Goals Soccer Centres chief executive to quit to join British Olympic Association

The chief executive of Goals Soccer Centres, the five-a-side football venue operator, is stepping down weeks after the company’s shares were suspended following a £12m accounting error.

Andy Anson, who has been in the role for a year, is stepping down to take on the chief executive job at the British Olympic Association (BOA), Sky News reported.

Read more: Accounting errors cause Goals Soccer Centres to suspend trading

Anson’s appointment to the BOA, where he is already a non-executive director having joined the board in 2011, is expected to be announced tomorrow.

Anson, who is expected to remain in his current role for a further six months, will replace former BOA chief executive Bill Sweeney who stepped down in February to join the Rugby Football Union.

Previously, he was the chief executive of England 2018, which led the unsuccessful bid to host the FIFA World Cup in the UK, and has been Manchester United FC’s commercial director and the chief executive of the ATP World Tour in Europe.

Read more: Goals Soccer Centres' shares plummet after second profit warning

London-listed Goals Soccer Centre, which has about 50 sites in the UK and the US, will now be searching for a new chief executive having seen its second change of leadership in less than two years.

In March Goals Soccer Centres revealed that “a substantial misdeclaration of VAT” totalling approximately £12m and the company's shares were suspended after it said that "historical accounting errors" meant that it could not be clear on its exact financial position.