John Edwards
Deputy Chairman + Safeguarding Board Champion

John was born in London and after spells in Middlesex, Buckinghamshire and Essex, he finally moved to Sussex in the mid 1970’s. It was here that he started his love of gardening and he managed two large estates over a period of ten years. He then spent just over twenty years in metal recycling with one of Europe’s largest metal recyclers.

His introduction to football came via Ringmer Rovers where he was Assistant Manager and stayed with them from Under-10s through to Under-16s. It was during this time that Chris Christoff, the Secretary of the club, passed him an advert about the Mid Sussex Youth League looking for a Secretary. After having his application accepted, he began the role in 1987, and is still in office to the present day.

The Treasurer of the League, the late John Cripps, then persuaded him to try for the position of a member on the Sussex County FA, where he also still remains today. He later applied to become a Director of the Association, and was duly elected by fellow County Members, before being elevated to the position of Deputy Chairman in 2018.

John has supported Tottenham Hotspur for over sixty years, and seen them through the good and bad times. Apart from his interests in football and gardening, his other great interest is history in all shapes and forms.

Steve Atkins
IAG Chair

Steve is extremely passionate about grassroots football and he has an unshakable belief in the positive effect it has on people’s lives, no matter what their role in the sport. 

He has always played the game but started off in volunteering as a coach at the age of 16. Since then he has tried his best to make a difference, taking on many roles from secretary to referee, and from cleaning toilets to becoming chairman, of his favourite local club.

Steve has been the chair of the Sussex Disability Football League since 2018, and is also chair of our Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG).

Charles Dudley

Sport has always played an important part in Charles' life, particularly football and cricket. He started playing senior football and cricket in Hampshire at a very young age. After graduating with a politics degree at the University of Warwick (where he also played football), he worked for the Greater London Council Planning Department before moving to Sussex in 1976 to take up a position at the University of Sussex. As soon as he arrived he joined a local football team and played and managed at County League level for a number of years.

His role at the University was wide ranging including: campus master planning and estate development, the sport service, student housing, travel and transport, catering strategy, contracts and leases, childcare services and community engagement. He was also Chairman of the Falmer Alms-houses Trust. In recent years the demands of the role required him to step back from football other than being a spectator. He retired from the University in July 2017 and provided some consultancy until January 2018. He still helps out on occasions.

Charles continues his involvement with cricket by being a Lord’s Taverner, the national charity for cricket. He is a past Chairman of the East Sussex Region. Football-wise he supports both Arsenal and AFC Wimbledon, he also looks out for the results of Aldershot, Coventry City and Farnborough Town.

He was appointed as a Director of the Sussex County FA in 2018 and is passionate about giving something back to the game which has given him such pleasure and enjoyment over many years. A number of his closest friends he has met through being involved in football.

Richard Sargeant

From an early age Richard had a massive passion for football. He moved from Cambridgeshire to Sussex in 1989 and he played football for various local teams and eventually started refereeing. He is currently a Level 4 referee, officiating on Southern Combination Football League and Isthmian Football League.

He works for West Sussex Trading Standards Service as a Team Manager, ensuring consumers are protected and honest businesses supported. He has worked overseas in eight countries such as Egypt, Bosnia, Armenia and Lithuania, as a lead expert on consumer protection. He is very grateful for all the support from his family, friends and colleagues.

Richard is keen to make positive changes for the benefit for all those involved directly and indirectly with football in Sussex. As a referee, he has a good insight into football both adult and youth, at various levels, from club chairman and managers, to players and supporters, which he hopes to be able to input effectively with us.

As a director he has responsibilities for legal matters, leagues and refereeing and is happy to discuss ideas with anyone to improve these and any other footballing areas.

Elizabeth Symons

Liz was born in London but moved to Mid Sussex when she was five years old. When she got married she moved to Uckfield in East Sussex where she has lived for over thirty years.

All of her working life has been spent in the leisure industry. She was originally a lifeguard and swimming instructor at a local leisure centre, before working as a swimming instructor at a local school. In 2001 she became a Football Development Officer at the Kent FA, with responsibility for women and girls football. She worked for Kent for sixteen years with her job role changing from time to time, she covered youth and adult football, charter standard and sat on the national working group for walking football.

