QUEEN'S PARK Leeann Dempster has explained how the club landed AZ Alkmaar's Marjin Beuker. 

The 37-year-old has been appointed as the director of football and the League One club.

Beuker, 37, was attracted by the sales pitch of Queen’s Park backer Willie Haughey and chief executive Leeann Dempster as Scotland’s oldest football club embraces their new-found professional status.

The Glasgow club are aiming to become Scotland’s “leading club for player development”.

A statement from the cinch League One club read: “Renowned as a long-term, innovative thinker and disrupter, Marijn Beuker has led the extraordinary player development work at top Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for the past 15 years.

“During this period, AZ has grown into a leading development institute in Europe.

“In the last six years, the first team consisted for an average of 47.8 per cent of all official minutes from home-grown players and the club grew into one of the most attractive young teams in the Dutch Eredivisie and UEFA competitions.”

And speaking to Go Radio, Dempster has explained how she landed AZ Alkmaar's leading man Marijn Beuker.

She said: "We told him we'd watched what he did in Holland. We want to be a world-class environment for players to come.

"After having those conversations he was convinced. And the story of Queen's Park is magnificent and I think he was quite captivated by that.

"We're going to build an academy and redouble our efforts in that.

"We'll have a leader in our football department who will look after the academy and the development squad and first team as well."

Beuker said: “I am very proud to be able to take this new step in my career at one of the oldest clubs in the world.

“The ambition of the club to create sustainable success and the well-thought-out plan to make an impact in modern football in the coming years appeals to me enormously.

“I see a lot of opportunities to help Queen’s Park reach these goals and can’t wait to start a new future for the development programs and recruitment process of the club, together with all the staff.

“In the meetings I had with Leeann Dempster and Lord Willie Haughey, I quickly learned the important role Queen’s Park played in pioneering in the early stages of club football.

“It’s very impressive to understand the impact the club made and I am very grateful I can be a part of this new era for us all.

“I will respect the legacy of the club, but I am also ready to put a new dent in the universe.”