Tributes have been paid to David Taylor, the former chief executive of the Scottish Football Association and UEFA, who has died aged 60.
Taylor took on one of the most powerful jobs in world football when he was appointed as general secretary of UEFA under Michel Platini in 2007. He was viewed as the architect of the move to expand the European Championships from 16 to 24 teams.
SFA president Campbell Ogilvie said: "On behalf of his friends and former colleagues at the Scottish FA, and throughout Scottish football in general, I would to express our profound sadness at the tragic news of David's death.
"I would also wish to send our deepest condolences to his wife Cathy, and their children James and Alan, at this dreadful time.
"David was a solicitor to trade but it was his love of Scottish football and, in particular, the Scotland national team that stirred his passion during his tenure as chief executive.
"He was great company, had an astute business mind and a forward-thinking approach to the game that, allied to his patriotism as a member of the Scotland Supporters Club, helped take the Scottish FA forward administratively.
"It was no surprise to any of us who witnessed his work at close hand when UEFA came calling for his services as General Secretary in 2007. He has remained a friend and supporter of the Scottish FA and the game in general in this country and he will be dearly missed by all of us."
In 2011, Taylor collapsed during a staff football match after suffering a blockage of the major arteries and his heart stopped before he was revived with a defibrillator.
Taylor became the first chief executive of the SFA in 1999, succeeding the long-serving secretary, Jim Farry.
Born in Forfar in 1954, Taylor was educated at Dundee High School and Edinburgh University, graduating with an LLB degree in law. He qualified as a solicitor and practised until 1985, during which time he also gained an MSc in economics and an MBA.
He joined the Scottish Development Agency (now Scottish Enterprise) in 1985, and held a succession of senior positions before being appointed the first Director of Scottish Trade International - a body set up to promote Scottish business overseas - before his appointment to the SFA. He worked as general executive of UEFA before moving to the post of executive director.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article