On 18th April 2018, the fifth graduation of the Effective Board Member Programme for current and ex-professional footballers and those working in sport took place at Wembley Stadium.
Still going strong and influencing boardrooms across all sectors, the PFA and FA sponsored Effective Board Member Programme is now in it’s fifth year and is seeing great results. Reported at this year’s ceremony was an update on progress across the four previous cohorts in relation to board appointments and placements. Of the 72 attendees overall, 89% have been active since graduation which includes them having either gained a board appointment or having undertaken a board placement. Among this number, three secured appointments as chair including Ben Purkiss who was a graduate of cohort two who is now the Chair of the PFA’s Management Committee. Appointments and placements have taken place across all sectors including football.
Birmingham City Ladies defender Aoife Mannion who graduated from the Programme in 2017 was approached by the CEO of a County F.A. at graduation that same year and has since undertaken a board placement with them and has been offered a permanent appointment on the Board. When sharing her story, Aoife commented that: “The Programme proved to be great preparation for my board experience; all of the theory and governance insights I learnt with Karl came to life at the board meetings I attended.”
Created by international governance consultant Karl George MBE, the Effective Board Member Programmes are a series of Programmes designed to equip those people who want to contribute to the leadership of an organisation by becoming board members. The Programmes are delivered across the UK and also across the Middle East and Caribbean in partnership with one of the leading global professional services firms PwC and with RSM UK.
One of the key tenets of the partnership with the PFA is to be able to offer organisations competent candidates, including in within the sport. Of her placement with Shropshire F.A., Mannion further said: “The Programme has given me the competence and confidence to apply for board positions as a non-executive director. And more generally, the Programme has given me a fresh perspective on how to be a good team member on my football team.”
Unique to this year’s Programme was the inclusion of delegates from the field of athletics and rugby with four time Olympian, Diane Modahl who was a speaker at last year’s event sharing her learning from completing the Programme. Now the Chair of the award winning business club Downtown Manchester, Diane attended graduation in 2017 as a guest speaker and then became a participant. When reflecting on her journey she stated that: “If we are going to become effective board members we have to do work… do the hard things.”
Previous graduates include Brighton and Hove Albion Manger Chris Hughton, Director of Football at Queens Park Rangers Les Ferdinand, the current West Bromwich Albion caretaker manager Darren Moore, Chris Ramsey technical director at Queens Park Rangers, Jason Roberts MBE, Ben Purkiss who was appointed as Chair of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Mangement Committee after completing the Programme, Jason Lee, Danielle Carter of Arsenal Ladies, Ian Taylor, Ken Monkou and many other well known names from the game.
With several high profile scandals having emerged in the past year, now more than ever it is essential for organisations to implement and good governance. The notable failure at Carillion has raised many questions about the position of the board and those leading the organisation and also the plethora of stakeholders. The pipeline of competent board members that the Effective Board Member Programmes are graduating is helping organisations everywhere to have access the required knowledge, skills and experience to help implement effective governance.
2017 data published by the Sport’s People’s Think Tank reports that 9 out of 22 BAME coaches in senior positions at professional clubs (41%) are employed at just four clubs: Brighton and Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Reading, and Queens Park Rangers. The same findings intimate that this is only 3.3% of all managers in a sport where up to 30% of those on the pitch are from these backgrounds. There is still work to be done.
The Effective Board Member Programmes offer a credible development opportunity to ensure future BAME candidates not only qualify for interviews based on their ethnicity but that they are competent, confident and capable of contributing to the effective governance of the sport.
For more information about the Effective Board Member Programmes, please contact us on 0845 505 1875 or email us at admin@effectiveboardmember.co.uk.
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