Jonathan Hill is stepping down from his position as CEO of the FAI on April 30th.

The departure was announced in a statement from the FAI Board just after 11 AM this morning.

Hill joined the FAI as CEO in November 2020 and has been at the helm of the association for the past three and a half years.

Together with Chair Roy Barrett, he oversaw the rehabilitation of the FAI and the implementation of significant governance changes arising out of the controversies and financial challenges that emerged from the last years of the John Delaney era.

“Jonathan joined the Association during a difficult time in the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic and helped the Association navigate an extremely challenging period,” said Tony Keohane, independent Chair of the Board of the FAI who took up his role at the end of last year.

“On behalf of the Board of the FAI, I want to thank Jonathan for his hard work and dedication over the past number of years and wish him well for the future.

“Not only did Jonathan guide the Association and the game through an incredibly difficult pandemic period, but he led the transformation in the Association and leaves us with a robust organisational structure, a vastly improved financial position and a blueprint for the future success of football in Ireland. We are grateful to have benefited from Jonathan’s experience, leadership, hard work and commitment and we wish him well in his future ventures.”

When the end came it did so after the confirmation that Sky Ireland would be the new long term principal commercial partner of the Association, ironically one of the gripes that had been held against Hill by sections of football and the media throughout his time in office.

Hill himself appears sanguine at the end of his time in charge.

“Since 2020, the FAI team and the wider football community have embraced what has been a radical transformation process for the Association and I’m proud of what has been achieved,” he said.

“We have developed a new, dynamic senior leadership team, a clear strategic vision, a bold plan to address football’s wider infrastructure needs and a stable and growing financial platform for further and sustainable growth.”

“A notable step forward was the 2021 Equal Pay agreement which has been a vital catalyst for the rapid rise of the Women’s senior national team over this period, culminating in a historic first World Cup appearance in Australia in 2023.”

“Our successful bids to host EURO 2028 and the UEFA Europa League Final next month are testament to the progress delivered by the FAI staff and their incredible commitment and hard work. I firmly believe that the future is bright for Irish football.”

He will now be able to take time at home, which always remained in England due to the fact that his children crossed over from being young enough to move towards being in secondary education during the restrictive times of Covid, a very human part of the equation that was perhaps never fully forgiven by some who felt he could never fully understand the irish football culture if he wasn’t living here 24/7.

That is patent nonsense but it stuck and now the curtain is falling on this latest era in Irish football.

Hill himself will likely remain within the game where his stock is still high and it would not be outside the bounds of probability if he ended up running elements of the Euro 2028 tournament that would bring him back into an FAI orbit of sorts.

Dave Courell who joined the FAI as Chief Operating Officer in 2022 has been appointed as the interim CEO, read more here. A search for a permanent successor will commence shortly.

“Jonathan has worked incredibly hard in creating the solid foundations for growth and I am sure the Board, executive and staff can now build on those foundations to create real change for the largest participation sport in the country. I wish Jonathan every success in the future, said FAI President Paul Cooke.”

Sport for Business Perspective:

Jonathan Hill was a positive force within Irish football, delivering on many of the elements that are needed for a successful organisation but which do not grab the sexiest headlines.

Blaming the CEO for failures on the pitch to qualify for major tournament finals is a stretch at best but it is a trap we regularly fall into.

His handling of the issues surrounding top up payments did him no favours within political circles or within the famed ‘football family’ and his being English may also have been a part of people low level unhappiness.

Jack Charlton got away with it because he delivered two world cup appearances and ironically a win in the Euro’s against England but that is hardly the norm, even if we do pride ourselves on having grown out of that.

He leaves behind a body of work that has made the FAI stronger and he will no doubt go onto bigger jobs in football or in wider sport. The FAI will also survive and hopefully thrive under his successor.

Perhaps the greatest gift he leaves behind is the fact that there is something to leave behind as going back to the dark days that preceded his appointment that was not a certainty.

 

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