Written by: John
Hi I’m Andy, I live in Surrey, dad of 3 kids (Jacob 8, Leo 6 & Eleni 1) and am one of those odd non-club supporters, a decision I made a few years ago when I realised that the club I was brought up to follow actually didn’t align with any of my own values. Instead, I support ‘football for good’ – anything and everything that uses the power of sport to create a positive impact in this world – clubs like Lewes growing as a brand that helps educate people on how sport can create positive impact in the world is exciting and refreshing.
I have always had a love for football, and the power that football can have, enough so that I’m currently developing a sport programme to create new opportunities for young disabled boys and girls to learn PE and play adapted football formats at SEN schools across the UK, connecting to the International Paralympic stage, supporting the development of future differently-abled talent to realise their sporting and academic dreams.
I have over 16 years of experience across different organisations, from leading the design, procurement and build of shops and community initiatives (e.g. football pitches and community centres) with brands such as Best Buy, Carphone Warehouse & Sainsbury’s, to leading strategic teams at Global brands such as Accenture and Amazon.
My experience has helped me to be a specialist at being a generalist, using the transferrable skills I’ve learnt along the way and how to navigate large organisations, towards where I work today, Right to Dream. A global football network of academies and pro football, where I am the Group Head of Partnerships, leading the strategy and creation of purpose-driven partnerships and sponsorships across the organisation. I recently established a multi-million pound partnership with Common Goal across our organisation, and also lead the current group partnership with Nike. I am also a lead in the Brand & Media team, developing strategies and tactical plans that guide delivery of creative initiatives, research and insight capture, activations, storytelling themes, content creation and distribution across both owned and earned media channels.
It would be an honour to support the development and growth objectives of a club. I feel the mix of my experience and the networks I have built to this point can meaningfully contribute towards the Lewes FC strategy, specifically Goal 1 & 2 in Pillar 2 (Full Financial Stability), by evolving the sponsorship and partnership strategy with methodology I have previously designed and implemented, connecting the club into brands and philanthropists to develop new purpose-led partnerships, as well as Goal 1, 2 & 3 in Pillar 3 (Own House In Order), supporting the development of a procurement framework that is in sync with the sponsorship and partnership strategy, reviewing and providing insight into initiatives that enhance disability access for fans and employees at the stadium, and support on raising the benchmark of new hires and respective processes and governance around club operations.