City AM Football Power List explained: What it is, who judges it and how ranking works

Football has never been bigger or more prevalent, so as a thrilling club season flows into the biggest and most commercial men’s World Cup ever, it feels like an ideal time to try to answer the question: who are the most powerful people in the sport?

That was the task we at City AM set ourselves earlier this year when we conceived the Football Power List. Now, after much deliberation with our panel of expert judges, we are very proud to present the first edition of what we hope will become an annual ranking.

How do you define power in football?

Of course, there are many ways to define power. Is it about who is holding the purse strings and making decisions at the highest levels? Or is it to do with who is driving growth across the planet through strategy and reach? Well, it’s actually all of the above.

For the City AM Football Power List we defined power as: the ability to influence major decisions, money flows, regulations, competitive outcomes, or the global direction of the game in 2026. Beyond that, anyone in any industry anywhere in the world was considered.

To take on such a hefty task we wanted to make sure we had a judging panel of the highest calibre. With a line-up of CEOs, senior executives, consultants and leading academics alongside City AM writers, we are confident we have achieved this and I would like to extend my huge thanks to all of them for sharing their time and expertise.

Every judge had the chance to nominate anyone they wanted before selecting their top 25 from a comprehensive longlist. Following that, the panel convened for an encouragingly robust discussion in order to finalise the ranking.

Football power list is a talking point

Football, it is often said, is a game of opinions and we hope the City AM Football Power List provokes some healthy debate. That was always the aim and no doubt readers will have their own perspectives on who does and doesn’t deserve their ranking. We’d love to hear them.

For now, dive in, enjoy our experts’ take. We believe it’s the perfect appetiser for the feast of football being served up over the coming weeks.

Read the City AM Football Power List top 25 here

City AM Football Power List Judges

Darren Bailey
Has worked exclusively in sport for over 30 years as a lawyer, regulator, strategist, consultant, and editor. Former director of football governance and regulation at the FA, currently a consultant in the sports group at Charles Russell Speechlys.

Professor Simon Chadwick
Sport and geopolitics academic, writer, consultant and speaker, whose work focuses on leading and managing in complex environments. His particular areas of expertise are in policy and strategy, international and global markets, business and marketing.

Sam Cunningham 
City AM columnist and freelance sports reporter. Sam was chief football correspondent at the i Paper for eight years, staff sports reporter at the Mail and his work has also appeared in The Times, The Guardian, and The Observer.

Frank Dalleres
City AM sport editor with 20 years’ experience of covering football and sport and their increasingly prominent convergence with business. 

Matt Hardy
City AM deputy sport editor, serial attendee of major sport events and supporter of Aston Villa and Gloucester Rugby.

Yvonne Harrison
CEO of Women In Football and founder of management consultancy StryveUK, which helps businesses to have a positive effect on the world. Previous roles include managing director for Project 92, overseeing the sport and education portfolio for the Class of 92.

Neil Hopkins 
Chief strategy officer at M+C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, and a leading sponsorship, marketing and communications strategist with substantial experience in football including working with Coca-Cola, Heineken, Barclays, Uefa and Sky Sports.

Louise Johnson
Global CEO of Fuse, one of the world’s leading sport and entertainment marketing agencies, and founder of the Fertility Futures Project. A recognised industry leader, Louise is passionate about using the power of sport, culture and media to drive business growth and social change.

Simon Leaf
Co-founding Partner of Three Points Law, a tech-enabled law firm that specialises in sports and sports tech-related work. Simon has acted on some of the most prominent football transactions and regulatory matters.

Tim Lopez
Founder and CEO of TLNT Global, an elite talent management and advisory agency. Over two decades operating in sport, and a Fifa agent and intermediary. Co-founder of the Sports Business Syndicate.

Kahlen Macaulay
Leads the international division of Snap’s sports partnerships team, responsible for developing relationships with rights holders, rights owners, teams, leagues and athletes to serve Snap’s community.

Laurie Pinto
Founder of Pinto Capital, a boutique sports investment agency facilitating the next generation of sport ownership. Previously worked as a broker, chief executive and chair at several investment banks and financial services companies.

Amar Singh
SVP Content and Creative Strategy at MKTG Sports + Entertainment, part of Dentsu, where he leads campaigns for some of the world’s most recognised brands in sport. Founder of The Sports Marketeer newsletter and podcast and a professor at the Football Business Academy.

Tony Simpson
Partner and the Global Sport and Entertainment Lead at Oliver Wyman. He also serves as a Partner in the firm’s Private Equity practice. A former Board Advisor to Special Olympics Great Britain and independent observer to the English Rugby Football Union Governance Review.

Ed Warner
City AM columnist and author of the weekly Sport inc. newsletter. He is chair of GBWR Wheelchair Rugby and previously chaired UK Athletics and Crystal Palace FC’s foundation, Palace for Life.

Professor Rob Wilson
Expert in sport finance, governance and leadership, serving as Dean at University Campus of Football Business and Founder of Play it Forward Sports Advisory. He is a regular media commentator and industry advisor.