Jon Smith

Jon Smith created the initial concept of ‘Team England’, which is still used now by the FA, and introduced product placement to football. Jon has masterminded many of the world’s biggest transfers and, alongside Sky Sports, was part of the team which helped create the Premier League. Jon was also the first commercial representative of the England Cricket team and the first promoter of all the North American sports in the UK, including the major early NFL games at Wembley.

In recent years Jon was Chair of British Taekwondo, trustee of the British Stammering Association and on the Board of Governors of the University of East London and is now working alongside FIFA restructuring the transfer regulations.

He also gives motivational talks including how he conquered communication and the severe lack of confidence that complete dysfluency gave him as a child through to his role as CEO of a London Stock Exchange company that had its fair share of ups and downs but was very public in its transactions, respected and ultimately successful. His autobiography, The Deal, was published in September 2016 by Little Brown / Hachette and rose to the number one spot on the sports best seller list for Amazon.