The FA's chief executive has announced an update to the Senior Management Team.
I am in the process of making some changes to the senior management team and thought it helpful to explain.
Over the Autumn, it became clear to Darren Bailey and myself that the process required to deliver the regulatory review before his intended departure in March 2017 was going to take longer than originally anticipated.
We agreed that Darren would leave earlier so the same person could see it through from start to finish and he could concentrate on other projects and consequently, he left at the end of October.
As I said on a previous announcement, I fully respect his decision and would like to pay tribute to him for the important contribution he has made during his time at Wembley. He has played a significant role in shaping a key area of The FA’s work and is highly respected across the wider sports industry.
As a result, I am delighted to announce that we have promoted Polly Handford to Legal and Governance Director and she will also lead the regulatory review. She will report into the Chief Financial Officer on a day-to-day basis and directly to me on football regulation matters. The following teams will report directly to Polly:-
• Legal/Company Secretarial
• Integrity
• On-field
• Regulatory Advocates
• Judicial services
Andy Ambler, Head of Professional Game Relations who joined us from Millwall FC on 31 October, has also taken on responsibility for Refereeing and Player Status and Competitions.
In addition, Communications Director Amanda Docherty has decided to leave The FA in February 2017. I would like to pay tribute to Amanda, who is highly respected and a leader in her field.
She has successfully guided the organisation through a series of high profile communications issues this year, including the early exit of the England team from EURO 2016, the appointment and departure of Sam Allardyce as well as the interim appointment of Gareth Southgate.
In what has been a transitional year for The FA, Amanda has made significant progress in rebuilding the in-house team and developing a much-needed communications strategy to support our four-year priorities. She has modernised our approach to communications, which will help to shape a more positive image of the organisation moving forwards.
As a result, the Strategy and Communications Divisions will be merged. I am delighted to announce that Robert Sullivan has been appointed Communications and Strategy Director.
Robert has a corporate and political communications background and has often worked closely with the communications team in his seven years of working at The FA.
I believe his knowledge and leadership across this area will help us to make even more progress. Robert will also take on responsibility for leading the Parklife and Facilities programme and team.
This in turn will allow Kelly Simmons and her team to continue to be entirely focused on delivering the big agenda we have in Participation and Development, particularly in Women’s football.
