Meet the Team

Heather Richards joins us at PFA Scotland after six years working within employability in the third sector. Heather has gained great experience supporting individuals to move into education and employment and has delivered SQA accredited qualifications and employability workshops within schools and community settings.

Heather played within the SWPL 1 for many years with both Celtic and Hibs. During the period 2014-2015 Heather was capped with the Women’s National Team receiving four caps.

Heather has a good understanding of combining education and playing at an elite level through her time at the National Performance Centre.

Over the last 3 years Heather has coached within the Girl’s youth set up and helped support the next generation’s progress in their career.

Heather is eager to support individuals within the Women’s and Youth game to plan for their future after or alongside playing using her own experience.

Craig Beattie joins us at PFA Scotland after a long professional playing career. He started as a 16-year-old at Celtic and played for numerous clubs along the way such as West Bromwich Albion, Swansea City and Heart of Midlothian.

He then began playing part time with spells in the Scottish lower leagues with Ayr United, Stirling Albion, Edinburgh City and most recently Elgin City before retiring. Craig accrued many honours both in Scotland and in England during an impressive career including winning leagues, cups and getting promoted to the EPL via the playoffs with Swansea City. He is also part of a privileged number of footballers who have been fortunate enough to represent their country at international level.

When Craig made the move to part-time football he began working in residential child care supporting some of the UK’s most vulnerable children.

Having been a Club Rep in the past he understands how crucial it is that players have a strong voice through their union and the importance of what PFA Scotland offer its members.

David McCracken joins us at PFA Scotland after a long professional playing career, including coaching and managerial experience as well. With playing experience in Scotland with clubs including Dundee United, St Johnstone, Falkirk and Peterhead alongside a 4-year spell in England with clubs such as Wycombe Wanderers, MK Dons, Brentford and Bristol Rovers, David comes with a wealth of experience in the footballing industry both on and off the pitch. Throughout David’s footballing career he has also had to adapt through various life experiences and challenges out with playing, coaching and managing in football. A vital part of the whole journey has been self-development and transitioning into other career paths and job roles.

Having used the services of the PFAS on several occasions to gain new qualifications including becoming a Level 3 Personal Trainer, gaining a Plastering qualification and most recently an Applied Management in Football through Edinburgh Napier University, David has seen first hand just how important the PFAS support system is to help with life outside and after football.

Other career sectors David has experienced include supplying nutritional products, Gym Manager and Strength & Conditioning Coach, Courier delivery driver, Car salesman, Estate agent and Property developer. Throughout these times being faced with adversity, learning new roles, having to show resilience through loss of jobs and finding new career pathways which places David in a strong position of our Wellbeing Development Officer to help support our members with any challenges or changes they are possibly going through in or away from their footballing career.

You can contact David on David@pfascotland.co.uk or 07935714688

Ryan manages all of PFA Scotland’s Digital & Social Media output – working closely with everyone in the team to promote the good work of the union. Possessing a life-long passion for football, Ryan’s expertise lies in campaign planning and execution, social media management and innovative content creation across various industries.

He promotes and digital activity around PFAS events such as the PFA Scotland Awards Dinner, Showcase & Exit Trials & Kick Off – both from a union angle and a commercial angle for our valued business partners.

Ryan also manages the website and members area – exclusive to PFAS Members, this contains benefits, discounts, education opportunities, legal advice and much more in one handy location.

For any marketing collaborations, support or anything at all you can reach Ryan at ryan@pfascotland.co.uk or on 07592273311.

Seamus joins us at PFA Scotland while he completes his law degree at the University of Strathclyde.

He is currently in his second year, studying Law (LLB) with Spanish.

Seamus works primarily within our administrative operations framework at PFA Scotland.

He will also assist our legal department on various PFA Scotland legal cases to gain invaluable experience in sports and employment law.

Once he attains his law degree, Seamus aspires to specialize in sports law, primarily within football. Therefore, he is delighted to have the chance to integrate his studies with his role here at the players union.

Seamus has always had a passion for the game; however, this has developed further through starting his role at PFA Scotland, and through the coaching he does as well.

Susie van der Post successfully built up her own business 20 years ago with the primary focus of Project Management and boasts a portfolio of clients in Scotland and overseas. Susie is no stranger to Scottish football as her history includes the Sales Manager at Rangers FC and assisting Hibernian FC with Hospitality Operations.

Susie has been a vital part of the PFA Scotland team for over 17 years arranging the Player of the Year Awards. With Susie’s focus and direction, our annual Awards event is now seen as THE social highlight in the footballing calendar.

As a key part of our team, and due to her experience and input, Susie’s is responsible for our Commercial activities in addition to running our Events.   As Susie is well known to our current Business Partners, her role is also to secure new Commercial Partnerships which will mutually benefit our members whilst being the main contact for our current clients.

Susie can be reached anytime at Susie@pfascotland.co.uk or calling 07720 416 661

Sylwia is PFA Scotland’s Operations Administrator. She has over 15 years’ experience in administration and customer service gained in the care and hospitality sectors her ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently makes her a real asset to the team.

If she was to describe herself she would say she is a team member who enjoys “smashing goals, crushing tasks and working hard!”

Sylwia is responsible for PFA Scotlands Membership and Operations administration.

You can contact her at sylwia@pfascotland.co.uk or call the office on 0141 353 0199.