OUR TRUSTEES
Scott Desborough
Chairman
Born and bred in Northampton and a lifelong Cobblers supporter, I was honoured to join the Northampton Town FC Community Trust board in November 2018 and look forward to using my experience, knowledge and passion to help further the development of an organisation that is making a real difference at the heart of my community.
With experience in Project and Event Management across a number of industries and an MSc in Risk Management, I hope to help strengthen the Trust’s position on governance and compliance, including areas such as data protection and risk assessment.
The last 10 years of my career have been spent within the charity sector and I am currently Compliance and Risk Manager for Comic Relief in London, supporting the delivery of their major charity campaigns, Red Nose Day and Sport Relief.
During my time with Comic Relief I have seen how, across the world, sport has the power to break down barriers and unite communities and I am passionate about the role clubs like ours can play in making this difference.
David Croot
Trustee
My name is David Croot and I am a retired primary school Headteacher. I became a trustee nearly four years ago. When asked to be a board member, I was excited by the potential of the charity to promote equality and inclusion in our communities through our links with NTFC. Whilst the trust has been through challenging times, we are now in a position where we can grow our work more widely. As part of my role and with my prior experience, I am the board of trustees’ safeguarding lead.
James Whiting
Trustee
I have been a trustee of Northampton Town FC Community Trust since early 2018 however due to my role as Chief Executive of Northampton Town Football Club I have been actively involved in the community programme for several years. It is a pleasure for me to sit on the board of trustees and provide a close link between the club and the community programme. Football clubs sit at the very heart of the community and I am passionate about the benefits football and other activities can deliver to their local community and the positive impacts it makes on people’s lives. My background prior to my role at Northampton Town Football Club is in accountancy and finance and I am a qualified management accountant.
Matthew May
Trustee
My name is Matthew May and I have been a trustee at Northampton Town FC Community Trust since November 2018. I’ve been a local parish and borough councillor for 24 years and have stood for parliament in South Northamptonshire during this time. My main career is in education and I’ve taught in Northampton, Milton Keynes and currently I’m a vice principal in Bedford. I’m keen to support the Trust’s work in education and in inclusion in particular using the experience and skills I’ve developed over the years. I’ve been a Northampton Town FC supporter all my life and as such I’m really keen to give back by supporting the charity and seeing it grow to further support the local community.
Terry Hollowell
Trustee
My name is Terry Hollowell and I became a trustee in December 2019. My career of 40 years has mainly been in finance within both the NHS and Education sector. In the last seven years of my career I was a Business Manager for a special needs school. Within this role my responsibilities were finance, data protection and health and safety before retiring in 2019.
I have been a Northampton Town Football Club supporter for 50 years and I am aware of the good work that Northampton Town FC Community Trust do within the local community. I have been disabled all my life and as a trustee I am hoping to help continue the work that the Community Trust are doing in promoting equality and inclusion within the local community.
Tony Hanning
Trustee
My name is Tony Hanning and I first became involved with the Northampton Town FC Community Trust through my son. He is now 23 years old, has Down’s syndrome and plays football on Sundays with the Down’s syndrome group which has been active for 5 years. My role within the Trust is to oversee the finances and there has been a great deal of work put in over the last eighteen months to bring our operation onto a proper financial footing with appropriate supporting systems and protocols. We must run the Trust on a commercial basis to maximise our profits. Whilst this is satisfying in its own right, what makes the whole enterprise meaningful to me is the commitment to reinvest profits back into the Community.
Deborah Mattock
Trustee
I have been following the work of the NTFC CT for some time and when the opportunity came to join as a trustee I was really keen to get involved. I have worked at a senior position at the University of Northampton for many years and the values and objective shared by the Trust, mirror to a large extent those of the University, namely to have a positive impact and transform lives. My interest in football really came from managing the UON partnership contract with NTFC and through this, my eyes were opened to the amazing work that the Trust does in our area.
I aim to bring my extensive strategic and operational experience in the education sector to support the work of the NTFC CT. I have also led on numerous project focussing on topics as diverse as supporting employability, supporting mental health, wellbeing and motivation, These combined with my genuine belief in equality, diversity and inclusion will enable me to really get involved.
Janet Deboo
Trustee
My name is Janet DeBoo and I have been involved with the Northampton Town Multidisabled Football Club for over 12 years. My son Ben joined the club at age 12. Ben is now 25 years old, plays as goalkeeper/defender and still as passionate about his football. After a long spell of just being a mum, jumping up and down on the sidelines, I was asked if I would help collect the weekly subs, pay bills and send out occasional emails and letters. This role I have shared with fellow mum – Liz O’Boyle – for the past 4 years or so. There is something magical about meeting and greeting the lads and lasses every Friday evening. They turn up, whatever the weather, and put heart and soul into doing their best. They are an encouragement to me, that when my fingers are numb and my feet are cold and I just feel like complaining, to get on with the job I have been asked to do. I welcome the opportunity to continue supporting the Multidisabled Club, made up of 60 plus children and adults, on the Community Trust Board of Trustees.
Simon Jones
Trustee
Despite living away from the town for much of the last 25 years. I am both a passionate Cobblers fan and Northamptonian. Having settled locally once again, it was a privilege to be able to join the Trustees in 2022. Like many others my first visibility of the Trust was through the football club and the school’s programme where I noticed the team working with the lower school I attended. However, it is the breadth, impact and innovation of the projects across our community groups that really resonates with me.
I fundamentally believe in being an active participant, in supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, and the work of the Trust reflects this. I hope to be able to lean on my 20 years experience in senior strategic and operational roles to support the direction of the Trust and allow the outstanding team to continue to excel and make the impactful change to so many people.
Mary Balchin-Love
Trustee
Having had links with NTFC for a number of years through my son playing football, I am excited to join the board of trustees of the NTFC Community Trust. I have seen the positive impact the trust has had within the community & welcome the opportunity to use my experience and skills from the corporate world to support the charity. I think that it is important that everyone, irrespective of gender, ethnicity or physical ability should be able to have an opportunity to gain confidence and develop their skill sets, whatever that might be.
With over 30 years of experience in the retail industry and having held various directorships for many years I understand how important it is to feel included and listened to. Minority representation can often feel isolating, and I want to use my experience to help others. I am also a personal trainer and understand the importance of health and wellbeing. How lives can be improved through sport and exercise and the role that it plays in bringing people together, helping form strong bonds within the community.
Interested in joining us?
Do you want to become a trustee of the Northampton Town FC Community Trust or would you like to find out more information?
Get in touch now! Contact our CEO, Phillip Smith on Phillip.Smith@ntfc.co.uk or call 01604 683726