Former Manchester United director Greg Dyke named new FA chairman

By on March 21, 2013

Former Manchester United director Greg Dyke has become the new FA chairman, succeeding David Bernstein.  Dyke’s appointment was unanimously approved by the FA board, although is still subject to the approval of the FA council.  Dyke, 65, will succeed David Bernstein, and will take over the post on July 13.

Dyke has previously served as a director at Manchester United and is currently the non-executive chairman of League One side Brentford.   He has also served as director general of the BBC and managing director of London Weekend Television.  The Englishman is also associated with companies outside football, and is currently the chairman of the British Film Institute and the theater group ATG, and is the chancellor of the University of York.

“Football has always been a big part of my life whether playing 11-a-side on Sunday mornings or six-a-side on Thursday evenings,” Dyke said on the FA website.  “I was brought up in a household where my father was much more interested in whether or not you had won at football than whether you had passed your exams. In my case that was just as well.

“I still turn out to play six-a-side some Thursday evenings although at my age I seem to spend more time injured than playing. I supported my local team Brentford as a kid where my elder brother was a junior, watched York City while at university and followed Manchester United whenever I could.

“I got involved in how the game was run when I was first involved in buying sports rights as chairman of ITV Sport in the late 80s and later at the BBC. I learnt a lot in the years when I was on the Board of Manchester United and have seen the other side of the professional game at Brentford.”

“I am very excited to take on this role with the FA. At the grass roots seven million people play football every weekend, women’s football is booming and the ambition is for it to be the second biggest team participation sport in England behind only the men’s game, we have the best known, most successful league in the world with the Premier League and the Football League is so much stronger than it was eight years or nine ago.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.