Geoff Thompson, The FA's Chairman, has told TheFA.com that during the forthcoming period of change following Adam Crozier's resignation, stability and continuity of The FA's executive team is key: "Our commercial partners quite rightly demand and expect continuity of relationships at a time like this. In particular, there has been some media speculation as to the future of Paul Barber, our Marketing & Communications Director, following Adam's resignation.

"My Vice Chairman, David Dein, together with Paul Nolan, The FA's Director of Human Resources, and I met with Paul at the end of last week and we made it very clear on behalf of The FA's Board that we wanted him to stay in his role at the FA. Paul has been with us for two and a half years and he has been doing an excellent job.

"I am delighted to say that Paul has formally confirmed to me that he is willing and keen to stay in his role and to continue to support The FA by providing the necessary stability and continuity for our commercial relationships."

Paul Barber explained his decision to stay, saying: "We have built an excellent team at the FA and secured excellent relationships with all our commercial partners. In the light of that the board asked me to continue to provide some stability. I like to think that I'm professional and that I am loyal. I've been loyal to Adam and I've discussed the matter with him."