Martin Glenn quits as FA chief executive following Wembley sale fiasco
Glenn on the way out just months after losing his push to sell Wembley Stadium to American billionaire Shahid Khan
MARTIN GLENN has resigned as the chief executive of the Football Association weeks after losing his bid to sell Wembley Stadium.
Glenn has quit his post in the wake of failing to persuade the FA Council to accept a £600million deal to sell the national stadium to American tycoon Shahid Khan.
He will leave his position at the end of this season, after three-and-a-half years in charge.
His departure comes days after it was revealed the governing body had appointed a former policeman to investigate Glenn amid serious allegations made by former Fulham assistant director of football Craig Kline.
It is not thought that had any influence on his decision to quit.
During his time at the FA, Glenn attempted to drive through changes to the culture of the organisation with a large focus on increasing representation among women and BAME employees.
He succeeded in restructuring the FA board and FA council - no mean feet given Greg Dyke had quit as FA chairman having failed to make similar progress.
Glenn also helped continue the drive to better coaching and academies, which started to pay dividends under his watch with success on the international stage for a series of national teams at senior, women's and age group levels.
But he was also the man behind the controversial sacking of Sam Allardyce as England manager and the dismissal of women's team boss Mark Sampson.
His role in both decisions had been criticised and left the FA open to calls for a change of attitudes and structure.
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In particular he was rebuked for the handling of an investigation into claims made against Sampson, which ultimately led to his sacking.
But his biggest failure came in the botched attempt to sell Wembley to Fulham owner Khan, which fell through when he failed to persuade the FA council it was the right move for the game.
Glenn had effectively staked his leadership on pushing through the controversial deal, which he insisted was the best way to bring in much needed revenues to the grassroots game in England.
Glenn said: "When I accepted the role of CEO at The FA, I was tasked with improving the effectiveness of the organisation and making it financially secure," explained Glenn.
"I also joined with the strong belief that the England team's performance in tournaments could and should improve, and that the experience of the millions of people who play football could be a better one.
"I will leave feeling proud of the success of the performance of all the England teams.
"I am confident that we have established in St. George’s Park, a world class centre which will ensure that the teams will continue to build on their current successes.
"I hope that The FA will be able to build on this by accelerating the breakthrough of English qualified players into the first teams."
FA chairman, Greg Clarke, said: “Martin leaves as his legacy an organisation that is fit for purpose, more diverse, internationally respected and ready to progress to the next level.
"I and the organisation will miss his effective, principled and compassionate leadership and wish him well.”