The Board met on 24 July and set out below are the main discussion points.
We welcomed Claire Miles to her first Board meeting. Claire will start as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 November, when she will replace Kate Tinsley who is retiring after reaching the end of her 9-year term. Claire attended the meeting in an observer capacity as part of her onboarding.
Our Chief Digital Officer, Alex Willis, presented an overview of our commercial digital ambitions, the planned activities for the 26-27 season and how digital and data can play a role in the commercial growth of The FA. Digital products, such as the England app provide inside access to our national teams and an opportunity to engage audiences through exclusive content.
Alex Willis and David Prime (Head of Strategy, Insights & Data) then presented on how we can use Artificial Intelligence to support the delivery of our strategic objectives through improved productivity, transformed process and experiences and new opportunities to create value. In the coming season, we will focus on building capability across the organisation, focussing on specific areas where AI adds value and establishing a governance framework to oversee delivery, risk and adoption.
Our Deputy CEO, Mark Burrows, took us through the budget for the 2026-27 season. As ever, the challenge for the Board is to ensure that we commit resources to our strategic objectives for the 2024-2028 period and support the various levels of the men’s and women’s games from grassroots through to the elite levels. This involves making trade-offs in the amounts we spend on the different areas, and we feel that the budget we agreed is balanced and supports the different levels of the game.
In 2028, the UEFA European Championships will be hosted in UK & Ireland. Chris Bryant (Managing Director, UK&I 2028) took the Board through the tournament planning activities including working with the 9 stadiums, 8 host cities and 36 team base camps, alongside the logistics of supporter travel and security arrangements.
In the women’s game, we have the dual challenge of increasing the number of homegrown young players playing at the highest level of the English game and reducing the gap in standards between the Women’s Super League and Women’s National League. Sue Day (Head of Women’s & Para Football), Dan Ashworth (Chief Football Officer), Gavin Step (Women’s Technical Director) and Meena Botros (General Counsel) presented a package of initiatives aimed at addressing these issues. We also heard from Nikki Doucett and Dawn Airey from the Women’s Super League to ensure that any interventions we make are supported by the top tier of English football.
The next Board meeting is in November 2026, with an online check in in September.
