The Board met on 18 July and set out below are the main discussion points.
John Nixon (Carlisle Utd) has been appointed onto the Board to represent the EFL in place of Jim Rodwell (Scunthorpe Utd). John was previously a member of the Board in the 2013-14 season. The Board extended its thanks to Jim who has served on the Board since the start of the 2016-17 season.
The Board approved the budget for the 2019-20 season. We challenged the Executive to develop a budget where costs remained flat so that we can maximise distributions back into the game.
In adopting the budget, we expect to be able to distribute circa £113m into the National Game and Professional Game next season. The Board continues to discuss investment priorities in future years as part of the review of the current strategic plan and we will revisit this during the course of the season.
The Board received an update on safeguarding and was pleased to learn that The FA’s safeguarding policies and practices had been rated as excellent by the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit. This is a positive outcome but it's important not to be complacent and so the Board will continue to receive regular updates on this important part of The FA’s work.
We discussed a recent report on the contribution of adult grassroots football to the nation’s economy and to the wellbeing of society. It's incredible to think that our sport generates value of just under £11bn per year and annual cost savings to the NHS of £43.5m.
We continue to monitor the significant risks to our ability to meet our future strategic objectives and received a quarterly report on these.
Our Head of Teams and Corporate Security, Tony Conniford, produced a paper on the behaviour of England supporters who follow our England Men's Senior team overseas.
While the vast majority of our supporters conduct themselves in an appropriate manner, there are undoubtedly some who engage in anti-social behaviour which reflects poorly on us all and the Board wants to ensure that it is looking at all options to eradicate this.
Following the meeting, Mervyn Leggett retired as a Board Member. Mervyn has represented the National Game on the Board since 2010 and the Board thanked him for his considerable efforts during that time.
The Board next meets in September and a further update will be provided on the discussions then.
