Dan Ashworth returns to FA as new role revealed after Manchester United exit

Former Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth has returned to the Football Association after being appointed chief football officer.

The 54-year-old served as the governing body’s director of elite development between 2013 and 2018 before taking positions at Brighton and Newcastle ahead of an ill-fated five-month stay at Old Trafford which ended in December.

The newly-created role will see Ashworth take oversight of the England men’s and women’s teams.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: “Dan is a hugely influential and respected figure in the game, who has a long-standing commitment to England Football.

“We are very happy to welcome him back in this new role.”

After Ashworth’s departure from Manchester United – his recruitment and untimely exit cost the club £4.1m – co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe described both his appointment in July 2024 and the retention of then manager Erik ten Hag as “errors”.

The former Norwich Academy player cut his teeth as a sports administrator at Peterborough and Cambridge before making his name as a shrewd operator as West Brom’s sporting and technical director.

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His work with the FA, where he was credited as one of the driving forces behind the England men’s team reaching the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, raised his profile significantly, and the part he played in Brighton’s rise as their technical director prompted Newcastle’s new Saudi-backed owners to make him their sporting director in 2022.

United fought hard to lure him across the Pennines and eventually got their man, only to dispense with his services summarily amid the club’s ongoing problems on the pitch and Ratcliffe’s restructuring work off it.

In his new position back at the FA, he will work closely with men’s technical director John McDermott and Kay Cossington’s successor in the women’s role. He will also oversee the development of St. George’s Park, the national training centre.

PA