Jul 2, 2026
How to Lead a Premier League Football Club: Paul Barber OBE on Leadership, Governance, and Growing the Women’s Game
This week’s guest is Paul Barber OBE, Chief Executive and Deputy Chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion and non-executive director at Women in Football.
Paul has spent over 30 years in the game, working across the FA, EFL, Premier League clubs, and MLS with Vancouver Whitecaps. In this conversation, he opens up about what it actually takes to lead a modern football club – from managing pressure and making hundreds of decisions a month, to building culture across two sites and being visible to every member of staff.
This is a grounded, honest masterclass on leadership, governance, allyship, and long-term thinking in football.
What You’ll Discover:
- Why football clubs are small businesses with huge
impact
Behind the Premier League spotlight, most clubs run with relatively small off-field teams, working seven days a week across stadium and training ground. - How corporate skills transfer to elite
sport
Paul’s years at Barclays gave him rigorous training in planning, budgeting, management, and people development. -
Composure, pressure and the ‘acting skills’ of a Football CEO
Results swing, league tables change, pressure intensifies. Paul explains how he’s learned to stay calm externally even when he feels exactly like the fans internally — and why consistency, perspective, and responsibility to his staff shape how he shows up on matchday and in crisis. -
Building Europe’s first purpose-built women’s stadium
Paul unpacks Brighton’s bold plan to invest £75–80 million in a purpose-built stadium for their women’s team — designed through a female performance lens and a different audience profile. He explains why this is both the right thing for athletes and a long-term business play, and how it can set a standard for other clubs. -
Humour as a strategic leadership tool (with Jeff Mostyn)
Through stories of former AFC Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn — including hiding under a boardroom table and cutting tension in Premier League meetings — Paul shows how humour can defuse conflict, build relationships, and keep people going through intense periods like COVID. - Paul shares three practical tips for building a
career in football
Paul closes with three simple, powerful principles for anyone who wants to work in football and much more!
Connect with Paul Here:
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-barber-obe-164552a/
Related Podcasts:
428: Jeff Mostyn-What is the Role of a Football Chairman?
442: Anush Ananyan- How To Be A CEO At A Football Club?