Our Board
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The Board of the Independent Football Regulator (IFR)
The Board oversees the IFR’s strategic direction and operational independence.
Its main responsibility is to make sure that the IFR fulfils its statutory duties and functions as set out in the Football Governance Act 2025 - particularly its statutory objectives:
- Protect and promote the financial soundness of regulated football clubs
- Protect and promote the financial resilience of English football
- Safeguard the heritage of English football
The Board takes key decisions on behalf of the IFR and ensures that the organisation operates with transparency, accountability and integrity.
The IFR Board is made up of the Chair, senior IFR executives, including the Chief Executive, and Non-Executive Directors appointed by DCMS. As required by the Football Governance Act 2025, a Football Association (FA) observer also sits on the Board. They do not have voting powers but provide advice as a representative of the national governing body.
The FA’s observer is David Newton, Head of Professional Game Governance and Relations. He has held a number of positions within the FA, including financial regulation, football integrity and governance.
Board members
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David has held senior positions in the television and sports industries during a 45-year career as a media executive,
business leader and corporate advisor. David negotiated a succession of multi-billion pound TV rights deals on behalf of major sporting bodies, including the Premier League and the English Football League. David has also advised UEFA, The Scottish Premier League, Six Nations, Premier Rugby and the NFL. Most recently he sold the broadcast rights on behalf of
the Women's Super League.
David is a former managing director of Reuters Television, and an ex-CEO of the Magnum photo agency. David has co-founded both Reel Enterprises and the Women’s Sports Group. David is currently an advisor to the New York Times
Group and CNN on their commercial, digital and AI strategies. Among his public boards David was a non-executive director at Channel 4, a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Services board from 2007-14 and Chair of Westminster Kingsway Corporation. David is the author of three books.
Richard is a former partner at EY’s financial risk and regulation practice, advising regulators on Government’s growth objective and financial services clients on regulatory implementation. At the Financial Conduct Authority, he held senior strategy, policy and supervisory roles, leading on market-wide analysis, Brexit implementation and design of new financial regimes for investment firms. He also created the FCA’s Senior Managers and Certification Regime.
In 2022, Richard was seconded into DCMS to design the financial regime which underpins the Football Governance Act.
Simon Levine has been a practising lawyer in the City of London for over 35 years providing litigation and regulatory advice across a range of sectors including technology, media and sport. Until late 2024, Simon was for a decade the managing partner and co-global chief executive officer of a global law firm. He now acts as a strategic consultant to businesses in the technology, legal and professional services sectors. Since 2018 Simon has sat on the board of the regulator for higher education in England, the Office for Students. He has also been a member of advisory boards of the Zoological Society of London, City UK, the International Development Business Exchange, and the Lord Mayor of London, and is an Ambassador for His Majesty King Charles' III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative.
Dame Helen Stephenson is a Non-Executive Director and former Chief Executive of the Charity Commission for England and Wales. The Commission is a non-ministerial government department which employs around 400 staff and is responsible regulating over 169,000 charities. She joined the Commission from the Department for Education where she was Director of Early Years and Child Care. Helen previously worked in the Cabinet Office where she was Director of the Office for Civil Society and Government Innovation Group.
Helen joined the Civil Service from the Big Lottery Fund where she was Head of Strategic Policy and Partnerships. She has worked for a large national charity as a development manager and as a researcher and consultant in the statutory and voluntary sector. Helen has a PhD from Bristol University.
Helen is a Non-Executive Board member of the National Lottery Community Fund and Chair of the People Committee. She is a Board member of the ECB Regulatory Board and on the People and Governance Committee at the Royal Academy of Dance. Helen is a Non-Executive Director for North West London Acute Provider Collaborative. Helen is a trustee of The King’s Foundation.
Helen was awarded the CBE in 2014 and was awarded a DBE in the Birthday Honours list 2024 for services to charity and regulation.