Murphy takes over as CEO of Lewes FC

She has been the General Manager of the women’s side of the club for the past two years, in which she has excelled, driving a step-change in professionalism, strategy, culture and performance. The directors said: "We look forward to Maggie continuing to drive the whole club forward."

Lewes FC Director Ed Ramsden said: “We had high expectations for Maggie when she joined us in 2019, and she has exceeded every one of them. She exhausts the superlatives. We are thrilled and honoured to have her leading the whole club.”

Murphy said: ““This club is special. It’s therefore with excitement, trepidation but dogged determination that I take on the new role as CEO. The club is unashamed about how football can be better and do better. It has ambitions that others daren’t voice. It welcomes those who want to feel more than a “client” or “customer”.

"And because of its commitment to equality, it can and will be greater than the sum of its parts. The club is made of incredible people, from the players, coaches, staff, Directors, volunteers and our more than 1,700 owners around the world. It’s a huge responsibility to take on the new role, but it’s going to be an exciting few seasons ahead - I look forward to seeing everyone on the terraces soon.”

Lewes FC are a community-owned non-profit football club and the world’s first to distribute revenue equally between its male and female teams. Murphy has a background in anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and human rights. She held a senior advocacy role at Transparency International, the world’s largest anti-corruption organization for almost six years. She also held human rights roles in Amnesty International and Minority Rights Group International and became a BBC Expert Woman in 2017.

In 2017 she helped organise Equal Playing Field’s climb to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with a team of 30 women from more than 20 countries where they played a 90-minute, FIFA regulation match, successfully setting a brand-new Guinness World Record for the highest altitude football match ever played.

Murhpy continues to be part of the Equal Playing Field leadership team, and has helped set a further 3 Guinness World Records. Maggie has lived, worked (and played football) in the UK, Germany, the French West Indies, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania. She holds a BA from Oxford University where she captained the university team, and an MSc from the London School of Economics.