Lord Triesman Confirmed As FA Chairman

Lord Triesman, the 64-year old Labour peer, has been confirmed as the first ever independent chairman of the Football Association.

Triesman was recommended by the FA’s board in back in December, and now the appointment has been approved by the FA Council.

Triesman, a season ticket holder at Tottenham Hotspur, will succeed Geoff Thompson as the outgoing chairman concentrates on his vice-president role with European and world governing bodies UEFA and FIFA.

The appointment of an independent chairman is the first step of the ‘root and branch’ analysis promised by the FA in the wake of England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

The move to assign an independent chairman was one of the main recommendations of the Burns Report – an FA commissioned review of the governing body’s internal structure completed in 2005.