Andy Anson
Encyclopedia
Andrew Edward "Andy" Anson is a British
businessman who is currently the chief executive officer
at England 2018 Ltd, the company behind The Football Association
's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup
. He was previously the commercial director at Manchester United
and, most recently, the chief executive of the European division of the Association of Tennis Professionals
(ATP Europe).
, Lancashire
, and grew up in nearby Rochdale
. He began playing football at a young age and, despite being a fan of Manchester United even played for Manchester City
's schoolboys team after being spotted playing for the Oulder Hill School
team. He did not pursue football as a professional career, though, and earned a place at Exeter College, Oxford
, where he attained a second-class degree in mathematics
, even sharing a tutorial with child genius Ruth Lawrence
at one stage. He continued to play football at university, however, and eventually earned his Blue.
, doing work for various clients, including North West Water
. However, in the early 1990s, he left Andersen to enrol on an MBA
course at INSEAD
in Fontainebleau
. To cope with the costs of attending INSEAD, Anson returned to consulting at the end of the course, working for the Kalchas Group. However, he was soon headhunted by The Walt Disney Company
, and he moved to Los Angeles
for three-and-a-half years, working for Disney's consumer products division. In this capacity, he was responsible for the licensing of all clothes and toys for the company. During Anson's time in the consumer products division, the company generated $
7 billion in revenue, and he was promoted to the position of chief financial officer.
At the end of his time with Disney, Anson returned to the UK, where he took a position as Channel 4
's head of strategic planning. He later became the managing director of Channel 4 Interactive. While at Channel 4, Anson was responsible for the launch of its sister channel, E4. In 2002, Anson left Channel 4 to work at the London office of management consulting
firm, OC&C Strategy Consultants
, becoming a partner in the company. Two years later, he was approached by his childhood football club, Manchester United, to become their new commercial director in the wake of David Gill
's promotion to chief executive after Peter Kenyon
departed to Chelsea
. The appointment was confirmed in December 2003, and Anson started work in February 2004.
In November 2006, Anson was named as the new chief executive of the European division of the Association of Tennis Professionals
(ATP Europe), replacing the outgoing Horst Klosterkemper. He remained in the role for two years, before being named as the chief executive of England 2018 Ltd, the company behind The Football Association
's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup
. He began work in his new position on 1 January 2009.
on 29 November 2010, it was alleged that three senior FIFA officials, Nicolas Leoz
, Issa Hayatou
and Ricardo Teixeira
, had been paid huge bribes by FIFA's marketing partner ISL between 1989 and 1999. Anson criticised the timing of the broadcast, which had resulted in the names of the three officials becoming public before FIFA's decision on the host for the 2018 World Cup; the voters included the officials accused by the programme. Subsequently, the England bid was rejected at the first vote, after Sepp Blatter
had spoken to FIFA members regarding the "evils of the media", although any direct link between the Panorama documentary and the outcome of the vote remains speculative.
After the result was announced, Anson called for reforms at FIFA
, saying "I would say right now don't bother [bidding] unless you know the process is going to change ... When there are only 22 guys that gives them too much influence".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
businessman who is currently the chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
at England 2018 Ltd, the company behind The Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup
2018 FIFA World Cup
The bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups was the process by which the locations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were selected. The process began officially in March 2009; eleven bids from thirteen countries were received, including one which was withdrawn and one that was...
. He was previously the commercial director at Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and, most recently, the chief executive of the European division of the Association of Tennis Professionals
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
(ATP Europe).
Early life
The son of a bank manager, Anson was born at the Boundary Park Hospital in OldhamOldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, and grew up in nearby Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
. He began playing football at a young age and, despite being a fan of Manchester United even played for Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
's schoolboys team after being spotted playing for the Oulder Hill School
Oulder Hill Community School
Oulder Hill Community School High School is a mixed gender comprehensive community school secondary school and sixth form for 11 - 18 year olds, located in Rochdale in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.-Subjects:...
team. He did not pursue football as a professional career, though, and earned a place at Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
, where he attained a second-class degree in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, even sharing a tutorial with child genius Ruth Lawrence
Ruth Lawrence
Ruth Elke Lawrence-Naimark is an Associate Professor of mathematics at the Einstein Institute of Mathematics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a researcher in knot theory and algebraic topology. Outside academia, she is best known for being a child prodigy in mathematics.- Youth :Ruth Lawrence...
at one stage. He continued to play football at university, however, and eventually earned his Blue.
