The makeup of football clubs' boardrooms is typically a world away from the days when the majority of teams were the fiefdoms of local businessmen known simply as 'Mr Chairman'. With so many horror stories over the past two decades, running a club in the right way is both important and more complex than ever before. In this series, Jacqui Oatley hears from the men and women at every level of the game trying to bring about positive change to their clubs, their fans and the wider football community ..read more

In this episode of In The Boardroom, Jacqui Oatley speaks to Paul Conway, Co-Chairman of Barnsley Football Club and Co-Founder of the Pacific Media Group or PMG.  PMG is one of an increasing number of multi-club groups, alongside the likes of the Red Bull group and the City football group. PMG at time of recording has investments in Barnsley, AS Nancy Lorraine in France’s second division, FC Thun in the second tier of Swiss football, KV Oostende in Belgium’s top division, Esbjerg fB in Denmark’s second tier and FC Den Bosch in the Dutch second tier. We spoke to Paul about why he decide ..read more

In this episode of In The Boardroom, Jacqui Oatley speaks to Paul Barber, Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman, Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club. Paul’s career in football administration has also seen him work for the English FA, Tottenham Hotspur and Canadian MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps. Paul has been at Brighton for nearly a decade and has helped steer The Seagulls from the Championship to the Premier League in that time. As well as his success with Brighton, we also discussed the fallout of the European Super League debacle plus the interim findings of the fan led review into Foo ..read more

In this episode of In The Boardroom, a brand new podcast series from The Athletic, Jacqui Oatley speaks to Preeti Shetty, a non-executive member of the board at Premier League side Brentford F.C. Preeti was one of two people hired by Brentford to join their board in a process that was open to all comers, a relatively rare thing in the world of football boardrooms. Preeti tells us about her career working to use the power of sport for good: whether that’s in her work as CEO of data company Upshot or in her new role with Brentford. We also discussed what the process was like to become a direc ..read more

For In The Boardroom, a brand new podcast series from The Athletic, Jacqui Oatley speaks to influential people who operate at senior levels in football about their experiences of working in the game. In this episode, we’re speaking to Leon Mann MBE, campaigner and co-founder of The Football Blacklist. The Football Blacklist was founded in 2008 by Leon and Rodney Hinds and is designed to help draw positive attention to the black professionals working in football and to celebrate their achievements. Leon also co-founded the Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS) which is designed to be th ..read more

For In The Boardroom, a brand new podcast series from The Athletic, Jacqui Oatley speaks to influential people who operate at senior levels in football about their experiences of working in the game. In this episode we’re taking a trip down memory line and looking at the rise and fall and rise again of Portsmouth Football Club, from the Premier League, FA Cup triumph and European football to relegations, administrations and very nearly falling out of both the Football League and existence, full stop. Ashley Brown was chairman of the Pompey Supporter’s Trust around the time they fought a High ..read more

For In The Boardroom, a brand new podcast series from The Athletic, Jacqui Oatley speaks to influential people who operate at senior levels in football about their experiences of working in the game. It may be the head of a supporters’ trust taking over a club in crisis or a director changing the way their club addresses inequality. In The Boardroom will bring an in-depth and nuanced insight from behind the scenes. In this first episode, we’re speaking to Clare Wheatley, Arsenal's Head Of Women's Football  Clare joined Arsenal as a player back in 1995, the start of a 26-year associatio ..read more

The makeup of football clubs' boardrooms is typically a world away from the days when the majority of teams were the fiefdoms of local businessmen known simply as 'Mr Chairman'. With so many horror stories over the past two decades, running a club in the right way is both important and more complex than ever before. In this series, Jacqui Oatley hears from the men and women at every level of the game trying to bring about positive change to their clubs, their fans and the wider football community ..read more