Our Board met on Thursday 21 January 2021 and set out below are the main points discussed.
One of our strategic priorities for the 2020-2024 period is to serve over two million people through a transformed digital platform. Craig Donald, Chief Information Officer, presented to our Board on the plans in place to deliver this objective. Projects have been grouped into products that will assist people to follow the game, attend matches, play and learn. As well as delivering new products, such as Matchday, replacing core football administration systems is a key component of the objective. The demand for new technology may always outstrip supply and it is therefore important that we have a robust prioritisation process to ensure that we retain a focus on delivering the products that are important to the game.
Kelly Simmons, Director of the Women’s Professional Game, and Kathryn Swarbrick, Director of Commercial and Marketing, presented on the strategic priority to maximise the appeal and revenue of the women’s professional game. The Barclays FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship have experienced unprecedented recent growth and success. Our Board discussed the plans in place to maintain this trajectory, including how to maximise the reach of the leagues through the broadcasting of matches, supporter attendance and engagement through social media.
John McDermott replaced Les Reed as Technical Director at the start of 2021 and the Board heard from John on his initial observations on the Technical Division. John’s role is critical in delivering the strategic priority for England to win a major tournament and he expanded on how the Technical Division will support both Gareth Southgate and Serena Wiegman to give them the best opportunity to bring England success at senior level.
The Board also had a discussion on how we can diversify the membership of our Council. There are several options to achieve this: from influencing the pipeline of candidates from both the grassroots and professional games through to increasing the size of Council. The Board recognises that it is important for us to better represent the game we serve, and we will share our thoughts on how we think this can be best achieved with the Council shortly.
