IT says much for Scottish football’s long-standing attitude towards women that for many years the most famous female in our game was Aggie the tea lady at St Johnstone.

It was she who told Graeme Souness where to go one day at McDiarmid Park, well he had smashed one of her cups, and didn't back down when the Rangers manager had a go back, which not many were brave enough to do.

There was nothing odd about someone such as Aggie working at a football club, as long as they poured the tea, answered phones or typed letters. This was the early 1990s and while Perth even then resembled pre-war Britain, don’t think for a moment this male dominated atmosphere was confined to the sticks.

Read more: Gordon Strachan set to remain as Scotland manager for Wembley date with EnglandThe Herald: Hearts owner Ann Budge

Put simply, as Frank McAvennie might have said, where were the burds?

They weren’t in the boardroom or dressing room. There might be a shareholder here and there but the idea of them having any great say in how a club could be run was unthinkable. There were plenty of female supporters by the late 20th century which wasn’t a common sight for the best part of 100 years of football being played in this country.

Although perhaps the reason those lacking a Y chromosome stayed away was because there were no women’s toilets inside the grounds.

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But my goodness how things have changed. In a recent survey it was revealed three, that’s three, out of 70 directors of the Premiership clubs were women. What a giant leap forward. Or something.

The three are Ann Budge at Hearts, more on her in a bit, Motherwell’s Leanne Thomas and Jacqui Low at Partick Thistle. Neither Celtic nor Rangers has ever had a woman director and these are clubs which allowed Michael Kelly and Craig White respectively onto their boards.

We’re not Saudi Arabia; however, given the identity of the First Minister, leader of the two next biggest parties and the British Prime Minister, is football not just a touch out of stop in 2016.

Putting the words ‘Scottish football and women’ into an internet search engine is to reveal some attitudes shocking to our modern values and at the same time it does give you a good laugh.

“The young women presented a pretty appearance on the field, and this was in a great measure due to the nice assortment of colours, as well as the dainty way in which the women set them off.”

This was from a newspaper report of a match in the 19th century, and you think some of the stuff written now is objectionable.

In this very newspaper a few years ago, an article on the problems women have always faced being accepted by football told the story of one Elsie Cook, who ran Stewarton Thistle, who was the first ever secretary of the Scottish Women’s Football.

At the time Willie Allan, the top man at the SFA, after some perseverance conceded to meet the little lady who had been pestering him for a chat.

"I finally got an appointment with him at Park Gardens," revealed Cook. "He turned out to be a lovely wee man, but he said there was no place for women playing football. He couldn't bring himself to say the words, but patted his chest and asked how a woman could play a contact sport. I felt sorry for him."

Oh, and those of us who were in the scribbling business 20 years ago can’t feel too smug. Back then the Scottish Football Writers' Association did not allow women to join their organisation and therefore no female working in this section of the media were able to vote for the player of the year.

To give this some context, it was around about this time when that well known feminist state Afghanistan allowed women for the first time to participate in elections.

Things have changed slowly, albeit at a snail’s pace, but if many of the free-thinkers who want the best for our game had their way, there would be one of these women folk at the top of the tree at Hampden right now.

The amazing Mrs Budge, who saved Hearts and is behind a major redevelopment of Tynecastle, has not put a foot wrong in over two years in game. Even the sacking of club legend Gary Locke as manager, which didn’t feel right at the time, has turned out to be the right decision.

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Anyone who meets the 68-year-old businesswomen says three things. She is good company, fiercely intelligent and you wouldn’t want to cross her. That will do for me.

The SFA badly needs a shake-up, as if that’s big news, and Budge is the man, sorry woman, to do just that.

She has saved one of the biggest clubs in this country, turning them from being a relegated basket case to one challenging at the top of the Premiership. She takes no nonsense and has fresh ideas about how to go forward which are always worth listening to.

Time to step aside Stewart Regan for someone actually qualified for the job. Although I’m sure Budge would keep him around if he made a nice cup of tea. Bless him.