The Football Association have voted to accept the biggest reform of the governing body in their 144-year history.

The Football Association will have an independent chairman from next year after the governing body’s shareholders voted in favour of major reforms of the organisation.

Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick has strongly defended the game’s governing body from criticism by Lord Stevens’ bungs inquiry.

CHELSEA have accused the Football Association of wasting time and money in the case which led to a £40,000 fine and a warning for conducting private drug tests on players.

Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick believes Soho Square officials have been unfairly criticised for Wembley Stadium not being completed on time.

Lord Burns is tomorrow set to propose reducing the power-base of Premier League clubs by putting forward significant changes to the structure of the Football Assocation’s main board.

The FTSE 100 Index failed to move far from its opening mark today despite a boost from across the Atlantic and a string of positive corporate updates.

Retail group Marks & Spencer appointed a new chairman today to replace Paul Myners, who is to step down in 14 months.

Lord Burns has been hailed as the man to help clean up the Football Association’s tarnished image.

Abbey National yesterday welcomed the appointment of a Spanish banker at its helm as Santander Central Hispano (SCH) outlined its plans for the banking giant.

The takeover of Abbey National cleared a major hurdle today after shareholders in Spanish bank Santander Central Hispano (SCH) voted to approve the deal.

Abbey National today welcomed the appointment of a Spanish banker at its helm as Santander Central Hispano (SCH) outlined its plans for the banking giant.

Directors of banking giant Abbey National faced a barrage of criticism yesterday from shareholders angry at the decision to sell out to Spain’s largest bank.

Shareholders in British building society Abbey National today gave the go-ahead for a takeover by Spain’s largest bank after a stormy meeting in which the group faced a barrage of criticism.

ABBEY National’s two million shareholders must be furious with company chairman Terry Burns, who fought such an aggressive battle to ward-off the takeover assault by Bank of Ireland’s chief executive Michael Soden.

IT has certainly been an annus horribilis so far for AIB and Bank of Ireland and the question for the dominant forces in Irish banking is where now?

BANK OF IRELAND has retired with a bloody nose from its €16.5 billion battle to take over Britain’s sixth biggest bank, Abbey National.

Troubled mortgage bank Abbey National today pledged to focus on turning around its business after seeing off a £10bn merger bid from Bank of Ireland.

THE board of the British bank Abbey National plc may be forced to re-think its rejection of Bank of Ireland's takeover offer if institutional shareholders decide they like the Irish bank's plans.

BANK OF IRELAND is still very much in the race to take over Abbey National despite the slamming of the gate on a buyout by the board of Britain’s sixth-biggest bank yesterday.

Mortgage bank Abbey National today rejected an approach by Bank of Ireland to create a London-listed bank with headquarters in Dublin.

ABBEY NATIONAL is no stranger to takeover bids and it is presently ripe for the picking.

Bank of Ireland is in talks to merge with Abbey National and create Europe's 12th largest bank.

Banking giant Abbey National today dismissed reports that it was preparing to find a replacement for under-pressure boss Ian Harley.