ANDY Barrowman is talking enthusiastically about the future. He has been waiting for this moment almost from the day he stopped kicking a ball some six years ago.

Not for him the tracksuit and trainers or cones and clipboards of the coaching world. Instead Barrowman – an itinerant striker who played for 14 professional clubs – has long harboured ambitions of carving a career for himself on the business side of football.

It's an area in which he has already made his mark: Hibernian, St Mirren and Ross County have all announced new kit sponsorship agreements in recent weeks with Joma Sport, deals that Barrowman helped to negotiate in his role as senior brand manager for the Spanish sportswear company.

He is set to leave Joma at the end of this month for new challenges, one of which became apparent earlier this week when Barrowman, 36, was officially unveiled as sporting director at League 2 new boys Kelty Hearts.

Furthering himself through education and preparing for life after football has been something that has occupied his thoughts since he was a young man studying for a sports studies qualification at Solihull College during his time at Birmingham City.

“I've always been interested in the business side of football. I was never one for looking at coaching badges when I was in my mid-20s, I didn't think I would have a future in the game in terms of coaching, it wasn't my thing, it didn't interest me. I started a degree in business management when I was 28. It was done through Fifpro, the governing body for players around Europe. I was the first one from Scotland to do it – there have since been a few more, Scott Boyd is now working at St Johnstone as head of football operations, he did the same course.”

“It took me into my first proper job with Joma Sport. Football is a big part of what Joma do but also I've worked alongside big organisations like Scottish Athletics and Basketball Scotland, it is still the governance of sport and I have learned from a lot of people. I've just been like a sponge – I've been very lucky to meet a lot of great people involved in the running of football clubs.”

While news of Barrowman's appointment was made public in recent days he has already been involved in some of the summer's early heavy lifting such as the recruitment of former Scotland and Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson – “a great coup” – to succeed Barry Ferguson as manager and the impressive signings of Joe Cardle and Jamie Barjonas (loan) from Partick Thistle and Rangers respectively. The most significant new arrival of the lot speaks to Kelty's newly acquired status in League 2.

“You are trying to sign a centre-back one minute and the next it is a new safety officer – something Kelty have never had because it has never been needed until you are in the SPFL 2. There are lots of things that lots of people at the club are having to do that are new to everyone. There's never a quiet period but I'm enjoying it.

"It's supposed to be part-time, but I don't think there is such a thing as a part-time job in football, anyone who has worked in it will tell you that. This time of year it has mainly been about recruitment and, obviously, we have had a change of manager as well.

"We are delighted to get Kevin, it is a great coup for the club. He is destined for bigger and better things, no disrespect to Kelty Hearts, but he is, you can just tell that he's got it. After that it was about helping him to build the squad that he wanted and it has been all hands to the pump on that.”

The discovery that the list of duties at New Central Park is never ending comes as little surprise. Kelty, after all, is a club that is embarking on its first season in senior football. He says he has already had the conversation with wife, Lucy, about what that means for his free time.

“I'm not under any illusions, it is going to be really busy, there is going to be a lot of work involved. It's not a couple of nights training and a game on a Saturday. But I like to be busy, if I wasn't doing that I would be keeping myself busy doing something else. I go to watch a lot of games or I did prior to what has happened over the last year.

"My wife knows that, she knows it is a passion of mine. We had that discussion in terms of what it will mean, we've got two young kids, Stefan and April. She is happy for me, she knows it is something that I have worked for a few years for. She's really supportive. But, aye, I'm pretty sure she'll moan,” he laughs.

The post of sporting director has long been one viewed with suspicion in Scottish football, but Barrowman believes attitudes towards the role are changing as more clubs place an emphasis on the importance of detailing the administrative side of a job once carried out by the manager to someone with specialist knowledge.

“The worst phrase in football when you ask 'why do you do something that way?' is 'because we have always done it that way'. Honestly, it really makes me angry when you hear someone in a football club say that. It's just a really dangerous phrase. Football is guilty of that but in fairness there are sporting directors at the top clubs [in Scotland now].

"I think having people who have played the game as well as being involved in the business side helps. I'm not saying because you have played the game you should walk into a job, you've obviously got to have the right kind of credentials to take on the role but I think it is something that clubs of all levels could do more of.”

To anyone who has cast even a cursory eye in Kelty's direction in recent seasons, it is clear they have grand plans. The Fife club, backed by the ample fortunes of businessman Dean Mckenzie, were awarded the Lowland League title two seasons ago, only to be denied their shot at a promotion play-off due to the political machinations that enveloped Scottish football last year as a result of the season being curtailed due to the pandemic.

They were not to be foiled this time around, however, prevailing in matches against Highland champions Brora Rangers and then League 2 stragglers Brechin City in May. When talk turns to Kelty's rapid ascent, the main topic of conversation is invariably about money and the telephone number figures reputedly earned by their players. Barrowman laughs when he is asked about it.

“Some of the figures that get bandied about . . . listen, I was one of them before I became a party to it. I was probably spreading the rumours as much as anyone else.

A bit of it is Chinese whispers, it's nothing like some of the figures. But, we won't shy away from the fact that we have a good budget. The owner Dean Mckenzie, it's his passion, he's a Kelty man. He would be sat in that stand every Saturday even if he wasn't involved in the running of club. It's a big passion and he has invested his money wisely. It comes with it's challenges but we can use that to our advantage as well.”

Kelty have certainly started life at the next level in positive fashion. Today they drive north to Arbroath for a match that could decide which club reaches the knockout stage of the Premier Sports Cup.

Having already soundly beaten League 1 East Fife, League 2 Elgin City and narrowly lost to Premiership Dundee United, they will travel without fear to the Championship outfit. Barrowman says that above all, Kelty will look to enjoy the experience, even if their exploits so far have marked them down as early League 2 title favourites.

“It's good to give us that marker. We've got a good squad and we think we can compete towards the top half but, ultimately, we need to win games of football.

“It's a massive game and we have put ourselves in a shootout with Arbroath basically to go through as one of the best placed runners-up. It's a big game for us, we're looking forward to it, we're enjoying the ride and we'll do it with a smile on our face. We are there to enjoy it, we don't do it for any other reason, it's a bit of a labour of love.”