A Balham woman was selected as part of a football governing body’s new board which aims to include a ‘more inclusive and representative’ range of people.

Ruth Holdaway, chief executive of Women in Sport, is one of ten new non-executive board members for the London Football Association (LFA) announced this week (November 8).

A third of the new committee is from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background (BAME), while almost half are female.

Lisa Pearce, chief executive of LFA, was the first female to hold the position.

She said: “Our governance initiative attracted overwhelming support from the sporting and business communities and as a result, we received over 65 applications for the non-executive board roles.

"I was extremely impressed by the calibre of applicants and we have strengthened our board with a group of talented and highly qualified individuals.

“Our new board members’ wealth of diverse management skills, experience and backgrounds puts us in a very strong position and we’re looking forward to entering an exciting and progressive era for the LFA.”

The reform of the LFA’s governance is said to be in adherence to Sport England and UK Sport’s Code of Sports Governance, a policy which became effective as of April 2017.

Its board has 11 members, with the chair’s position extended for another year.

This is also said to be in line with the Tier 3 requirement of the code, which applies to organisations who receive more than £1 million in public funding.

Ruth said said: “I’m delighted to have been appointed to the board of the LFA and excited about the opportunity to build on the great work that has already been done to engage more women and girls in the game.

“As a new board, we are committed to good governance and to ensuring we are making football inclusive for all Londoners.

“We’re dedicated to delivering great experiences across the capital to attract more people and keep them playing football.

“I can’t wait to get started.”

The new LFA positions include three independent non-executive directors, six non-executive football director, as well as one non-executive finance and risk director.