Highland League secretary John Grant is to retire at the end of the season after 40 years in the post.
Grant replaced Charlie Fraser in 1976 and has overseen major changes in north football, not least the loss of five clubs to the Scottish League.
It has been a successful, but at times turbulent administrative career and Grant said: “I started the job in 1976 after calling time on my 10-year refereeing career.
“I was appointed by the chairman of Inverness Thistle, the late great Jock Macdonald, when he took over as league president at the same time.
“In its 123-year history, since it was formed in 1893, the Highland League has only had five secretaries, and 40-years are nothing compared to my predecessor, Charlie Fraser, who served for 53 years.
“In 1994 we lost three of our biggest clubs, Inverness Thistle and Caledonian merged and we also lost Ross County to the Scottish League at the same time. Six years later Elgin City and Peterhead followed, but we re-grouped and eventually came back to 18 member clubs when Turriff United, Strathspey Thistle and Formartine United were admitted.
“Our league now is extremely competitive. Rothes are at the foot of the table, but they can take heart as during my time in office the likes of Ross County, Peterhead, Buckie Thistle and Deveronvale have all been at the foot of the table, football goes in cycles, and it always will.”
Grant believes the introduction of club licensing and the pyramid system in recent years have been key developments.
He said: “To be part of the professional game clubs had to agree to club licensing. I’m very pleased every club now has a licence, but disappointed that while every Highland League club has floodlights, when the Lowland League was formed last season, that particular criteria was taken out.
“The pyramid system came in last year and we are still tinkering with it. It has caused problems for the Highland League as we have to finish the fixture programme, and have a champion, before the second Saturday in April, to accommodate the play-offs. We have lost four Saturdays and four Wednesday night fixtures, so we are having to squeeze those match days into a midweek or the odd spare Saturday throughout the rest of the season.”
Highland League president, Dennis Bridgeford, paid tribute to a man who has become an institution in the Scottish game. He said: “John has been fantastic. When you consider the turmoil in football over the years, his contribution to the whole of the Scottish game cannot be underestimated.
“I don’t think John’s achievements over his four decades in office will be surpassed, or equalled. His knowledge has been a godsend for myself as Highland League president, and for many of my predecessors.
“John is a stickler for the constitution, I’ve learned from him that if you stick to that you won’t go far wrong.”
Grant, who lives in Elgin with his wife Barbara, retired from his day job in local government nine years ago, and added: “We will certainly find plenty of things to do. Both Barbara and I are very keen gardeners, we also do a lot of walking and travelling all over the country while during the winter you will no doubt find us out skiing somewhere. It’s going to be different”