She played football for fifteen years at Shoreham Ladies, and she still plays stoolball and enjoys walking. Both of her children have played for local football teams.

Liz has a lot to give to grassroots football and is very passionate that all players, coaches, managers, referees, parents and spectators should have an enjoyable experience in a safe environment.

Steve Walker

Steve was brought up in Brighton and is a life-long Brighton & Hove Albion fan. Apart from a few years spent at Bath University, where he graduated in Electrical Engineering at Bachelors and Masters level, he has lived in Sussex all his life and currently resides in Crawley with his wife, daughter and son.

Professionally Steve spent 25+ years in marketing, communications and commercial roles within the mobile communications industry, most recently as the worldwide Head of Marketing for Sony’s smartphone business. In 2013 he started his own successful business providing leadership development and brand consultancy services to a range of British and global clients. This is where he got his first taste of sports governance, leading a transformation programme for British Cycling to adopt the Sport England Code of Governance.

Steve is engaged in a variety of voluntary projects, ranging from providing pro bono executive coaching services for charities such as British Heart Foundation, to a position as Trustee on the Board of Renewable World, a Brighton-based charity.

Steve has been heavily involved in helping to run his local grassroots football club, Crawley & Maidenbower Panthers, for a number of years and has subsequently joined the Board of the Sussex County FA. As well as contributing his business leadership skills and sports governance experience, Steve is hoping use this opportunity to give back even more to the local football community in Sussex.

Thura KT Win, JP LLM FCMI MCIArb

Thura first got involved in football administration by qualifying as a referee with Sussex County FA in the early 1980s. Currently the Chairman of the Women’s Football Conference, and its elected representative on The FA Council since 2007, Thura is a member of The FA Board, FA National Game Board, FA Women’s Football Board, FA Affiliated Associations Committee, FA Judicial Panel and National Serious Case Panel, where he chairs disciplinary commissions and appeal boards. He is also a UEFA Match Delegate, FIFA Match Commissioner, and Chairman of Crawley Town Community Foundation.

Thura had previously served on The FA’s: Women’s Football Committee, Business Development Committee, Sanctions and Registrations (Rules) Committee, National Game IT Committee, Football Development Committee, Inclusion Advisory Board, Race Equality Advisory Group, FA Tutor for Equality and Race Equality; and chaired FA Women’s Premier League and FA Safeguarding Review Panel.

He is an IT Consultant with over thirty years’ experience and has developed many IT systems during his career. Thura has been a Magistrate in Hampshire since 2004, where he continues to sit as a presiding justice in adult and youth courts, and was the Chairman of the Bench, responsible for around 180 magistrates. He is the Chairman of Wiltshire, Hampshire & Isle of Wight magistrates training and authorisation committee, which is responsible for around 600 magistrates in the area. Thura also has a Master of Laws degree, and is an accredited Civil & Commercial and Workplace Mediator, and an Arbitrator.

Upon his return to Sussex from Hampshire, where he was a Director and Deputy Chairman of Hampshire FA over many years, Thura offered his experience and services to Sussex County FA. He was elected onto Sussex County FA in 2013, then as a Board Director in 2016 and appointed as the Senior Independent Director in 2021.

Jack Woolsey

Jack is a Finance Manager within the Financial Services industry, where he leads a team to monitor, challenge, report and advise on overhead expenditure within the business and look after the budgeting process.

He is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and has come from a strong financial background having worked with a number of major companies across the travel, utilities, aerospace and defence industries, which has allowed him to gain a wide range of commercial finance acumen.

When Jack isn’t crunching numbers, he is a keen runner and has to date completed four marathons, as well as being a leader in run fitness at his local running club. He also likes nothing better than spending time with his young family and walking the family dog.

Jack is a huge football fan and can often be found watching Crawley Town on a Saturday afternoon with his son, he also supports West Ham United.

Having seen what a big impact football can have on people away from the bright lights of the Premier League, Jack decide that he would love to give something back to the community and help in any way he could so when the opportunity came around to join our board Jack didn’t have to think twice joining in 2018.