Brighton and Hove Albion CEO Paul Barber OBE outlined his mission with Melbourne Victory after joining the A-Leagues club’s Board of Directors.
Barber accepted a role on the Board of Directors last month and the Englishman brings a wealth of experience to AAMI Park.
With almost three decades working in professional football, Barber has been the Chief Executive Officer of Brighton and Hove Albion in the English Premier League for more than 13 years, and has also served as Deputy Chairman (under Tony Bloom) on the Board of Brighton since 2018.
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Barber’s appointment strengthens ties between Victory and Brighton, significantly building on the relationship the two clubs have already established since welcoming Tony Bloom to Victory as a major shareholder in March 2025.
Speaking at Victory in Business event last week while in Australia, Barber said: “As a Director at Victory, my role is to complement the experience and quality staff and leadership that are here.
“It’s going to be what I can offer them by way of the questions that they ask me, as opposed to saying, ‘You’re clearly not doing this or you need to be doing that,’ because from what I’m seeing, everything’s being done, and it’s just a question of, can we amplify it, or accelerate it in any way and if so, is there a way I can help with that?’
“And how can we do that, obviously, through insights from our knowledge of recruiting players, through data, coaches, but also the experience we have together of running football clubs.
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“We’re not going to be here every day. We’re not going to be here physically even every month, but in joining the board meetings and listening to some of the challenges that Melbourne Victory are facing, and hopefully being able to bring some experience of similar challenges that we’ve had at Brighton, or in Tony’s case, in Belgium, or in Scotland, we might be able to share some experiences that solve problems faster.
“It doesn’t make what we do or how we do it better. It just means, as a collective experience, it might be useful for Victory as the club progresses.”
Prior to his involvement at Brighton, Barber was the first British football executive to lead a club in the MLS (Major League Soccer) when Vancouver Whitecaps FC entered the league in 2011. This followed more than a decade at Tottenham Hotspur, where Barber was Executive Director, and The Football Association, where he was the English Governing Body’s first ever Director of Marketing, later adding commercial, communications and national team logistics responsibilities to his remit.
Barber sees similarities between MLS and the A-Leagues.
“I think it’s almost more relevant, partly because the geography of the leagues is not dissimilar. It’s a huge amount of travel involved in MLS and in the A-League, a huge number of climate changes, time difference changes, and salary-cap issues. The fact that you’re competing with other bigger, more developed, more supported sports is another factor which is very similar to North America,” he added.
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“I can see so many similarities from when I went to Vancouver in 2010. But there are other experiences, whether it was with the FA in England, whether it was Tottenham or more recently, Brighton, where hopefully some of the challenges that we’ve been through are going to be things that Melbourne Victory will face in the future. Therefore, we can anticipate some of them and hopefully get ahead of the game.”
Barber is also the non-executive chair of charity Football Beyond Borders which uses football to work with young people from areas of socio-economic disadvantage who are disengaged at school, and has been a non-executive director of Women in Football since 2020.
He has served as a member of The FA Council and Professional Game Board in England since 2018, and sits on various Premier League and Football Association committees.
As women’s football continues to blossom across the world, Barber insisted the female space is the “next big opportunity”.
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“The growth of the women’s game is the next big opportunity for football worldwide. And I think you know the success of the Matildas here, the success of the Lionesses in England, increasingly, anyone who owns, runs or is involved in the running of a football club can see that this is a big opportunity,” he said.
“Supporting the women’s game generally is important, not just for cultural reasons, but I think it is genuinely an economic growth opportunity for football as a whole.
“All in all, in my time here so far, I have been hugely impressed by the culture of the Club and the understanding of football culture globally here, not least the energy, professionalism, engagement and commitment of every person who is part of the Melbourne Victory family. I look forward to a successful season for both our Men’s and Women’s teams, and after spending time with both Arthur and Jeff, I know the fans and the Club are in good hands.”
