By Andrew Warshaw
May 17 – Julian Eccles quit today as marketing and communications director of the English Football Association, another blow to the image of the organisation in the wake of its failed 2018 World Cup bid.
Eccles lasted hardly any time in the post having been hired just over a year ago by former chief executive Ian Watmore after spells at both Ofcom and BskyB.
Significantly, he left his post within a few weeks of David Bernstein taking over as FA chairman.
FA general secretary Alex Horne said: “I would like to thank Julian for his contribution to The FA and wish him well for the future.
“He has been very professional throughout his time here and I am grateful to him for introducing a number of valuable initiatives and ideas to the organisation.”
Eccles’ departure comes two days before an FA Board meeting expected to announce which candidate will be backed at the FIFA Presidential election on June 1.
Comparisons are now bound to be drawn with Watmore, who was considered somewhat of a maverick and himself only lasted nine months before quitting in frustration at the slow pace of change within the FA.
Watmore’s exit was soon followed by that of Lord Triesman who resigned as FA and England 2018 chairman exactly a year ago yesterday following a newspaper sting that taped him gossiping about rival World Cup bids.
That was followed by the failure of England’s 2018 World Cup bid, the appointment of a new chairman after acting chairman Roger Burden ruled himself out because he “couldn’t trust FIFA”, then the announcement of a Parliamentary inquiry into football governance.
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