The FA appoints new head of sponsorship

The Football Association has poached BSkyB executive Peter Daire to head its sponsorship department. Daire will manage The FA’s Partner Programme when the joins later this year.

The programme covers the England football teams, The FA Cup and various agreements and initiatives to develop the game at all levels. It is in the second season of a four-season cycle, which runs to and through the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Daire takes over from Mark Osikoya, who is leaving the FA after seven years at to take up a client services role at London 2012. Daire will report to FA commercial director Jonathan Hill, and sit alongside head of marketing Simon Freedman, head of broadcast and new media Stuart Turner, and head of business development Mark Armstrong.

The current Partnership Programme, which was implemented by Hill, has two lead sponsors: Eon, which backs the FA Cup, and Nationwide, which supports the England team. Carlsberg, National Express and Umbro are second-tier partners, while Tesco and McDonald’s support the FA’s development programmes

At Sky, Daire was one of three executives responsible for the specialist division Sky Alive, which was folded out of sales house Sky Media earlier this year. The division acts as the commercial agent for a number of football clubs and sporting organisations including Chelsea FC.