The Boardroom Path

What should you ask before joining a football club board when the owner funds the losses? On The Boardroom Path, Ralph Grayson speaks with Adam Crockett, director of Game Plan Strategic Advisory and senior adviser at Alvarez & Marsal, about football governance and the role of independent directors. Adam helped develop the Football Governance Act and advised the Independent Football Regulator’s chair and chief executive. He explains how the licensing regime asks clubs to consider financial risks, governance and the plans they have for difficult scenarios. The regulator’s draft State of the Game report found that 94% of clubs across the top five English leagues were loss-making before tax in its 2025/26 dataset, which combines actual and forecast information. Adam discusses why a board should look beyond league spending rules to liquidity, owner funding and longer-term sustainability. They also consider how to challenge an owner, assess the skills a club needs and consult supporters. For prospective NEDs from outside football, Adam explains which governance skills transfer and why understanding the game’s economics is essential. (00:00) - Welcome to The Boardroom Path (02:54) - Why Football Governance Is Changing (06:10) - Licensing and Financial Risk (09:49) - The State of the Game (13:50) - Skills Beyond Finance (17:26) - Long-Term Planning and Sporting Results (20:03) - Challenging the Owner (23:39) - Testing Owners and Directors (26:46) - Regulatory Scrutiny and Intervention (29:23) - Due Diligence Before Joining a Board (32:42) - Questions Behind Sporting Decisions (35:03) - Fan Engagement and Club Heritage Adam Crockett: Adam Crockett is director of Game Plan Strategic Advisory and a senior adviser at Alvarez & Marsal. At the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, he helped develop the Football Governance Act and its implementation. He subsequently advised the Independent Football Regulator’s chair and chief executive. His earlier work covered economic regulation, competition policy and enforcement, including at Ofgem. Adam also advises Football Beyond Borders and serves on its audit and risk committee.Ralph Grayson: Ralph Grayson is a Partner in the Board Practice at Sainty Hird & Partners, bringing extensive experience in board-level recruitment, assessment, and advisory services. With a deep understanding of the corporate governance landscape, Ralph specialises in guiding senior executives as they transition into impactful boardroom careers. His thoughtful approach, combined with a passion for developing effective leaders, enables him to facilitate insightful conversations that equip aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors with the tools they need to succeed. Through The Boardroom Path, Ralph leverages his extensive professional network and expertise to empower listeners on their journey into the boardroom. Episode Insights: League spending compliance and a sustainable business plan answer different questions. Boards need to test both. Liquidity, debt and reliance on owner funding deserve scrutiny before a club encounters financial distress. Independent challenge works best when it is part of the board’s culture and connected to a shared strategy. Directors do not need to select players, but they can question the financial consequences if a signing does not deliver the expected result. Football experience is not a prerequisite for a board role, though understanding the economics and supporters is essential. Action Points: Test the funding plan: Review cash forecasts and the club’s reliance on owner support. Ask what happens if that funding stops or is delayed. Discuss what steps the board could take before cash becomes critical. Stress-test the strategy: Ask management to model outcomes beyond the expected league finish. Consider the effect of relegation or a major decision that does not pay off. Agree how the club would respond and revisit the assumptions regularly. Check the scope for challenge: Before accepting a seat, discuss how the owner responds to inconvenient advice. Ask how directors obtain the information needed to scrutinise decisions. Look for evidence that the board can challenge as well as support the owner. Map board skills: Compare the club’s objectives and risks with the experience already around the table. Identify gaps in areas such as finance, governance or commercial development. Decide whether to recruit a director or obtain specialist external advice. Plan supporter engagement: Identify decisions on which the club needs to consult fans. Explain proposed changes and listen to the responses. Tell supporters how their feedback informed the decision and why the board reached its conclusion. The Boardroom Path is the essential podcast for aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) navigating the journey from executive leadership to the boardroom. Hosted by Ralph Grayson, partner at Sainty Hird & Partners, each episode offers insightful conversations with industry leaders, seasoned board directors, and governance experts. Our guests share practical strategies, valuable perspectives, and actionable advice on how to effectively transition into board roles, maximise your impact, and build a rewarding NED career. Subscribe now, and take your first confident step along The Boardroom Path. Learn more about Sainty Hird & Partners at saintyhird.com. The Boardroom Path is produced by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford, UK.

