Posted on 2nd February 2026
RIP Lord Triesman
The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) was very sorry to hear of Lord Triesman’s passing this weekend. As well as being a former chair of the FA he was also a member of our All-Party Parliamentary Group for Football Supporters and very supportive of our organisation.
Former-FSA chair Malcolm Clarke pays tribute…
(Lord) David Triesman joined the FA as its first independent chairman (2008-10) not too long after I had joined as the first ever supporters representative.
He was supportive and helpful with what we were trying to achieve on behalf of fans, and I think early on in our tenures we both felt a bit like outsiders, as we hadn’t arrived on the FA Council via County FAs or the football industry and thus weren’t considered “football men” by many who were on the FA Council at that time.
But he was a keen Spurs fan and a former referee, certainly a “football man” in my book.
He challenged the financial structure of the game and agreed with us over things like the infamous Game 39 proposal to play league games abroad, and liaised with us over tactics to oppose that idea. He was supportive of the grassroots game and critical of financial distribution in the professional game, and between it and the grassroots.
David was passionate about eliminating discrimination and racism in football, and a strong supporter of moves to tackle antisemitism in the Labour Party. He was also an advocate for the women’s game, at a time when it was much less fashionable than it (thankfully) is today.
In 2010 he was forced to step down as FA chairman after what he thought was a private conversation with a friend was leaked to the media.
It was a personal tragedy for David although he continued to fight for what he believed was right and appeared before Parliament to make serious allegations about corruption in FIFA, arguing that the world governing body needed a culture change.
He had also been general secretary of both the Labour Party and the Association of University Teachers. I once asked him which was worse – the internal politics of football, Westminster or academia. He said it was a close call!
David was certainly a man who was up for a challenge, and he will be sorely missed.
RIP Lord David Triesman (1943 – 2026)
