Trio of new directors to Falkirk board

Gordon Wright, Colin McFarlane and Gordon Colborn will take the boardroom membership to seven, all on a non-executive basis. The trio will be proposed to the shareholders at the Bairns’ AGM which could be held in a matter of weeks.

Mr Deans, who has frequently stated the board was too small, was “delighted” to welcome some new faces to the table.

He said: “Since my appointment as chairman at the end of 2019, it was abundantly clear that we needed to not only increase the head count of the board, but also to inject new, fresh ideas, enthusiasm and skills if we are to realise our ambition of regaining our place at the top table of Scottish football.

“I’ve worked closely with all three over the past few months on a number of projects such as improving club communications and transparency, attracting new investment, encouraging greater supporter involvement, but also updating the governance and legal structures of the club.

“Their work and counsel during this time has been invaluable and I believe they will greatly enhance decision making at the club.

“Whilst we’re not yet in a position to update supporters on a number of projects that we’ve been working on behind the scenes, we expect to present more information at the AGM in late August/early September.

“We will also announce some fundamental changes to how the club is governed and how supporters can play their part in future decision making.

“We hope this will be a significant step to rebuilding confidence, transparency and trust in how the club is run.”

The appointment of the trio follows what has been described as a rigorous, independent selection and interview process which was led by former Falkirk FC company secretary Ronnie Bateman, local solicitor Gordon Marshall and Brett Ingle, general manager of Macdonald hotels .

Mr Colborn – a former schoolboy footballer for the Bairns – is an experienced business advisor who has worked with some of the world’s leading companies over the last 30 years. He was born and brought up in Falkirk and has been a season ticket holder for over 30 years.

He has been chief executive of two Scottish consulting firms, and a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers, leading their consulting business in Scotland.

Colin McFarlane has also been a season ticket holder for more than 30 years and is the son of Gordon McFarlane, one of the founding members of the original Back The Bairns campaign in 1998. He also hosts the ‘Walking Down Hope Street’ Falkirk podcast.

A director and head of Public Affairs at the Edinburgh-based Pagoda PR, Mr McFarlane spends his days advising clients how to engage with the media, government and their stakeholders.

Prior to this role, he spent a decade working at Westminster and Holyrood.

Mr Wright grew up in Laurieston and Polmont and has been involved in the financial sector since joining Scottish Amicable (now Prudential) straight from Graeme High.

In 1998 he joined the US firm Franklin Templeton, and returned to Edinburgh in 2011 working in a consultancy role on technology and operations and is a non-executive director of the trade body Scottish Investment Operations.

The trio will join Peter Duncan, Kieran Koszary, Gary Deans and Lex Miller on the Bairns board.

Mr Miller, the only director remaining from the club 
major shareholders’ group, is also due to be up for re-election at the AGM.