PLAYING IT SAFE

After 40 years in game, PFA chief asks for clubs to be held accountable for fan behaviour

- KEITH JACKSON

FORTY years ago almost to the day Fraser Wishart decided to take a punt on himself.

Aged just 18, he took a year out of university to sign his first-ever contract with Motherwell and have a crack at playing football for a living instead.

It was, as he admits himself, a bit of a long shot. If truth be told Wishart half expected to be back hitting the books studying French, politics and European history before his 12-month deal was up.

Four decades on, he's now looking after the interests of every professional footballer in Europe in his role on the board of global players' union FIFPRO.

Bigger still, Wishart has recently been appointed to UEFA's club licensing committee, putting him up there with the likes of Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell and SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster on the list of our game's most influential men in Europe's corridors of power.

If Wishart concludes that any club across the continent is guilty of failing to provide their employers with a safe working environment - or even simply going to the trouble of paying them for their services - then he can see to it that they are denied access to European competitions. Not bad for a wee boy from Pollok Juniors.

Wishart smiled: "I remember at the time thinking, I'll give this one year and see where it goes. If I don't make it I'll just go back to uni!'

"I did think, after that, my journey in football would be finished. Now here I am, 40 years later, still going.

And yet, despite Wishart's lofty perch among Europe's movers and shakers, the Scottish often finds himself hitting his head PFA chief against a brick wall, here in his own backyard.