Martin Edward Bain (born c. 1968) is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of FSDL, the organising company of

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

. He has also served as the CEO of English club

Sunderland A.F.C Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six ...

, Scottish club

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

Life and career

Bain modelled part-time and worked in a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

city-centre bar before focusing on a career in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

. He worked for Scottish football club

from 1996 and was appointed to the board of directors in September 2001. During this time, he undertook roles as Commercial Director and Director of Football Business. Bain was appointed chief executive by chairman Sir David Murray on 11 February 2005. On 15 July 2008, Bain was elected to the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

's board of directors for a second term. On 6 May 2011,

Rangers F.C. Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...

was sold by David Murray, the majority shareholder, to

Craig Whyte Craig Thomas Whyte (born 18 January 1971) is a Scottish businessman best known for his controversial spell as owner of Scottish football club Rangers. Whyte first entered business in a plant hire company, after which he moved into security, ma ...

. As part of an independent panel set up to represent 27,000 minority shareholders in the sales transaction, Bain refused to agree to the sale and was subsequently suspended by the new owner. Bain resigned in June 2011 and raised an action in the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...

in relation to a breach of his employment contract, but abandoned his damages claim in March 2012. Following the administrative crisis which engulfed Rangers subsequently, during an SFA tribunal in May 2012 it transpired that Bain presented diligence to Sir David Murray at the time of the sale that proved his stance at the time of the takeover to be the correct one. Bain was appointed chief executive of Israeli club

in September 2014. During his time in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, the club won the domestic treble in 2015 and qualified for the Champions League. Bain was also a director of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

, helping negotiate its biggest ever broadcast deal. In 2016, Bain joined

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six t ...

, replacing Margaret Byrne. His contract was terminated by the club by mutual consent in May 2018,Martin Bain: Sunderland chief executive leaves as club scrap position
BBC Sport, 22 May 2018 following the club's second relegation in two seasons. He is said to have made regular use of the cryo-chamber during his time at the club. On 11 October 2019, Bain was appointed as CEO of Football Sports Development Ltd., organisers of the

, the top-tier football league in India.

References

Living people 1960s births Scottish chief executives Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Israel Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Sunderland A.F.C. directors and chairmen {{Scotland-business-bio-stub