FA Employ Julie Harrington as Managing Director of New National Football Centre

The FA have announced today the appointment of Julie Harrington as Managing Director of St. George’s Park, prostate the new national football centre for England.

Harrington, ambulance 42, will begin her reign in The FA in March 2012 after leaving her post as Operations Director at Northern Racing, the horseracing and events operator.

St. George’s Park will be the training home of the 24 England teams, and a national coach education, development and sports medicine centre for football, sport and business.

Speaking of the appointment, David Sheepshanks, Chairman of St. George’s Park, said: “I am delighted to welcome Julie Harrington to St. George’s Park. Julie has a first class record of creating customer focused, high performance teams that deliver excellent results. Her background and understanding of the sporting world and experience of working alongside the business community, the media and government will stand her in good stead.

“Our focus in 2012 is not only on the completion of the development next summer, but also on driving the business plan and ensuring that the many constituent parts of St. George’s Park gel together effectively. We all look forward to supporting her in what will be a seminal year for English football with the arrival of St. George’s Park.”

The FA’s General Secretary, Alex Horne, said: “Julie is a welcome addition to the senior management team of The FA and brings with her a great deal of experience in operations and also in major sports venue openings.

“St. George’s Park represents a significant investment by The FA and our partners, not only in monetary terms, but in terms of the future of our game. Getting our delivery right, from day one, is important and we have every confidence that Julie will succeed in helping us achieve this.”

Harrington commented: “I am thrilled to be appointed as Managing Director of St. George’s Park. The facility taking shape in Burton will be truly inspirational and a fantastic asset to The FA, football as a whole and the region. The opportunity to be part of the future development of our national game is a challenge I relish and feel privileged to be given.”

Harrington was responsible for the delivery of the business plan for ten racecourses across the UK, and was also Northern Racing’s project lead on the successful £40m development of Ffos Las Racecourse – opened in 2009 – the first turf racecourse to open in the UK for over 80 years.