Following the meeting,

The Board confirmed the following:-

1. Nic Coward and David Davies will assume the temporary roles of Acting Chief Executives until a full time successor is found. Mr Coward joined The FA in 1996 and is currently Company Secretary. David Davies joined The FA in 1994 and is currently Director of International Strategy. The FA's Board reiterated its confidence in the remainder of The FA's Executive Management Team, whose roles remain unchanged, and thanked them for their professionalism and support since Adam Crozier's resignation.

2. The Board will appoint a headhunter to find The FA's new Chief Executive. The headhunter, yet to be appointed, will report to a Board sub-committee made up of David Dein, Roger Burden, Peter Ridsdale and Ray Kiddell, plus The FA's Chairman, Geoff Thompson. The headhunter will be briefed to find the best possible candidate.

3. Ray Kiddell becomes a Vice Chairman of The Football Association, following Frank Pattison's decision to step down. Mr Kiddell joins existing Vice Chairman, David Dein in this role. Mr Kiddell joined The FA Council in 1980 and was General Secretary of Norfolk FA between 1980 and 1995.

4. The Board will consider the appointment of a new Technical Director to replace Howard Wilkinson in due course.

5. Discussions regarding a 'Professional Game Board' will continue over the course of the next few weeks.

6. The Chairman, Geoff Thompson, together with the four FA Board Premier League representatives have met with Sven-Goran Eriksson to explain the outcome of The Board's discussions today. The Board fully expects Sven Goran Eriksson to continue his excellent work as England's Head Coach.

7. Negotiations on all outstanding commercial matters and contracts have progressed exceptionally well in the past seven days and The Board reiterated its thanks to all The FA's commercial partners for their loyalty and support.

8. Finally, in formally accepting Adam Crozier's and Frank Pattison's resignations, The Board placed on record its thanks and appreciation to both gentlemen for their contribution to The FA's progress in the past three years. The Board also thanked Mr Pattison for his considerable service to The FA and English football over many years. Mr Pattison remains on The FA Council.

The next meeting of The FA's Board will be on 19 November 2002.

David Davies

David has worked for almost a decade at The FA, first as Public Affairs Director, then Executive Director and, since July 2002, Director of International Strategy.

He came to The FA after more than 21 years as a BBC Television/Presenter. During that time, uniquely he covered General Elections and World Cups, as well as working on programmes as diverse as 'Grandstand', 'Match of the Day', 'Songs of Praise' and the Six o'clock News.

He was a member of the production teams that began 'Newsnight' and the first commercial radio station, LBC.

David has responsibility for building and nurturing England's football relationships around the world and more than 200 members of FIFA. He serves on several UEFA and FIFA committees and panels.

Nic Coward

Nic joined The F.A. in May 1996, a few weeks before Euro '96, as its first in-house lawyer. He had been seconded to The F.A. for 6 months in 1995, to rewrite the constitution of The FA, particularly its rules and regulations.

At the time, Nic was a solicitor at Freshfields, specialising in litigation. He had qualified there in 1992.

In 1998, Nic was appointed Company Secretary and joined the Management Team. Since then, in addition to all legal issues, he has had management responsibility for a great many areas of the organisation, including being one of the three (together with Davies Davies and Michael Cunnah) who covered as Chief Executive for the 12 months between Graham Kelly's departure and Adam Crozier's appointment.