Watmore lands FA post

12 April 2012

The Football Association have confirmed Ian Watmore is to be their new chief executive.

A three-man short-list of candidates were interviewed to become Brian Barwick's successor on Tuesday, after which 50-year-old Watmore was offered the job.

"I am delighted to be joining The Football Association as chief executive," said Watmore. "It is a great challenge and one I am really looking forward to."

Like chairman Lord Triesman, Watmore, a lifelong Arsenal fan, has a recent background in Government.

However, before that he has 24 years' of experience in the IT industry.

Watmore will not start his new job until June once he leaves his post as Permanent Secretary for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Watmore added: "With Lord Triesman and the (FA) Board, Fabio Capello and the FA's staff, I want to ensure we are achieving success on and off the pitch across all levels of the game."

A host of different names have been linked with the chief executive's job ever since Barwick announced his intention to quit last year.

Former Manchester United finance director Nick Humby was mentioned at one point, although latterly it appeared ex-Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman was the front-runner. Edelman is among those believed to have been interviewed on Tuesday but in the end, Triesman has plumped for a familiar face in Watmore.

The pair worked together at the DIUS and his extensive background and contacts within the political world offers a contrast to Barwick, who came from the media.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT