Crozier emerges as front runner for FA chief executive role

Adam Crozier, Saatchi & Saatchi’s joint chief executive, has been

in talks with the Football Association about becoming its next chief

executive - one of the most high-profile jobs in British sport.

The soccer-mad agency chief who once flirted with the idea of becoming a

professional footballer is understood to be the preferred choice of the

FA and needs only the endorsement of its ruling council.

The FA has been hunting for a new chief executive since Graham Kelly

resigned amid a cash-for-votes scandal tenmonths ago. Since then,

Crozier, 35, has impressed FA bosses with his work as communications

advisor for the campaign to bring the 2006 World Cup to England.

Crozier, a Scot, is said to have been offered the CEO’s job at Celtic -

the club he has supported since a boy - earlier this year but to have

turned it down because of its limited scale and his unwillingness to

return north of the border.

Crozier was unavailable for comment as Campaign went to press.