The Football Association of Ireland has appointed global sports marketing expert Jonathan Neill as a Commercial Consultant to review and support its ongoing commercial activity as the Association separately begins the recruitment process for a Commercial Director to oversee the newly-created Communications Division as well as for the new Marketing and Communications Director role.

With over 20 years top level experience in the sports industry across agency, brand and rights holder commercial roles, Neill has worked as Commercial Director with the Rugby League World Cup where he oversaw partnerships, broadcast, hospitality, licensing and fan travel and oversaw 10 sponsorship deals during the COVID-19 pandemic including a Principal Partnership with Cazoo, the largest deal in the tournament’s history. As Head of Sponsorship Partnerships at Barclays his global sponsorship strategy, management and activation brief included the Barclays Premier League.

Looking forward to his new Commercial Consultant role with the FAI, Neill said: “This role is one I am really excited about at such a pivotal time for Irish football. It’s an exciting time to work with the FAI with their vision to inspire and unite the nation. Football in Ireland has a clear sense of belonging and impact within communities and I firmly believe this will resonate with future partners of the Association, as well as with the current roster of sponsor partners.

“I look forward to playing my part in helping the organisation meet their overall strategic goals, with the commercial programme having a crucial role to deliver this. The FAI already enjoys fantastic partnerships with some of the biggest brands in Ireland whom I am really excited to work with and I am confident that the potential opportunities for new sponsors across all levels of Irish football are significant as we build real commercial momentum for Irish football moving forward.”

Jonathan Hill, CEO of the FAI, welcomed Neill to the role: “I’m delighted to have someone of Jonathan’s experience join the team at a critical time for the organisation as we restructure our overall approach to both revenue-generation and how we interact with all of our stakeholders and I know he will bring a fresh pair of eyes to our challenges and opportunities and help give us that laser focus in terms of revenue generation which is obviously so important for us as we move to a more sustainable and independent financial future.”