Football Association Chairman resigns from retailer

The Football Association Chairman David Bernstein has resigned as chairman of retailer Blacks Leisure. He explained his decision by saying he didn’t want to create divisions in the business.

Mike Ashley, the current owner of Sports retailer Sportsdirect and Newcastle United Football Club, owns 21% of the chain. Sportsdirect voted against his re-appointment at the firm’s AGM in July.

The outdoor specialist Blacks said that Mr Bernstein decided to step down because “the company needed a unified shareholder base.”

The company has been badly hit by the High Street slowdown. Like-for-like sales in the 19 weeks to 9 July fell 9.7% and the firm announced an increase in its overall debt levels.

Julia Reynolds was named Chief Executive at the start of this month and will start to turn around the figures.