Beds FA appoint new chief exec

Football League referee Keith Stroud took over the reins at the body’s Dunstable headquarters on Tuesday after Mr Brown stepped down at the end of December.

Mr Stroud, 42, from Fareham, Hants, has been refereeing since 1988 and was assistant referee during the 2003 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Southampton.

His predecessor Mr Brown stepped down after the H&P exclusively revealed last year how Mr Brown had been caught up in a racism row over an email.

He was sent and forwarded on the email entitled ‘My wee Scottish dog (I love this)’.

Mr Brown, who had served Beds FA for more than four decades, has since publicly apologised describing his actions as “15 seconds of madness”.

He will stay on in the interim to ensure a smooth transition of power.