Ten Toes Appoints Former FA Managing Editor As Consultancy Director
Sports content agency Ten Toes has appointed Jim Lucas as its Strategic Consultancy Director.
Lucas will lead the agency’s newly-formed consultancy arm, working with clubs, leagues and federations to help them use digital content and communications to deepen their relationships with supporters and stakeholders. He will also take the reins on the strategic consultancy work Ten Toes have been doing with FIFA since late 2020.
Lucas joins the agency having spent five-and-a-half years at The FA, where was Managing Editor, driving the growth of the organisation’s social media operation across a range of brands that included the England national teams.
In his time with The FA, Lucas oversaw the development of the governing body’s digital coverage of the Emirates FA Cup and the women’s game, generating millions of monetised video views as well as supporting the launch and implementation of an OTT platform, The FA Player.
His time culminated in The FA’s coverage of England’s UEFA EURO 2020 campaign, during which the national team attracted more than 3.8 million new followers and 2.5 billion impressions across its social media channels – continuing the work that saw The FA win the Communications Award at the Sport Industry Awards 2019. The governing body then won Sport Organisation of the Year in 2020.
Prior to joining The FA in 2016, Lucas spent four years at Premier League side Southampton, working across their communications and content operations.
“I’m extremely excited to take this next step in my career,” said Lucas.
“I have worked closely with the team at Ten Toes for some time through their work with a number of England players and sponsors, and have always been thoroughly impressed by their drive and vision for how digital content can bring sporting bodies closer to their fans.
“I have truly loved my time at The FA, and seeing the impact of my team’s work during the last few weeks has been extremely heartening after a long-term effort by many at the organisation to increase and improve our engagement with the public via social media.
“I’m really looking forward to getting down to work and using some of the knowledge I’ve gained during my time with The FA and Southampton to help football clubs, leagues and federations build stronger relationships with their audiences.”
Ben Weisfeld, Founder of Ten Toes, added: “I’m delighted for Jim to be joining Ten Toes. His work at Southampton and, in particular, with England has been exceptional and rightly drew plaudits from within the industry and beyond.
“The way he transformed the Saints into the best Premier League club on social media and used digital and best-in-class content to turn the tide of public opinion about the England national team from the lows of 2016 to the highs of EURO 2020 speaks for itself.
“He is a leader in the industry and will undoubtedly bring exceptional knowledge, expertise and experience to Ten Toes and our clients. He joins us at an incredibly exciting time and I have no doubt that, with him at the helm, the growth and development of our new consultancy arm will be a great success in providing value and tangible results to our clients.”
Ten Toes – which is on the Official Shortlist for Young Agency of the Year at the Sport Industry Awards 2021 – currently handles social media for the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bruno Fernandes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Pernille Harder and Kasper Schmeichel. The agency and its clients also provide a variety of services to global brands operating within football such as AB InBev, EA Sports and Facebook.
