Former Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient midfielder Jobi McAnuff has been nominated to join the FA Board.
McAnuff, who also played for Reading, Watford and West Ham during his playing days, has been nominated to become an Independent Non-Executive Director along with Mark Esiri, who is the Co-Founder and current Chair of Venrex Investment Management.
Both McAnuff and Esiri were the unanimous choices of the Nominations Committee and their appointments will be ratified by the FA Council this month.
The moves have been made by the the FA Board as they plan to reform their governance and diversify their skillset.
McAnuff believes experience of playing English football at all levels and Esiri has hands-on digital technology expertise.
FA Chair, Debbie Hewitt MBE, said: “We’re delighted to nominate Jobi and Mark to join the FA Board.
“Both appointments will reflect an important step in our commitment to add to the skillset, diversity, and independence of our Board.
“Jobi’s experience of playing in the professional and national game, as well as his coaching and management expertise and his involvement in grassroots and academy football, will enhance the Board’s insight to modern day issues on and off the pitch.
“Mark’s experience of creating and developing a broad range of digitally focused organisations, as well as his experience of stakeholder boards and grassroots football, will bring a breadth of skills to The FA.
“They are both passionate about using the game to drive positive change, which is strongly aligned to our mission at The FA, and we believe they will complement our Board well.”
McAnuff added: “I’m delighted to be nominated to be part of the FA Board. This is an exciting time to join the organisation, under the stewardship of new FA Chair Debbie Hewitt.
“Having played and worked across various levels of the game I believe that I can bring a fresh perspective to the Board. I want to use this experience to help move the organisation forward as it looks to tackle key issues and I can’t wait to get started.”
