Over the first half of 2023, Northumberland FA undertook an extensive Governance review to ensure its continued relevance and alignment with major factors impacting the grassroots game across Northumberland, North Tyneside, and Newcastle upon Tyne as well as Northumberland FA as a business.

This Governance review was ratified at our recent Annual General Meeting on 28 September 2023 which confirmed the County FAs Governance structure would be made up of the following:

We are delighted to confirm the recruitment of six new Directors, covering a variety of roles/specialisms on behalf of Northumberland FA:

• Zoe Hingston (Chair of Inclusion Advisory Board)

• Gemma Knight (Workforce Development)

• Paul Lucherini (Operations Lead)

• Sarah Medcalf (Business Development)

• Steven Shiel (Grassroots Football)

• Claire Waldron (Facilities Lead)

These six new Directors will join existing members of the Board:

• Lauri Chandler (Finance Director)

• Andrew Rose-Cook (Chief Executive Officer)

• Phil Cullerton (Senior Independent Non-Executive Director & Vice-Chair)

• Steve Ord (Chair)

• Steve Swinyard (Board Safeguarding Champion)

Andrew Rose-Cook, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted to confirm appointments to our Board of Directors. It is incredibly important that right skills, knowledge, and experience are around the key decision-making table of the County FA making the correct decisions for football in our area. We are sure that this group of people will continue to help drive the grassroots game and our organisation in the right direction.”

Steve Ord, Chair, noted: “This is the culmination of months of planning and engagement to ensure our governance structure remains fit for purpose. In making these changes we are mindful of the volunteers who have been part of the journey up until now and I would like to thank them all for their input. I am excited about what this new Board and structure can bring to the future of this organisation.”