How does one join the Scottish Football Association as its first full-time Compliance Officer? As Vincent Lunny puts it, "Pure luck! Apart from getting paid to watch football, [the best part of my job is] working with the crowd here at Hampden, Scotland's national stadium . . . [My colleagues] have quickly become friends as well as colleagues and we play football every week. I've lost twenty pounds since Christmas."
Mr. Lunny completed his law degree at the Law School at the University of Glasgow, not far from his hometown of Motherwell. After graduation, he was awarded a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, funding a year's study abroad. After three recommendations in as many weeks from friends who had recently visited Vancouver, Mr. Lunny chose UBC and joined the Class of '97.
During his time here Mr. Lunny took part in several activities, playing intramural futsal and going to Coquitlam at the crack of dawn to see live Celtic and Rangers games. His most memorable moment at UBC Law was joining Professor Hogarth and several other law students on the Unity Train from Vancouver to Ottawa during the spring of 1997. "Five days of music, playing cards and watching the stunning Canadian countryside rolling past at a very civilized pace - through the Rockies, the plains and the Northern Shield. It was the year the Red River flooded in Winnipeg and my memories of the water alongside the railway lines are still vivid."
After graduating from UBC, Mr. Lunny returned to Scotland and in 2001 became a Procurator Fiscal Depute, a position similar to that of Crown Counsel and one that he would remain in for over ten years. Three of those years were spent working at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. While his work there was understandably challenging, his new role comes with its own difficulties: Mr. Lunny's every move is scrutinized, and he recalls one member of the public writing to suggest that he was biased against the Rangers, while pointing out that he himself was not being sectarian and not a "bigamist". Despite this, Mr. Lunny enjoys his work and remains inspired by the example set by his parents, especially his father, a high school teacher. "High school years were tortuous as a consequence but now I realize how influential this has been in setting high standards and goals and following through on them. If I can be half the man my father is I'll be more than happy."