What should be one of the most rewarding and prestigious roles in sport, with a salary of around £350,000, is also seen as one of the most difficult to fill. The very nature of the FA and the organisational complexity required to deliver on a remit to govern the sport from its grass roots to the England team, makes massive demands on its CEO.
The successful candidate will not only have to be an outstanding manager, administrator and strategist but also have the charisma and political skills required to unite the organisation.
While individuals are understandably reluctant to declare an interest in the role at present, SportBusiness reporters have taken soundings among their peers to establish who might emerge as contenders. Among their suggestions are:
Richard Scudamore: the current head of the FA Premier League has been widely touted for the role. However, the Premier League is a different, more focused animal, and he is thought unlikely to walk away from the success story he has helped to write for the less certain waters of the FA.
Glen Kirton: the chairman of sports marketing and consulting company Navigator Sports knows the FA inside out. He spent 25 years with the association under Ted Croker and Graeme Kelly. His roles at the FA included head of competitions, press officer, commercial director and head of external affairs. He was tournament director for the hugely successful Euro 96 tournament before moving to ISL to head its football operation.
Nic Coward: Former FA director of corporate and legal affairs who has not long left Soho Square and has yet to announce his future plans.
Trevor Birch: Earned a reputation as financial trouble-shooter during spells with Chelsea and Leeds United but left Everton as chief executive last month, only six weeks after joining the Premier League’s crisis-hit club, reported to be £35 million in debt.
Michel Zen-Ruffinen: Years as Sepp Blatter’s close friend and right-hand man at FIFA came to an end with a spectacular falling-out that saw Zen-Ruffinen join the campaign to oust Blatter. The campaign failed, Blatter stayed and, even if Zen-Ruffinen were the ideal candidate in other respects, the FA’s important relationship with the world game’s governing body would hardly be improved by his appointment.
Andrew Croker: The former joint head of football at IMG is a football man through and through with a vast network of contacts at the highest level within the game itself and among the media, brands and business community which support it.
