Back10. Meet the Directors
AFC Sudbury is a progressive organisation, focussed on leveraging football’s unique ability to bring people together to help make the town of Sudbury, and the rural community around it, a great place to live, work and thrive for everyone.
However, we also acknowledge that football has a legacy that is scarred by anti-social and abusive behaviours which, whilst fading away in many respects, continues to compromise our sport and most clubs. We are a club that is proud to be positively disruptive and different. We are leaders of the next generation of football, not slaves to all the negativity that has gone before. We are a club determined to be on the right side of the history of football, no matter how hard that can be. This agenda is driven by our Board of Directors which act as our curators and custodians.
This commitment includes it’s hosting of a Women’s Refugee Football Group, the presentation of ‘Champion Charities’ with a physical health or mental wellbeing charity featured each month of the football season, the introduction of a Disability Football program and the partnership it hosts with popular local charity, The Bridge Project. Importantly it is also centrally manifest in our highly inclusive overall ethos, with a highly successful Women’s First Team and section, over 100 students provided full time education and almost 20 Youth teams in action.
The club’s Board of Directors is a group of individuals united by their desire to use their broad lived and professional experience to help to make the club a valuable community asset. They are as follows:
Andrew Harvison - Chair & Academy: Andy is a respected former Secondary School Headteacher. A familiar and trusted figure within the community, Andy brings extensive leadership experience and a passion for grassroots sport, and a deep understanding of how football can positively shape lives both on and off the pitch.
Alicja Holland - CEO
Andrew Long - Commercial: Andrew is a retired International Corporate Lawyer, ex semi-professional footballer with experience of corporate law and finance.
Ben Davies - Matchdays and Community Representative: Ben has been a fan and volunteer at AFC Sudbury since the club was formed in June 1999. He is a founding member of the grassroots youth section of the club, a level 2 qualified youth coach for 12-years and secretary and vice-chair of the youth section for many years. Ben was honoured to join the board a few years ago where his main role is organising the many volunteers needed to help run the club.
Ben is often the face of the Men’s First Team on matchdays, but you will also find him organising volunteers to cover the various roles needed for the many matches held during the week.
Many local people know that in 2021, Ben lost his wife Lynsey to cancer at the tender age of 40. Lynsey was also a volunteer at AFC Sudbury and the turnstiles have been named in Lynsey’s honour.
Lynsey and Ben both supported the charity ‘Hope for Tomorrow’ which operates mobile cancer care units nationally and Ben has continued supporting this charity and has raised around £75,000 since Lynsey passed away two years ago. Many of the charity events have been held at AFC Sudbury where Ben’s ‘second family’ have been incredibly supportive. During the day, Ben is a commercial insurance broker, working locally in Long Melford. He has two grown up children and two grandchildren but is still one of the younger members of the board!
Ben enjoys reading, badminton, going to the gym, walking, undertaking charity fundraising challenges and of course football; playing every Wednesday night at the club.
Andy Message - Health & Safety Andy works professionally as a Health, Safety and Wellbeing Manager within the fore service as well as being a keen football supporter as a lifelong follower of Brighton and Hove Albion – a community centred with a successful Men’s First Team. As a resident of Ballingdon, Andy is also well known locally for his commitment to the annual Fete.
Adrian Goodwin - Growth Adrian has been part of the club for 7 years and has been instrumental in helping to grow the Women’s offering and being part of the force forging a proven pathway from the academy to the women’s first team, which has gone from strength to strength, now playing in step 4 of the FA Women’s National League.
Adrian should help see more focus on growing the Club across each section of football and wider initiatives in a holistic manner. Adrian’s knowledge of the game and passion for the club will be an asset to the board