David French, the former Head of Venue at Manchester United, is to become the new CEO of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Martin Murphy, who has held the position since the stadium was redeveloped more than a decade ago, is retiring at the end of September.

French also served as General Manager of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai and most recently as interim Customer & Growth Director for Transport for Greater Manchester.

“The Board of the Aviva stadium are delighted to welcome David to his new role and wish him every success,” said Chair Gerry McEnaney.

“We would like to extend our gratitude to Martin for all his hard work over the years through the development and management of the Aviva stadium and we wish him all the best in his retirement.”

“We warmly welcome the appointment of David French as the new CEO of the Aviva Stadium,” added IRFU CEO Kevin Potts.

“The Aviva Stadium is a world class facility and caters annually to thousands of visitors for games as well as conferences and events. We would like to acknowledge the stellar work done by Martin Murphy, who oversaw the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road and has ensured that the stadium has gone from strength to strength since opening. We wish David well in his new role and offer Martin our best wishes for his retirement.”

“David’s experience in running two globally-recognised venues in Old Trafford and the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai means that he is uniquely placed to drive forward the next stage of the Aviva Stadium’s own development as an internationally-recognised and much-loved venue for football, rugby, American football and some of the biggest names in the music world,” said FAI CEO Jonathan Hill.

“Everyone at the FAI thanks Martin for the work he has done to support our events, especially during a difficult lockdown period and we wish him well in retirement.”

Vincent Murphy will act as Interim Stadium Director from the end of September until David French assumes the position as CEO on November 20th, 2023.

The decision from UEFA on whether the stadium will be part of the hosting of the 2028 European Football Championships will be made on October 10th.