FA set to choose new leader

Football Association board members were due to gather today for one of their most important meetings in recent history.

The board are expected to choose the new FA chairman - with former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein the clear favourite - and will also hear a postmortem of England's failure to host the 2018 World Cup and the first details of a review of international player development.

The appointment of a new permanent chairman follows Lord Triesman's enforced resignation in May.

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside is head of the nominations committee appointed to find Triesman's successor, and he is expected to present one name, or possibly two, to fellow board members today.

Acting chairman Roger Burden was initially the favourite until he withdrew his application following England 2018's controversial World Cup defeat on the grounds that he "could not trust" FIFA.

Sir Keith Mills, the deputy chairman of the London 2012 Olympics and a Tottenham board member, was viewed as another potential candidate but he has ruled himself out on the grounds of lack of time, leaving Dein as the outright favourite.

Other names linked with the post include Andrew Croker, son of ex-FA general secretary Ted Croker, and ex-Football League chairman David Sheepshanks.

Appointing Dein would also be welcomed by the Government who are watching proceedings carefully before making any moves to reform the governance of the organisation.

Dein impressed ministers as international president of the England 2018 bid, even if his efforts came to nothing, and he has good connections to UEFA and FIFA.

The only possible fly in the ointment is in respect of his age - under current rules the chairman has to stand down when he is 70, meaning Dein would only have three years in office.