In this episode of The Boardroom Path, Ralph Grayson speaks with Jonathan Greenstein, co-founder and director of Lagom Sports Compliance, about football club governance and the responsibilities of directors under the Independent Football Regulator. Jonathan draws on his financial services compliance background to explain why a good governance statement needs a record of decisions, challenge and follow-up behind it. The regulator’s draft State of the Game report says 94% of clubs in the top five English leagues were loss-making in its 2025/26 dataset, which combines actual and forecast information. Jonathan discusses what boards should establish about the amount, timing and reliability of owner support. The conversation covers related-party transactions, delegated authority and the difference between accountability and the practical ability to challenge. Jonathan also sets out the documents a prospective NED should request, the football-specific knowledge they will need to learn and why supporters must remain part of the board’s thinking. (00:00) - Welcome to The Boardroom Path (03:54) - Why Football Needs Regulatory Experience (06:07) - Club Losses and Owner Funding (09:17) - Evidence of Effective Governance (12:17) - Individual Accountability and Responsibility (15:17) - Club and Director Liability (18:10) - Related-Party Deals and Independent Challenge (20:31) - Board Skills and Club Risks (23:46) - Independence and the Authority to Challenge (26:22) - Bringing Outside Experience to Football (29:39) - Due Diligence Before Joining a Board (32:32) - Supporters, Heritage and the Club Jonathan Greenstein: Jonathan Greenstein is co-founder and director of Lagom Sports Compliance, a specialist governance, risk, compliance and anti-financial crime advisory business focused on professional football. He founded Lagom Consulting in 2024 after 15 years in financial services regulatory compliance. At Lagom Sports Compliance, Jonathan leads business development, operations, finance and marketing, alongside his work with Lagom Consulting clients.Ralph Grayson: Ralph Grayson is a Partner in the Board Practice at Sainty Hird & Partners, bringing extensive experience in board-level recruitment, assessment, and advisory services. With a deep understanding of the corporate governance landscape, Ralph specialises in guiding senior executives as they transition into impactful boardroom careers. His thoughtful approach, combined with a passion for developing effective leaders, enables him to facilitate insightful conversations that equip aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors with the tools they need to succeed. Through The Boardroom Path, Ralph leverages his extensive professional network and expertise to empower listeners on their journey into the boardroom. Episode Insights: A governance statement is more useful when directors can trace a decision through challenge, approval and review. Owner support should be tested for amount, timing, conditions and reliability, alongside the source of funds. Independent challenge requires access to information, a chair who supports it and a way to record dissent. Board skills should match the club’s risks, funding and structure; governance arrangements should be proportionate to its size. Directors from outside football can bring relevant experience, but need to learn the game’s economics, rules and relationship with supporters. Action Points: Trace a material decision: Select a recent decision and follow it from proposal to review. Check that the record shows challenge, authority and approval. Identify any gaps before the next decision reaches the board. Test owner funding: Ask for the amount, timing and conditions of promised support. Review the cash forecast and the plan if funding does not arrive. Examine the source of funds where appropriate. Agree decision limits: Establish who can commit the club and which decisions return to the board. Set an escalation route for exceptions, including urgent transfer decisions. Record approvals before commitments are made. Check independence in practice: Ask how directors obtain information and independent advice. Review the conflicts procedure and how dissent is recorded. Consider whether a director can exercise the authority needed to discharge their responsibilities. Assess the board’s skills: Map existing experience against the club’s funding, ownership and transaction risks. Identify gaps and decide whether to recruit or obtain specialist advice. Provide football-specific induction for directors joining from other sectors. The Boardroom Path is the essential podcast for aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) navigating the journey from executive leadership to the boardroom. Hosted by Ralph Grayson, partner at Sainty Hird & Partners, each episode offers insightful conversations with industry leaders, seasoned board directors, and governance experts. Our guests share practical strategies, valuable perspectives, and actionable advice on how to effectively transition into board roles, maximise your impact, and build a rewarding NED career. Subscribe now, and take your first confident step along The Boardroom Path. Learn more about Sainty Hird & Partners at saintyhird.com. The Boardroom Path is produced by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford, UK.

