Board of directors

Edward Canty, Director of PFA Enterprises Ltd.

Edward is a partner at Centrefield and is widely recognised as an expert in the field of sports law. He has extensive experience in advising clients in relation to all regulatory disputes and disciplinary matters, together with advising on governance and contractual issues. He has specific expertise in football, and provides advice on matters such as player contracts, transfers and related issues; he is also retained by a number of key clients including the Professional Footballers’ Association, individual players, national associations, leagues and clubs and has an unrivalled knowledge of the football industry.

Edward has considerable experience in dealing with media issues such as defamation, image protection and crisis management. He also advises sports clients in high profile criminal matters, and regularly represents clients in cases before the disciplinary bodies of The FA and UEFA, and cases before the Premier League, the Football League, the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and the FIFA Players’ Status Committee.

Edward is highly regarded within the industry, as reflected by his external sporting appointments. He is a director of PFA Enterprises Limited, the Professional Footballers’ Association company, and is a member of the Panel of Arbitrators at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland (having also been appointed to the specialist football panel).

The Legal 500 highlights Edward as a key contact for football matters and describes him as a solicitor who is “charming and has great judgment.” The Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession notes that Edward has “a fantastic knowledge of all the major areas of sports law.”

Bobby Barnes, Former Deputy Chief Executive.

• Born: Kingston
• Nationality: English
• DOB: 17/12/1962
• Position: Winger

Clubs: West Ham United, Scunthorpe United (loan), Aldershot Town, Swindon Town, AFC Bournemouth, Northampton Town, Peterborough United, Partick Thistle, Kettering Town, Hong Kong Rangers.

Bobby made his debut for West Ham United in September 1980 and over a 15 year career played 350 games, scoring 103 goals for West Ham United, Northampton Town, Aldershot, Swindon Town, Bournemouth, Peterborough United and Partick Thistle before ending his career with 2 years in Hong Kong.

Bobby was a quick skilful winger who won an FA Youth Cup Winners Medal and England Youth International Caps.

After retiring in 1996, he joined the PFA full-time, with responsibility for the London office. As part of his remit he worked across all areas of the PFA including Equalities, Communities and Charity, Commercial, Education, Financial and General Matters.

He represented professional players in all matters including contractual, representation, mediation and disciplinary. Barnes sat on Football Association panels on matters relating to discipline, work permits and transfer tribunals. He was also a trustee of the Premier League/PFA Charity Fund.

Bobby represents the PFA as President of Division Europe and a Board member of FIFPro which is the global players’ union representing players from over 50 countries and also sits on the UEFA Strategic Council which is the forum for football decisions on a European level.  He is also a member of The UEFA EU Matters Committee.

A French speaker, Bobby is now an honorary member (after two terms serving as a delegate) of the Franco British Council, which is a government funded body which aims to promote understanding and ‘best practise’ between the two countries.

Bobby stepped down from his role at the PFA on 1st July 2022.

John Bramhall, Former PFA Deputy Chief Executive.

John was a former central defender who clocked up over 500 Football League appearances for 6 clubs over a period of 15 years from 1976 to 1991.

He started his Football League career with Tranmere Rovers in July 1976, and went on to make 170 League appearances for the club before being transferred to Bury in 1982, going on to gain promotion with them during the 1984/1985 season. The following season he joined Chester City on loan in November 1985 and played four games during their promotion season from Division 4, and the following season he joined Rochdale.

After two years spent at Rochdale, John moved again to Halifax Town and finished his league career with 32 league appearances for Scunthorpe United.  This took his overall Football League appearance tally to 521, scoring 42 goals in the process.

Having originally joined The Footballers’ Further Education & Vocational Training Society, the then educational arm of the PFA, on his retirement from professional football in 1991 during which period he continued with his education to degree level. He then went on to join the PFA on a full-time basis in 1997. 

During his time at the PFA, in his position as Deputy Chief Executive, John represented the union on various boards including the Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee; FA Stakeholders meetings; Professional Game Match Officials Technical Committee, the body which controls the current referees. He has also been a Premier League Match Delegate for over a decade.

John represented players at all levels on FA charges and club internal disciplinary hearings, and has responsibility for the Delegate Liaison Department.

John stepped down from the PFA on 1st July 2022.