The Football Association's Management Team, working together with the FA Board, Council and staff, aims to deliver an effective and professional organisation for the greater good of English football.
The FA consists of a permanent staff, predominantly based at its headquarters at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park in Burton.
The FA Board
The Board is the primary decision-making body within the FA and is responsible for the FA’s overall strategy, all financial matters and oversees operating and financial performance and the system of internal control.
The Board comprises ten directors, being the Chair, the Chief Executive Officer, two non-executive directors from the National Game, two non-executive directors from the Professional Game and four independent non-executive directors (including the Group Audit & Risk Committee Chair).
Independent Non-Executive Chair: Debbie Hewitt MBE
Debbie was appointed FA Chair and Leader of Council in January 2022. She is Chair of the UEFA Men’s Euro 2028, the UEFA Club Licencing Committee and 2nd Vice Chair of UEFA Hatrick Committee. In 2023, she became the first elected female British Vice President of the FIFA Council. She is also non-executive chair of Visa Europe Limited and comparethemarket.com.
Debbie’s executive career was spent at RAC plc where she was group managing director and prior to that she was in retail management with Marks & Spencer. She holds an MBA (distinction) from Bath University, was awarded the MBE for Services to Business and the Public Sector in 2011, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and was made a Chartered Companion (Chartered CCIPD) in 2021, recognising outstanding and distinguished service to the people profession. In 2022 she was awarded the Honorary Degree Doctor of Business Administration by Nottingham Trent University, in recognition of her significant contribution to business and the public sector and in 2024, was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by London Business School for achieving outstanding distinction in business, commerce and public affairs. She was the first female MD of RAC plc in its 125 year history and is the first female chair of the Football Association in its 157 year history. In 2021, she was included in the Vogue 25 – British Vogue’s annual list of the UK’s most influential women.
Committees: Nominations Committee (Chair), People and Culture Committee (Chair), Remuneration Committee, Governance & Regulation Committee (Chair).
Executive Director: Mark Bullingham, Chief Executive Officer
Mark was appointed as the FA’s Chief Executive Officer on 1 August 2019. He joined the FA in August 2016 and previously led the commercial, marketing, digital and participation functions at the organisation, where under his tenure annual revenue rose by over £100 million. He previously held the position of CEO EMEA for Fuse Sports & Entertainment, responsible for running one of the fastest growing businesses in the sector with a client portfolio including ten of the top 30 global brands. Prior to Fuse, Mark was the Director of Marketing for the America’s Cup Event Authority in San Francisco. He has negotiated over $2 billion of partnerships across a variety of platforms in sports, arts and music and is a qualified Level One coach involved in grassroots football. He's also a trustee of the Football Foundation.
Committees: Commercial Committee, Wembley Advisory Board
National Game Representatives
Sarah Walters
Sarah was appointed onto the Board in July 2025. She joined the FA Council in January 2018 as the National Game's women's football representative, and then as a Football Communities representative in 2021. Sarah also became a member of the National Game Board in 2021. Sarah has extensive experience in the game, with a background in the women’s and girls’ game as a player and club official at grassroots and semi-professional level. Over a 21 year playing career in Tiers 2 to 5 of the Women’s Football Pyramid, Sarah has represented clubs including Newport County, Crystal Palace, Cheltenham Town, and Dulwich Hamlet. She is also a qualified referee, officiating at all levels from mini soccer to adult open age in both the men’s and women’s games. Her professional background also includes roles in finance, education, high-performance sport and the wider UK sport system.
Committees: Group Audit & Risk Committee, Referees Committee, National Game Board (Chair)
Alex Baker
Alex joined the Board in July 2024 having been first appointed onto the FA Council in 2021 and is a Vice-Chair of The FA. He is the Chief Executive Officer of business consultancy firm Fingleton and a trustee of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research. Furthermore, he has held the position of Chair of Stonewall FC – one of the country’s longest-running LGBTQ+ inclusive football clubs – since 2018. Passionate about officiating, he qualified as a match referee in 2009 and is currently affiliated to London FA, operating within the National League System as a Level 4 referee. Alex is on the Eastern Counties Football League panel of referees as well as the National List of Contributory League Assistant Referees.
Committees: Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee, National Game Board, Governance & Regulation Committee, Referees Committee (Chair)
Professional Game Representatives
Rick Parry
Rick was appointed onto the Board and Council in October 2019 as a representative of the English Football League. He is the Chair of the English Football League and is one of the UK’s most experienced leaders in football, having served as both chief executive of Liverpool Football Club (1997-2009) and the Premier League (1991-1997). Rick was formerly a Board member of the European Club Association, has carried out two assignments for the UK government – joining the Sports Betting Integrity Panel in 2009 and advising the DCMS Select Committee on its football governance review in 2011 and has carried out a variety of football related consultancy projects in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, the US and Mexico.