How should a board respond when its decisions and conduct come under public, regulatory or political scrutiny? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Duncan Mavin and Kate Brader of FTI Consulting about uncovering uncomfortable facts and leading when they become public. Duncan draws on investigative journalism to explain why directors should challenge executive accounts, listen when journalists raise concerns and ask simple questions. Kate sets out how a short, principles-based crisis framework, regular exercises and clear boundaries between board, chair and executive can prepare an organisation for pressure. Duncan and Kate also discuss decisions made with incomplete information, recording what was known and why, and communicating with priority stakeholders. Their examples give NEDs practical questions to raise before a crisis: when was the plan last exercised, who leads the response, and would each director stand behind the organisation's decisions? (00:00) - Welcome to The Boardroom Path (04:17) - Greensill, Credit Suisse, Leadership and Culture (08:36) - How Boards Become Complacent (13:42) - FTI Consulting's Crisis-Response Work (16:37) - Principles-Based Resilience Planning (20:17) - Reputation Risk and Public Scrutiny (22:25) - The Board's Role in Crisis Exercises (26:12) - Questions NEDs Should Ask Before a Crisis (31:09) - When the Chair or CEO Faces Allegations (34:02) - Speed, Accuracy and Verifying Facts (37:58) - Centralising Communications Across Media (44:04) - Learning After a Crisis and Board Accountability Duncan Mavin: Duncan Mavin is a Managing Director in FTI Consulting's Crisis & Litigation Communications team, specialising in crisis communication and crisis management, with expertise in global media relations. Before joining FTI Consulting, Duncan held senior editorial and management roles at The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and The Washington Post. He is a qualified chartered accountant and the author of Pyramid of Lies and Meltdown, books about Greensill Capital and Credit Suisse.Kate Brader: Kate Brader is a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting and leads its UK crisis communications practice. She specialises in crisis communication and crisis management, including high-profile live incidents. Her work has included responses to the NotPetya cyber-attack, discrimination issues and environmental activism. Before joining FTI Consulting, Kate developed and led Deloitte's Live Response service. Ralph Grayson: Ralph Grayson is a Partner in the Board Practice at Sainty Hird & Partners, bringing extensive experience in board-level recruitment, assessment, and advisory services. With a deep understanding of the corporate governance landscape, Ralph specialises in guiding senior executives as they transition into impactful boardroom careers. His thoughtful approach, combined with a passion for developing effective leaders, enables him to facilitate insightful conversations that equip aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors with the tools they need to succeed. Through The Boardroom Path, Ralph leverages his extensive professional network and expertise to empower listeners on their journey into the boardroom. Episode Insights: Boards should test whether recurring incidents point to a wider failure in leadership, culture or the business model, rather than treating each as an isolated event. Journalists and regulators can provide an external signal that management has filtered or dismissed; directors should listen and test the underlying facts. A short, principles-based crisis framework gives leaders room to adapt when a detailed manual cannot anticipate the situation. Executives lead the operational response; the chair supports, receives updates and keeps the wider board informed without pulling it into day-to-day management. Credible communication depends on verification, a clear record of decisions and direct contact with the stakeholders most affected. Action Points: Set crisis principles before an incident: Agree how the organisation will act on truth, transparency and stakeholder needs. Identify who has authority to make decisions and communicate. Keep the principles short enough for senior leaders to use under pressure. Align the plan with the risk register: Review the crisis framework when the risk profile changes. Check that the scenarios include cyber, governance, misconduct and operational events. Confirm that the people responsible have practised their roles. Exercise the response: Schedule regular simulations for executives and the board chair. Test decision paths, communications and the handover of information, not just the written plan. Record gaps and assign follow-up actions. Verify, record and communicate: State what is known and what remains uncertain, and log who decided what and on which information. Correct earlier statements promptly when new facts are confirmed. Contact the stakeholders most affected through suitable channels. Review after the crisis: Stand down the response formally and check on the staff and advisers involved. Arrange a debrief while the decisions are still fresh. For a serious incident, consider an independent review that reports to the board. The Boardroom Path is the essential podcast for aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) navigating the journey from executive leadership to the boardroom. Hosted by Ralph Grayson, partner at Sainty Hird & Partners, each episode offers insightful conversations with industry leaders, seasoned board directors, and governance experts. Our guests share practical strategies, valuable perspectives, and actionable advice on how to effectively transition into board roles, maximise your impact, and build a rewarding NED career. Subscribe now, and take your first confident step along The Boardroom Path. Learn more about Sainty Hird & Partners at saintyhird.com. The Boardroom Path is produced by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford, UK.

