FA board appoints first woman in 149-year history
Heather Rabbatts has become the first female ever to be elected to the board of the Football Association.
Rabbatts's appointment as a non-executive director was ratified by the FA Council and ends English football's 149-year history without a woman on the board.
Rabbatts is a Jamaican-born British lawyer, businesswoman and broadcaster who rose to prominence as chief executive of the London Borough of Lambeth.
She also is a former deputy chair of Millwall FC and has held a number of non-executive directorships including governor of the BBC and trustee of the Bank of England.
She was awarded a CBE in 2000.
Her appointment, which was originally announced in December but only ratified on Wednesday, came after Sports Minister Hugh Robertson called football "the worst-governed sport in the UK".
After learning of her appointment, Rabbatts said: "Having worked across media, business and football I hope to bring those experiences to my work at the FA. In particular, over many years, including my time at Millwall, I have worked across communities to both improve participation and to develop talent.
"I am obviously delighted to be joining the board at the FA and working with colleagues to support the future of football in England."
Rabbatts was one of two new members elected to the board.
Roger Devlin, who has been a financial advisor to several Premier League clubs, was elected in a similar non-executive capacity – their appointments take the FA's total number of board members from 12 to 14.
Comment 224 - 243 of 243
Ouch babe. Freaky and ugly. Must make babies cry.
Oh dear. And she has the cheek to wear make-up. You can put wings on a pig, but that won't make it an eagle.
How appropriate - the English appoint a person (?) - hesitate to say female, left winger born abroad. Come on if it's English let's have English people running and governing it. Forget PC in football !!
So there is a Yeti after all
good heavens above.
by the looks of her i think the 149 year old record is still intact.
unbelievable comments , make me ashamed to be a man , ( and i,m no fool guys )
Maybe it's one of those over paid overseas players in drag
F....g Ugly
149 years old !
It's a @#$% diesel @#$%! These lesbians still think they've got something to prove.
who is on the bloody governing panel ..... Arthur Scargil??? From Lambeth council to head of FIFA .... need I say more?? Although I must say an improvement from good ol Tony (position probably didn't pay as much, but given the organisation's reputation he probably could have made it back in kind ;-))
I could see Redknapp hanging out of the back of that.
OMG what a bruiser bam sure I would not want to meet here, she is scary.
its a fella its a fella lol
That's a Woman????...........Ooo.K!
has this pic been air brushed
Can we have a 'drugs' test on her or him....to find out what sex it is !!!!!
The fact that she is someone who has gone from one Public Sector job to another-Channel 4, Lambeth Council etc makes this just another case of people knowing people.
Her tenure at Millwall had not exactly set the world ablaze either
Appropriately, she looks far more suitable, supporting the 'Infrastructure' of the Dutch canal system!
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