Committees: Professional Game Board (Chair), Men’s Professional Game Committee (Chair), Nominations Committee
Dharmash Mistry
Dharmash was appointed onto the Board and Council in July 2023 as the representative of the Premier League where he serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director. He is a Vice-Chair of The FA. Dharmash is an experienced technology venture capitalist, entrepreneur and Non-Executive Director. He started his career at Proctor & Gamble before moving to The Boston Consulting Group. Dharmash then spent eight years in media as Group Managing Director of EMAP Consumer Media and EMAP Performance, the consumer divisions of EMAP PLC. He subsequently co-led the delisting and sale of EMAP PLC from the FTSE 100 in 2008. Since 2008, Dharmash has been a technology venture capitalist - as a Partner at Balderton Capital and subsequently setting up the London office of Lakestar. Leading investments such as Revolut, Glovo, Infarm, Blockchain.com and LoveFilm and co-founding Blow LTD, which was sold to Holland & Barrett in 2021. He was previously a Non-Executive Director at the BBC, British Business Bank, Hargreaves Lansdown PLC and Dixons PLC. He currently sits on the Boards of Hamla plc, Rathbones plc and the Competition and Markets Authority.
Committees: Remuneration Committee, Commercial Committee
Independent Non-Executive Directors
Kate Tinsley (Senior Independent Director)
Kate was appointed onto The FA Board in October 2017 and is the Senior Independent Director and Board lead for Welfare and Safety. As an FA qualified coach Kate is passionate about ensuring that children and adults at risk play in a safe, inclusive environment and naturally focuses in on questions in this area. Kate is currently Chief Executive Officer at MKM Building Supplies, having previously been the Divisional Managing Director of Ibstock Plc and prior to that led the Buildbase Group as Chief Executive Officer. She’s also served in senior finance roles at Saint Gobain, BSS PLC, and Grafton Group PLC. In 2024, Kate was awarded an OBE for her outstanding services to the construction sector and her commitment to promoting diversity within the industry
Committees: Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee, Group Audit & Risk Committee, Commercial Committee
Stephen Morana
Stephen Morana joined the FA Board on 5 November 2025 as an Independent Non-Executive Director. Stephen is a Chartered Accountant, with over 30 years’ experience in commercial and digital businesses in both the public and private sectors. His executive roles have included being CFO at Betfair and Zoopla, both of which he led through an IPO and the Debenhams Group. He has held a number of Non-Executive and Audit Chair roles, including at Entain plc, Featurespace, Smart Pension and the Open Data Institute. He was also a Venture Partner at Octopus Ventures for a number of years, supporting the next wave of UK growth businesses.
Committees: Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee, Group Audit & Risk Committee (Chair)
Mark Esiri
Mark was appointed onto the Board in May 2022. He is Co-Founder and current Chair of Venrex Investment Management. Mark has been a main Board Director of various portfolio companies of Venrex, including Charlotte Tilbury, Lyst, Notonthehighstreet, Opus Energy, Orlebar Brown and LoveCrafts. Prior to setting up Venrex, Mark was a partner at private equity firm Wand Partners Inc. in New York from 1993 to 2001, where he focused on early-stage investments in the internet, e-commerce, marketing services and technology sectors. He currently serves as a Non-Executive Director at Godolphin and Latymer School, Eton College and the Gascoyne Cecil Estates, as well as an Honorary Fellow at Royal College of Art, and was Trustee and Vice Chairman of Save The Children between 2009-2017.
Committees: Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee (Chair), Commercial Committee (Chair)
Jobi McAnuff
Jobi was appointed onto the Board in May 2022. Jobi had an illustrious playing career, spanning over 20 years and making over 750 appearances for eight clubs including Crystal Palace, Reading, West Ham United and Wimbledon. He has played in the Premier League, all three tiers of the EFL, the National League, and captained Reading and Leyton Orient to promotions. Jobi also made 32 international appearances for the Jamaica national team and was appointed as Leyton Orient’s interim manager during the 2020-21 season. He is currently a regular analyst for Sky Sports, BT Sport and the BBC. At the 2021-22 EFL Awards, Jobi was presented with the prestigious Sir Tom Finney Award, which is awarded to players who have had an outstanding career and contributed an exceptional amount to the EFL and wider football. In 2022, he was named on the Football Black List.
Committees: Nominations Committee, Governance & Regulation Committee, Performance Advisory Board (Chair)