What changes when a seasoned executive joins a board and must influence decisions without executive authority? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Quintin Price, Chair of Oxford University Endowment Management and formerly of BlackRock, about what makes a non-executive director useful once they reach the table. Quintin draws on board roles at a listed investment trust, a grant-making charity, a US start-up and a university endowment. He explains why the board exists to represent the owners, why a chair should speak last, and why the chair can change the player but should never run onto the pitch. On 12 October, the FCA published a review finding that effective governance relies on constructive challenge and clear decision-making, according to Norton Rose Fulbright's summary. Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code now asks listed boards to show the basis for their view on material controls, as Board Intelligence explains. Quintin's model is a board that works like a choir, with different voices and shared operating principles. His advice to aspiring NEDs is to be at peace with who they are and find the board that needs their voice. (00:00) - Welcome to The Boardroom Path (03:29) - A Career Built on Learning (05:10) - How an Analyst Learned to Read Boards (08:28) - Agency Theory and Whom the Board Serves (11:15) - Standing on Principle (12:36) - Purpose, Profit and the Licence to Operate (17:31) - ESG and When to Take a Position (23:09) - Judgement and the Board as a Choir (28:02) - Why the Chair Should Speak Last (31:53) - The Chair, the CEO and the Football Pitch (38:44) - Choosing the Right Boards (47:12) - Credibility, References and Being Yourself Quintin Price: Quintin Price is Chair of Oxford University Endowment Management (OUem), where the board announced Caroline Serdarevic as its next Chief Executive in October 2026. He is Senior Independent Director of F&C Investment Trust, which he joined in March 2020, a trustee of the Leverhulme Trust, and a non-executive director of Aperture Investors in New York. He also sits on the investment committee of the Royal Shakespeare Company. From 2005 to 2015 he was at BlackRock as Global Head of Alpha Strategies and a member of the Global Executive Committee, and he later served as Global Head of Asset Management at Deutsche Bank. Earlier roles include Global Co-Chief Investment Officer at Gartmore and Global Head of Research at Putnam Investments and James Capel. His career across equity research, investment management and boards with very different owners gives him a practical view of how purpose and ownership shape good governance. Ralph Grayson: Ralph Grayson is a Partner in the Board Practice at Sainty Hird & Partners, bringing extensive experience in board-level recruitment, assessment, and advisory services. With a deep understanding of the corporate governance landscape, Ralph specialises in guiding senior executives as they transition into impactful boardroom careers. His thoughtful approach, combined with a passion for developing effective leaders, enables him to facilitate insightful conversations that equip aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors with the tools they need to succeed. Through The Boardroom Path, Ralph leverages his extensive professional network and expertise to empower listeners on their journey into the boardroom. Episode Insights: The board exists to represent the owners of the business, and personal agendas, egos and social factors can pull it away from that mission. A good chair draws out every director's view and summarises it before adding their own, rather than steering the discussion from the start. Independence of mind works when directors share core operating principles, which lets them be hard on the issues and soft on the people. Purpose and profit can reinforce each other, but a company that gives away too much of its return risks losing its licence to operate. Executive success earns a seat at the table, yet NEDs must stay off the pitch and influence executives through questions rather than instructions. Action Points: Speak last as chair: Go round the table and ask each director by name whether they have anything to add. Summarise what you have heard before offering your own perspective. If someone has already made your point, say you agree and move on. Test the fit before you accept: Ask what the board needs, how it operates and whether its culture matches your own principles. Do not take the first role offered simply to gain board experience. Talk to people who have served on boards, since they can help you spot a poor fit early. Ask rather than tell: When advising executives, frame your input as questions such as "Have you thought about this?" A Socratic approach is less threatening, so executives are more likely to listen. When they get something right, tell them, because leading as a CEO can be lonely. Check your record of challenge: Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026 and asks listed boards to declare whether their material controls worked, as Board Intelligence sets out. Ask whether your minutes record the questions directors asked and the answers they received. That record is the evidence of how the board reached its view. Learn from poor appointments: If a board role does not work out, ask what you missed and why. Consider honestly whether ego, vanity or naivety shaped your decision to join. Use the answers to set clearer criteria for your next appointment. The Boardroom Path is the essential podcast for aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) navigating the journey from executive leadership to the boardroom. Hosted by Ralph Grayson, partner at Sainty Hird & Partners, each episode offers insightful conversations with industry leaders, seasoned board directors, and governance experts. Our guests share practical strategies, valuable perspectives, and actionable advice on how to effectively transition into board roles, maximise your impact, and build a rewarding NED career. Subscribe now, and take your first confident step along The Boardroom Path. Learn more about Sainty Hird & Partners at saintyhird.com. The Boardroom Path is produced by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford, UK.

