Age: 37

Current job: As chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) since 2001 he has been the major figure in the development of the UKés rail services.

The SRA decides which rail companies gain the rights to run train services and oversees investment in major rail improvements.

An economics graduate, like his rival for the FA post, he has spent his entire career in railway finance and is an ex-commercial director of the Virgin Group and a former co-chairman of Virgin Rail.

But the SRA is set to be wound up before 2006, leaving him facing an uncertain future.

Sporting interests and hobbies: As a keen Blackburn Rovers fan with a great memory for particular incidents from games, he is an enthusiastic follower of football.

He also enjoys the more peaceful pursuit of canal boating and plays the piano in what little spare time he has. And he was once a keyboardist in a Christian rock band.