Media criticism said to be partly to blame for exit of SFA chief

ONE of the main reasons why Gordon Smith quit his post a chief executive of the Scottish Football Association was because of constant media criticism.

This was revealed by reporter George Mair in yesterday’s Scottish Sun, in an interview with Smith’s wife, Marlene.

She said of the former BBC Scotland pundit: “Gordon just felt it was the right time to go. He’d be listening to the radio or reading the paper, and it was saying: ‘Why’s Gordon Smith not doing this and why’s he not doing that?’ and he knew he had been doing that.

“Take the Welsh game, it really affected him. He was caught on camera laughing at half-time and it was in the headlines as if he’d been laughing about the result. In fact our friend from the Welsh FA had just cracked a wee joke about the weather and him not having a coat.” Scotland lost 3-0 to Wales

Marlene also revealed: “One day at Ayr races this guy said: ‘Hey Smith, is it not time you painted Hampden?’ You couldn’t win. But he was privileged to be part of it.”

And she said of her husband’s future: “There are always opportunities. I’ve always been very positive.”

A similar piece by Mair also appeared in The Herald.