SPL looks for chief executive

The Scottish Premier League have confirmed they are looking for a new chief executive after deciding to resurrect the role within the organisation.

Lex Gold has been executive chairman for the past seven years but will now step back into a non-executive position.

The SPL abolished the role of chief executive as part of a cost-cutting exercise following the collapse of the Sky television deal in 2002.

An SPL spokesman said: “This is something that has been planned for several months and has been discussed with the clubs since the start of the season.

“We’re now on the front foot again and the clubs have agreed that the time is right to re-introduce this role.”

The SPL refused to confirm if anyone had already been approached but their former commercial director Stewart Thompson, who left to take up a similar role at the Football League in England, has revealed he had been contacted.

“It was great to be considered but I am perfectly happy where I am,” he said in the Herald.

The SPL hopes to make an appointment as soon as possible but their spokesman added: “Getting the right person is obviously the priority but it will depend on what their commitments are.”