As he prepares for the doors to open to allow him to park underneath Hampden, he is regularly approached by a maintenance man.

The exchange is curt, but not unfriendly. "He just asks me with a glint in his eye what this week's crisis is," says Stewart Regan. The executive is never short of answer. Today he faces the fallout of the national sides combining to lose 9-2 at the weekend: Craig Levein's men crashed 5-1 to the USA and the women's team lost 4-1 to Sweden. The SFA also faces a challenge in the Court of Session as Rangers protest the transfer embargo imposed on them.

Regan is brisk about how the SFA reacted to events at Ibrox and the series of unfolding dramas that has marked his 18-month tenure in his post. "It has been a bit of a challenge," he says. "I am up to volume three, chapter four of the chronicle of crisis."

He is convinced, though, of the validity of the revolution that has occurred within Hampden. "We have changed it for the better," he says of Scottish football. "What I have been really pleased with is that we set out to achieve something, we told people what we were going to do, we got their support and we went out and did it."

He was speaking almost precisely one year after all 93 of the SFA's member clubs voted to implement each of the recommendations in the Henry McLeish report to modernise the governance of the sport in Scotland. The main changes included the reduction of the SFA board from 11 officials to seven, a refined disciplinary procedure and the disbandment of the unwieldy committee system.

"We have been challenged," says Regan, employing a phrase that admits to turbulence but shows no signs of bending beneath its force. "If you take the Rangers case recently, only 18 months ago the accusation was that it was old-fashioned committees who were making decisions. Everyone talked about needing independence, transparency and speed. We have delivered but are now being challenged because sometimes decisions that independent committees make are not to everyone's liking."

He adds: "It would have been easy to cave in. But we have done what we thought was right. At the heart of everything a governing body is responsible for has to be sporting integrity. If you don't have sporting integrity then you might as well pack up and go home.

"From my perspective, we can hold our hands on our hearts and say we have done everything that we have set out to do and we are trying to drive the game forward in line with good corporate governance."

He may be bruised, if unbowed, by the challenges of reform, the referees' strike and the Rangers saga. He is energised, though, by the prospect of the National Performance Centre of Sport. More than £25m has been pledged by the Scottish government and nine local bidders have expressed an interest in building the centre in their area.

Regan describes it as the "beating heart" of Scottish football and wants it to be used by other sports bodies. He envisages "a building with a wow factor" containing everything from the best facilities to the best advice on psychology, nutrition and sports science.

As chairman of the steering group set up by the government to advance the project, Regan is enthusiastic in his rhetoric but steely-eyed when presenting the timescale. Mark Wotte, the SFA performance director, made a presentation last week to influential bodies with the government represented by Shona Robison, the minister for sport. The bid documents are being prepared, the open tender process will then be launched and the preferred bidder will subsequently be chosen by the steering committee and presented to the Scottish government for approval.

"We are trying to get it completed for 2016. That is our vision," Regan says bluntly. The committee has appointed James Watson, who has been involved in building the Olympic Village in London and the revamping of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

There has been strong interest from local authorities and universities in having the academy. Regan states there are already nine suitors, with more ready to throw their hat into the ring for a final selection that is scheduled to be made in 2013. He conceded private sector companies may be prepared to attach themselves to a bid, with the chief executive keen to explore the possibility of complementing the academy with a hotel.

The most crucial aspect of the development, however, will be its ability to produce world-class footballers. Regan is aware that winning is the name of the game. He speaks of learning through defeat when playing better teams but concedes flatly: "The role of the governing body should be successful national teams, men and women."

He knows that this encompasses a change in "attitude, mindset, ambition and application" and is in no mood to proceed cautiously. "You have to run quickly. This is a multi-million pound business and the clock is ticking. You only have limited time to qualify for tournaments. If you miss it, you have to wait for another two years for the next major qualification process. We need to change. It is about adapt or die. We have had to do that."

Wotte, the 51-year-old Dutchman picked a year ago to lead the revolution, has already instituted a philosophy with catchy slogans. It is about "quick feet and quick eyes" and "drill the skills and train the brain".

More prosaically, it is about adapting to an assured possession game with an end result. "We need to pass from the back and so need to find the players with the skills to do that rather than booting up the park up for a big centre-forward," says Regan. "We recognise our style is described as being physical and reliant on the long ball. That has to change. We also have to improve the last ball, make it count. We must have the killer instinct to get the ball into back of the net." The Scottish teams were the victims, not the perpetrators, of this ruthlessness at the weekend.

Regan admits he has spent 18 months "fighting fires" but he has not been scarred by adversity. The National Performance Centre for Sport is a bright, shining light that beckons him on. "I get a buzz out of this," he says. "I want to have talented kids being taken to another level by excellent coaching. There is no reason why we can not produce world-class footballers in Scotland."

His task now is to match this enthusiasm with results. It is sure to be a journey that is signposted by regular crisis talks with the maintenance man.