How do you judge a leader's contribution when the most important results may not arrive for another four years? In this episode of The Boardroom Path, host Ralph Grayson speaks with Andrew Strauss, former England cricket captain, former Director of England Cricket and executive chairman of Mindflick, about what the boardroom can take from elite sport. They look at why alignment between chair and CEO matters more than any planning document, how England's impressive 2015 World Cup plan failed on the pitch, and how a board decides when to lean in and when to stay out of the executive team's way. The timing is pointed. Polling by NEDonBoard found that 80% of board members report dysfunction on at least one of the boards they sit on, with chair behaviour the most cited cause, while Board Intelligence research shows only 33% of directors see their board as essential to value creation. Andrew explains how Mindflick's profiling work surfaces what his team calls the empty chair, the perspective a board is least likely to take, and why pressure makes that blind spot worse. (00:00) - Welcome to The Boardroom Path (03:43) - From Middlesex Captain at 24 to England (06:33) - Leading by Example and Where You Add Value (08:07) - Captain and Coach, Chair and CEO: Alignment at the Top (09:47) - When a Great Plan Meets Poor Execution (12:15) - Embracing Chaos within a Framework (13:13) - Noses In, Fingers Out: The Board's Real Job (15:17) - Part-Time Coaches, Part-Time Boards and Complexity (18:25) - Why Mindflick Was Founded (24:33) - Inside the Profiling Tool and the Empty Chair (28:33) - Measuring How a Team Is Actually Performing (31:38) - Board Evaluations and a Strengths-Based Approach Andrew Strauss: Andrew Strauss is executive chairman of Mindflick, the performance psychology business he co-founded in 2013 with Dr Mark Bawden and Dr Pete Lindsay, and he now leads the company's expansion across Asia-Pacific from its new Hong Kong office. As a player he captained England in all formats, won two Ashes series and took the Test side to number one in the world rankings. He then served as Director of England Cricket from 2015 to 2018, where he rebuilt the men's one-day set-up and put in place the performance plan behind the 2019 World Cup win. Mindflick's Spotlight tool, built on reinforcement sensitivity theory, has now delivered more than 80,000 profiles and accredited over 1,200 practitioners, with clients spanning financial services, insurance and technology alongside Manchester United, England Cricket and England Rugby. Andrew is also executive chairman of TTB Sport Capital and founder of the Ruth Strauss Foundation.Ralph Grayson: Ralph Grayson is a Partner in the Board Practice at Sainty Hird & Partners, bringing extensive experience in board-level recruitment, assessment, and advisory services. With a deep understanding of the corporate governance landscape, Ralph specialises in guiding senior executives as they transition into impactful boardroom careers. His thoughtful approach, combined with a passion for developing effective leaders, enables him to facilitate insightful conversations that equip aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors with the tools they need to succeed. Through The Boardroom Path, Ralph leverages his extensive professional network and expertise to empower listeners on their journey into the boardroom. Episode Insights: Alignment between chair and CEO, like captain and coach, is the precondition for everything else; without it the board breeds factions and people start protecting their own position rather than the organisation's. A board's role is context-dependent, not fixed. Sometimes it needs to dial its involvement up, sometimes right down, and the useful question is what this moment demands rather than what the calendar says. Boards often lean into the areas they find interesting rather than the areas where they hold real expertise, which is how they end up stepping on the executive team's feet. Under pressure, people default to their own preferences and become less adaptable, so a board is at its least diverse in thinking exactly when diversity of thinking matters most. Internal board evaluations frequently amount to marking your own homework, which is why measuring how the team is functioning day to day, not just the output, gives a chair something more honest to work with. Action Points: Test the chair and CEO alignment first: Before looking at board composition or process, establish whether the chair and CEO genuinely see the business the same way. Misalignment at the top creates insecurity that spreads quickly through the board and the executive team. Treat it as a recruitment and appointment question, not something to patch up later. Shorten the planning horizon: Replace a fixed multi-year plan with a clear statement of intent plus regular checkpoints. Ask management what has changed in the market since the strategy was written and whether the plan still reflects it. Keep the framework and let the detail adapt. Name the board's empty chair: Work out which perspective your board is least likely to take, whether that is commercial, operational, customer or contrarian. Ask explicitly whose view is missing before a significant decision. Assign someone to argue that position when nobody naturally holds it. Watch where the board leans in: Audit the agenda for areas the board enjoys rather than areas where it adds value. Compare the time spent on each topic with the expertise actually in the room. Where interest outruns competence, hand the detail back to the executive team. Measure how the board works, not just what it delivers: Add a measure of board functioning alongside the usual performance reporting, and repeat it on a consistent basis. Treat a facilitated or data-led view as a counterweight to self-assessment. Use the gap between the two as the agenda for development. The Boardroom Path is the essential podcast for aspiring and newly appointed Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) navigating the journey from executive leadership to the boardroom. Hosted by Ralph Grayson, partner at Sainty Hird & Partners, each episode offers insightful conversations with industry leaders, seasoned board directors, and governance experts. Our guests share practical strategies, valuable perspectives, and actionable advice on how to effectively transition into board roles, maximise your impact, and build a rewarding NED career. Subscribe now, and take your first confident step along The Boardroom Path. Learn more about Sainty Hird & Partners at saintyhird.com. The Boardroom Path is produced by Story Ninety-Four in Oxford, UK.