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
Non-Executive Chairman: Greg Clarke
Greg became the independent chairman of The Football Association in August 2016. Greg has a wealth of football experience, having spent six years as chairman of the English Football League, prior to which he was on the board and then chairman of Leicester City. During a distinguished business career, he was CEO of Cable & Wireless and a non-executive board director of BUPA. For the past four years, he has been chairman of the Met Office and he is also chairman of the FTSE 250 company, Redefine International. Greg will serve on the Remuneration and Finance Sub-Committees.
Executive Director: Martin Glenn, Chief Executive Officer
Martin was named as The FA’s chief executive officer in March 2015. Prior to taking up his role at The FA, he worked as CEO at United Biscuits, a £1bn company, home to the McVitie’s and Jacobs brands. Martin came to prominence during his time at Walkers Snack Foods in 1992, where he increased their market share from the mid-20s to more than 60 per cent. He became company president in 1998 and ran the business until 2006, when he left to join Birdseye, which had been acquired from Unilever for £1.2bn. In 2003, he was awarded Marketing Week’s CEO of the Year, and in 2004 was voted the UK’s most influential marketer by Marketing Magazine. An FA qualified grassroots coach, Martin is also a former Leicester City non-executive director, having sat on the club’s board between 2002 and 2006. Martin sits on the Women’s Football Board and Finance Sub-Committee.
National Game Representatives
Robert Cotter
Bob was first appointed onto The FA Board in 2016, having been appointed to The FA Council in 2009 as representative of Northamptonshire County FA. He is a member of the National Game Board and also serves on the Youth, Small-Sided, League Finance and Finance Sub-Committees. He is the chairman of Northamptonshire County FA and a former primary school head teacher.
Mervyn Leggett
Mervyn was appointed on to the board in 2010 and is a vice-president of The FA, having previously been appointed on to The FA Council as the representative for Worcestershire County FA in 1992. He is chairman of the National Game Board and also serves on Women’s Football Board, Women’s Committee, Leagues’ Committee and Facilities Committee. Mervyn also serves as a trustee of The FA’s National Sport Centre Trust and Benevolent Fund. Mervyn had a career in the Sports Insurance industry prior to being appointed as the chief executive of Worcestershire County FA, a position he stepped down from in 2012.
Jack Pearce
Jack was appointed on to the board in 2015, having first been appointed as a divisional representative on The FA Council in 2001. Jack serves on the National Game Board, Remuneration Committee, Judicial Panel, League Finance Committee and Alliance Committee, the latter of which he chairs. Jack was formerly a player and manager of Bognor Regis Town and continues to serve the club as its general manager and vice-chairman. Jack is a board member of the National League and a council member of Sussex County FA.
Professional Game representatives
Peter McCormick OBE
Peter was appointed onto the board and council in August 2015 as a representative of the Premier League and also serves on the Professional Game Board and Remuneration Committee. Peter is chairman of the Legal Advisory Group of the Premier League and chairman of the League’s Football Board, both executive positions. Peter was chairman of the Premier League in 2014/15. Peter chairs tribunals and appeals for the Premier League, Football Association and Professional Game Match Officials Ltd. He is chairman of Football Stadia Improvement Fund Ltd, a trustee of the Football Foundation and a chairman of Sport Resolutions (UK). Peter heads the Corporate and Commercial team at McCormicks Solicitors. He is an internationally recognised expert in Sports, Media and Entertainment Law. Peter is also a leading national figure in Charities Law and was awarded the OBE for services to charity on 1 January 2000.
Jim Rodwell
Jim was appointed onto the board in 2016 as a representative of the English Football League and has served on The FA Council since 2014. Jim is also a member of the Professional Game Board. He has been a board director of the English Football League since 2015 arising from his position as CEO of Scunthorpe United. Jim was previously the CEO of Notts County and former chairman of Boston United, a club he also served as a player.
Rupinder Bains
Rupinder joined The FA Board as our third Professional Game [PG] non-executive FA Director, appointed jointly by the Premier League and the EFL, in November 2017. The founder and managing director of the law firm Pinder Reaux & Associates Limited, who specialise in media, defamation and reputation management and sports law, she qualified in 1999 and set up her own firm in 2005. As part of The FA governance reforms, the eligibility criteria was changed for one of the PG’s Directors to allow the appointed individual to be someone other than a club official or an officer of the Leagues. Rupinder will also represent the PG on The FA Council. Peter McCormick [Premier League] and James Rodwell [EFL] were the two FA Board members appointed by the Leagues to conduct the recruitment process and Rupinder was the unanimous recommendation and her appointment was approved by the Premier League and EFL Board’s on 16 November 2017.
Independent Non-Executive Directors
Kate Tinsley
The Council approved the appointment of Kate Tinsley as a new independent non-executive director of The FA in October 2017. Kate is currently the chief executive officer of the Buildbase Group, a division of Grafton Group PLC with management responsibility in both the UK and Belgium. Prior to this Kate, served in senior finance roles at Saint Gobain, BSS PLC and Grafton Group PLC before moving into general management. As an FA qualified coach, Kate is passionate about football and motivated by her desire to ensure that football is For All. This includes making sure that there are equal opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to play and enjoy football at all levels of the game. Kate is appointed on an initial three-year term and is able to serve for a maximum of three terms.
Stacey Cartwright
Stacey was appointed onto the Board in June 2018. Stacey previously led the Harvey Nichols Group as Deputy Chair and Chief Executive Officer, prior to which she held senior executive roles at Burberry Plc, Egg Plc and Granada. Stacey also has non-executive experience having served on the boards of GSK and Liverpool FC.
Board Observers
Paul Elliott CBE
Paul is the Chair of The FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board and an Inclusion Representative on The FA Council. Paul enjoyed a successful professional career with spells at Charlton Athletic, Luton Town, Aston Villa, Pisa, Celtic and Chelsea.
David Gill
David is formerly the chief executive of Manchester United and a former member of the Board and FA Council. David is currently a Vice-President of the UEFA Executive Committee.
