Thompson faces trial by FA over Svengate

Mark Bradley

While Sven-Goran Eriksson will now, quite rightly, be judged on results, rather than his busy personal life, so too must Thompson convince his colleagues of his right to stay in charge.

The Yorkshire magistrate, who is well respected within UEFA and FIFA for his work in international circles, is seen by some fellow board members of having taken his eye off domestic matters.

Indeed, while he was only recently elected to a new four-year term as potential rivals felt it was not time for a challenge, that could change in the wake of the Faria Alam controversy.

Thompson did himself no favours in publicly absolving former chief executive Mark Palios of any blame, just days before Palios was forced to resign.

Like many other leading FA figures, he is now bracing himself for the revelations likely to emerge from Alam's lucrative deals with two Sunday newspapers. If these are purely of a salacious nature, the FA will keep their head down, just as they should have done when the claims of an affair with Eriksson first emerged.

If, however, David Davies' former personal assistant makes more substantial allegations against the power-brokers at Soho Square, then this saga could yet have a few more dramatic chapters to run.

Especially with no chief executive, it would then be up to the FA chairman to take a firm lead and the eyes of the FA would be firmly upon him.

While there was no vote of no confidence in Thompson at yesterday's emergency board meeting, there was still an acceptance that he needed some help.

Premier League chairman Dave Richards, from the professional game, and Roger Burden, who has the experience of running the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society, from the amateur side, will therefore assist him in the next few weeks. Thompson must convince his colleagues, as well as the members of the FA council, that he is the man to lead the FA out of the wilderness.

For it will be at the next meeting of the FA's full council in October when Thompson's next real challenge will come.

During the FA's last crisis in 1998, when chief executive Graham Kelly resigned, chairman Keith Wiseman limped on until he was voted out by the council - with Thompson replacing him.

And it was Kelly, ironically enough, who today led the public calls for Thompson to step down.

Describing the recent controversy as a "pantomime", Kelly believes the FA's leading executives have acted like "amateurs".

Writing a column in the Daily Mail, he said: "Lack of experience and judgment necessary for top-level administration has characterised the FA's every move."

"Thompson must accept responsibility for the shambles and resign.

"But no-one with a vested interest - such as Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein or any club chairman - should be allowed to replace him or the farce will continue."

As for Eriksson, he will be able to judge the mood of the nation at England's friendly against Ukraine in Newcastle on August 18.

His acid test then arrives next month, with back-to-back World Cup qualifiers away to Austria and Poland, when any slip-ups could provide his growing band of critics with even more ammunition.