Premiership referee Keith Stroud, 42, has been appointed the new chief executive of Bedfordshire County FA.
Mr Stroud will officially join the association on Tuesday having previously worked for Hampshire FA as a referee development officer and marketing and office manager.
He will be taking over from Peter Brown, who came under fire earlier this year for forwarding a racist joke email.
Mr Brown, 65, who has worked for Beds FA for more than 40 years, handed in his notice following the furore surrounding the incident, which he admitted was an error of judgement. In a statement on the Beds FA website, chairman Richard Robinson said: “Peter Brown will be standing down as chief executive at the end of the year but will be remaining with the Association in the interim to ensure a smooth handover, before commencing his delayed retirement later in 2012.
“In the meantime we look forward to welcoming Keith to the staff.”