Career
After leaving Oxford, Anson returned to the north-west of England to work for Andersen ConsultingAccenture
Accenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of September 2011, the company had more than 236,000 employees across...
, doing work for various clients, including North West Water
North West Water
North West Water was a water supply company serving north west England. It was originally the North West Water Authority, one of ten regional authorities created by the Water Act 1973. In 1989 it became North West Water plc, and was privatised...
. However, in the early 1990s, he left Andersen to enrol on an MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
course at INSEAD
INSEAD
INSEAD is an international graduate business school and research institution. It has campuses in Europe , Asia , and the Middle East , as well as a research center in Israel...
in Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
. To cope with the costs of attending INSEAD, Anson returned to consulting at the end of the course, working for the Kalchas Group. However, he was soon headhunted by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
, and he moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for three-and-a-half years, working for Disney's consumer products division. In this capacity, he was responsible for the licensing of all clothes and toys for the company. During Anson's time in the consumer products division, the company generated $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
7 billion in revenue, and he was promoted to the position of chief financial officer.
At the end of his time with Disney, Anson returned to the UK, where he took a position as Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's head of strategic planning. He later became the managing director of Channel 4 Interactive. While at Channel 4, Anson was responsible for the launch of its sister channel, E4. In 2002, Anson left Channel 4 to work at the London office of management consulting
Management consulting
Management consulting indicates both the industry and practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing organizational problems and development of plans for improvement....
firm, OC&C Strategy Consultants
OC&C Strategy Consultants
OC&C Strategy Consultants is a management consulting firm that provides strategic advice to senior management in large corporations and organisations. It now employs over 450 consultants and has over 60 Partners...
, becoming a partner in the company. Two years later, he was approached by his childhood football club, Manchester United, to become their new commercial director in the wake of David Gill
David Gill (executive)
David Alan Gill is British football executive, currently Chief Executive of Manchester United F.C. and a board member of the Football Association...
's promotion to chief executive after Peter Kenyon
Peter Kenyon
Peter Kenyon is a British businessman who has served as the chief executive of English Premier League clubs Manchester United Football Club and Chelsea Football Club, where he has been involved in contentious transfer dealings.-Early life:Kenyon was educated in Tameside at West Hill...
departed to Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
. The appointment was confirmed in December 2003, and Anson started work in February 2004.
In November 2006, Anson was named as the new chief executive of the European division of the Association of Tennis Professionals
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
(ATP Europe), replacing the outgoing Horst Klosterkemper. He remained in the role for two years, before being named as the chief executive of England 2018 Ltd, the company behind The Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup
2018 FIFA World Cup
The bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups was the process by which the locations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were selected. The process began officially in March 2009; eleven bids from thirteen countries were received, including one which was withdrawn and one that was...
. He began work in his new position on 1 January 2009.
Panorama
In a Panorama documentary broadcast on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on 29 November 2010, it was alleged that three senior FIFA officials, Nicolas Leoz
Nicolás Léoz
Nicolás Leoz Almirón is the current President of CONMEBOL . Leoz assumed the presidency in 1986 and in February 2006 he was reelected as President for the sixth time...
, Issa Hayatou
Issa Hayatou
Issa Hayatou is the president of the Confederation of African Football , named in 1987. In 2002, he ran for president of FIFA but was defeated by current president Sepp Blatter...
and Ricardo Teixeira
Ricardo Teixeira
Ricardo Terra Teixeira is the current president of the Brazilian Football Confederation since January 16, 1989. Teixeira has been chosen to remain on the presidency of CBF at least until the end of the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in Brazil completing then over 25 years as head of the institution...
, had been paid huge bribes by FIFA's marketing partner ISL between 1989 and 1999. Anson criticised the timing of the broadcast, which had resulted in the names of the three officials becoming public before FIFA's decision on the host for the 2018 World Cup; the voters included the officials accused by the programme. Subsequently, the England bid was rejected at the first vote, after Sepp Blatter
Sepp Blatter
Joseph S. Blatter , commonly known as Sepp Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA . He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007, and 2011...
had spoken to FIFA members regarding the "evils of the media", although any direct link between the Panorama documentary and the outcome of the vote remains speculative.
After the result was announced, Anson called for reforms at FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
, saying "I would say right now don't bother [bidding] unless you know the process is going to change ... When there are only 22 guys that gives them too much influence".