the University of the West of Scotland, we created mini TV programmes, and each sport had their own branding created for them by Brand Oath. Everyone I have met on this journey has been very kind and supportive, but I now realise that we can’t live forever on kindness. We need to find ways of increasing our income.

10. Scottish Sports Future

ABOUT a year after I launched SW/S, I was approached by Ian Reid, the founder and CEO of Scottish Sports Future (SSF), who asked me to join the board. Four years on and I am now chair.

It is important to get committed board members, and at SW/S I have a great group. I knew I had to commit to SSF and not just pay lip service. This has been easy for me as the staff are so committed to what they do.

They are one of the leading “sport for change” organisation in Scotland and it’s a privilege to be part of this.

Working with more than 7000 young people per year and 20,000+ volunteers, I am in awe of the work they do.