Football Victoria (FV) today welcomed the appointment of Football Federation Australia’s new Chief Executive Officer, James Johnson.
FV President Kimon Taliadoros and CEO Peter Filopoulos said Mr Johnson, who will commence in January 2020, is a welcome appointment and an experienced and highly regarded international football executive and leader.
“Football Victoria is delighted with the appointment of leading football administrator James Johnson as CEO of Football Federation Australia, and stands at the ready to support Chair Chris Nikou and his Board on its mission to lead the beautiful game to achieve its full potential for the benefit of all Australians,” Mr Taliadoros said.
"I am inspired to have a world-class accomplished football executive at the helm of the game. James brings a wealth of experience in Asia and Europe to the leadership of the game, having been an outstanding elite junior player himself. His formative years in the player movement moulded his considerable skillset and further enhanced his ability to unite and harness the boundless energy, unfettered ambition and rich football culture across from the country and beyond. Game on."
Most recently the Senior Vice President of External Affairs with the City Football Group (CFG), Mr Johnson is a seasoned and experienced figure in football. He has worked for all the major football stakeholder groups including Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA).
“We’re at a critical juncture in football in this country and there’s plenty of exciting times ahead. Football was recently reconfirmed as Australia’s largest club-based participation sport and we’re seeing growth across men’s and women’s and girl’s and boy’s playing numbers. With that comes many challenges that we need to confront and overcome and opportunities that we need to embrace and vigorously explore,” Mr Filopoulos said.
“FV is passionate about ensuring football is a sport accessible for anyone, anywhere at any time, and we look forward to working with James and FFA to keep striving towards that, particularly around addressing the facilities shortage our game is confronting nationally. We need to unlock more government funding at all levels to ensure we harness and continue the growth of the world game in Australia.”
Mr Johnson said: “Australian football is my first football community – I grew up here; I first watched football here; I’ve played here, and I built the basis of my football administration career here. I see my appointment as a responsibility to the game.
“I am looking forward to working with the Member Federations, the Women’s Council and all stakeholders across the game to build the unified and prosperous future the game deserves. We have much to do, and together we will build a shared vision for the future. One where the fans are engaged, the players fulfil their potential and the clubs at all levels thrive.”
James Johnson - professional experience
City Football Group (CFG), London/Manchester - Present
Senior Vice President External Affairs
Association Football Development Program Global (AFDP), London 2018 – Present
Advisory Board Member (non-executive)
FIFA, Zurich December 2015 – December 2018
Head of Professional Football
FIFA, Zurich 2014 - 2015
Senior Manager Member Associations
Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Kuala Lumpur 2011 - 2013
Director of International Relations and Development
Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), FIFPro Asia/Oceania, Melbourne 2009 - 2011
Player Relations Executive
ClarkeKann Lawyers, Brisbane 2008 - 2009
Practiced in the areas of corporate governance, commercial litigation and industrial relations
Sport
Member of Australian Youth National Football Teams: Under 17s (1999)
Queensland Academy of Sport, Football (1998-2000)
Former Professional Footballer at Brisbane Strikers Soccer Club, DaNang FC (Vietnam)
Education
Graduate Diploma Legal Practice (2008)
College of Law (Qld)
Juris Doctor (Hons) (2008)
Bond University Bachelor Management Studies (Finance) (2006)
Boston University