Former footballer given regulatory ban over financial mismanagement at PFA

Professional Footballers’ Association ‘let players down’ under finance director Darren Wilson, says watchdog

Former footballer and professional players union executive Darren Wilson has been given a regulatory ban after a watchdog inquiry uncovered serious financial mismanagement at a charity for ex-players.

The Charity Commission said conflicts of interest, poor financial controls and inadequate management oversight at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) charity had “let down the players they were supposed to be helping”.

Failure to report in the charity’s accounts the transfer of £1.9m paid to the charity by the Football Association in 2017. The charity later said it had “mistakenly” transferred the money to the “accident fund” of the union, which subsequently repaid it.

Several properties owned by the charity were let rent-free to the PFA for several years. The Charity Commission found this had cost the charity £627,000 in unpaid rent, which the PFA subsequently repaid after the commission intervened.