The Chairman once again expressed his commitment to a structural review of The FA and the appointment of the right person to act as the independent chair.

The Chairman looked forward to EURO 2005, the UEFA Women's European Championship, which will be staged in England for the first time in the summer. He explained that it will give a fantastic boost to women's football, which is already the biggest female participation sport in the country.

The Chairman also noted that UEFA’s recently released rankings at youth level bode well for the future of English football. Over a three-year period England’s Under-17 team was ranked number one in Europe, while England’s Under-19 team was ranked number two, second only to Spain.

The Chairman's speech was followed by a detailed presentation of the Senior team's performance at EURO 2004 by Sven-Goran Eriksson. He drew on UEFA's report from the tournament, in which Technical Director Andy Roxburgh had described some of England's performances as "enthralling and top class."

The England Coach then took questions from the floor and left the stage to a warm round of applause.

Michael Cunnah, the Chief Executive of Wembley National Stadium Limited, then updated the Council on progress on the project. He confirmed that WNSL was happy with the assurances it had received from main contractor Multiplex that the stadium would be completed on time, in order to host The 2006 FA Cup Final.

Both presentations were well received and the Chairman concluded the meeting with his closing remarks.

The Council is the ultimate decision-making element within The Football Association.

Its 90 members are chiefly the elected representatives of clubs, leagues and associations from all over the country.