The name of the person proposed as the first new chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association in 40 years is expected to be confirmed in the week beginning March 22.
The union’s membership will be sent postal ballots that week with the names, or more likely one name, of a preferred candidate for the position of chief executive for them to vote on.
Four independent non-executive directors, who include the chair of the Women In Football network Ebru Koksal, have led the recruitment process to find the person who will succeed Gordon Taylor, who has held the post since 1981.
PFA Players’ Board – help shape the future of your union! Take control of the issues that matter most to you and your fellow players. pic.twitter.com/39dFeBmHvi— Professional Footballers' Association (@PFA) March 4, 2021
The independent non-executive directors’ preferred candidate must be ratified by the existing players’ board before their name goes onto the ballot, with the results of the vote set to be announced on April 12 when the chief executive’s appointment would be officially confirmed.
PFA members will also be voting on the composition of a new players’ board. The 13-person board will feature two current player representatives from each of the Premier League, the Women’s Super League, the Championship, League One and League Two, plus three former players.
Individuals wishing to stand must submit their applications by March 14, and have at least three people confirmed as their nominees.
The ballot papers will be produced by independent scrutineers in the week beginning March 15, so the selection panel is likely to inform the current players’ board of its preferred candidate at around the same time.
The new 13-person players’ board would sit above an operational board made up of the new chief executive and four non-executive directors – expected to be the independent quartet tasked with choosing Taylor’s successor.
The non-executive directors would set the salary of the new chief executive, while an independent review of the PFA recommended that the maximum term of the new boss should be fixed at five years.
- x2 current Premier League players
- x2 current Women's Super League players
- x2 current Championship players
- x2 current League One players
- x2 current League Two players
- x3 former players
The new-look leadership will need to take a decision on whether to publish the full findings of that independent review, which recommended the structure the PFA is now adopting. The union has been criticised for not having done so already.
A separate Charity Commission statutory inquiry is still to publish the outcome of its investigation into the PFA Charity, which started last year.
In announcing the opening of the inquiry in January 2020, the Commission said it had “serious concerns” over how charity funds were used.
