Baroness Campbell Named New England Netball Chair

Baroness Campbell, who joined the Football Association (FA) in 2016 and contributed to the expansion of the Women’s Super League and Championship, has been appointed the new chair of England Netball. The 76-year-old concluded her tenure at the FA in early November, following an eight-year period dedicated to transforming women’s football in England. She will succeed the current chair, Bridget Blow CBE, effective January 2025. Speaking on the BBC’s Woman’s Hour on Thursday, Campbell stated that a key objective is to provide England’s netball team with “the opportunity to be the best in the world”. She further commented, “The sport is in a good place, and I’m going to be working with Fran [Connolly, England Netball chief executive officer] to see if we can build on that and take it to an even better place for the next few years.” During Campbell’s tenure at the FA, the Lionesses secured the European Championship at Wembley Stadium in 2022 and reached the World Cup final the following year. Campbell remarked, “Winning the Euros turbo charged everything.” She continued, “We know in netball, we’ve got the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, and we’ve got the World Championships all within the next few years.” She emphasized, “We have to be absolutely aiming to win those, and to build off that to inspire yet more girls to play our game.”