#Celebrating30YearsInTheIndustry
#Day22
#Highlight22
#ScottishFootballClubs
In 2007 working as a Channel Manager for Opal Telecom, we were bought by Carphone Warehouse Group. It was a exciting time. Opal brought with it Data Centres and Fixed expertise whilst Carphone a Mobile business. This gave birth to what is now known as the Talk Talk Business Brand.
Promoted to Strategic Business Manager, I loved working with the acquisition sales teams. They were having success in the Football Club sector, Kenny Neill winning Celtic FC, Stewart H. winning Rangers FC, and I won Hearts FC and Kilmarnock FC. If memory serves me right Darren Lindsay may have won Aberdeen FC or wanted to anyway?? 😉
We provided everything from Mobile, PBX Soultions and Maintenance, to MPLS, Ethernet, and V-Lan Solutions, Data Centre rack space, to the Non Geo Numbers and IP Interactive Voice Response Platforms for inbound calls.
I went on to be Corporate Accounts Director for Talk Talk, managing the relations with all 4 clubs, who were tough commercial negotators, I must add!
When I managed the FCs, I must have been the only person in Scotland who wanted Celtic, Rangers Hearts and Killie, to get onto Europe, 😆 as it meant organic growth on calls! Fans desperate for merch and tickets for the european games would flood the inbound lines! I have so many fond and funny stories from my time managing the clubs.
For my first pitch to Hearts, I had drilled my presnetation deck to the hilt, as I was keen to show the boys I could win Football Club contracts too, 😉Hearts were owned by a Lithuanian chap at that time, and his son sat on the decsion making board.
I recall Stewart and I turning up, and there was a room of 15 people waiting for me to present, including an interpreter (I didnt speak Lithuanian and the clubs owners son, had limited english). It was unusual presenting hearing everything you say repeated back in a lithuanian delay, but I found my rhythm, had a great presentation and won the contract (after some testing Q&A)!
I also recall when visiting Kilmarnock FC, (suited with the high heels on), climbing ladders and crawling through the stadium roof to identify and capture the LAN estate and design, coming down the ladders looking like I had stepped out the scene of a horror movie! 🤣 Wasnt afraid to get my hands (and everything else) dirty!!
When at Rangers FC , by chance the legend John Grieg was on site one day. I happened to have a birthday card in my bag for my hubby. I took the opportunity to ask him to write it and he kindly obliged! ed! Jacqueline Gou was the business manager at Rangers at that time, and although we both moved on, we have remained friends to this day.
The Celtic hospitality days were much fun, and messy too!
So many fun memories of working with the Scottish Football Clubs, those frienships from 2007 made and blessed to say still all friends today. 🥰 Fun times!
Graphic Designer
2moWho Dey from the UK!