Trustees

Wembley National Stadium Trust has a board of nine trustees, led by Pete Ackerley.

The WNST board sets the strategic direction and policy for the trust.

Following a 15-year banking career, Pete started working in sport development in 1992 through the Champion Coaching programme, then as a Cricket Development Officer with Wirral MBC before becoming Cricket Development Officer for the Lancashire Cricket Board in 1996.

In 1999 Pete joined the ECB, becoming the National Development Manager and then Head of Development with a commitment to ‘Building Partnerships’ with all the games stakeholders, from spectators to elite cricketers. Then in 2010, Pete joined the Football Association as the Head of National Game Development, with the aim of creating opportunity, influencing others, continuous improvement and establishing a legacy.

Since 2019, Pete has been the CEO of the British American Football Association, the governing body for the sport in this country. Pete is a supporter and keen follower of Manchester United, Sale Sharks, Warrington Wolves and Lancashire County Cricket Club.

Lynsey is Community Programme Manager for Premier League Charitable Fund, and oversees the community team that looks after the Premier League Kicks programme and other initiatives.  Premier League Kicks is the flagship programme for PL community having been delivered for over 13 years, engaged 280,000+ young people over that time with nearly 80,000 young people per year taking part in football and multi-sport. Her ambition is to make PL Kicks and all our programmes more inclusive, by encompassing some of the excellent work undertaken in PL BT Disability and PL Girls.

Previously, Lynsey has had a varied career in sports development.  Before joining the PLCF, she was Head of Participation and Development for Middlesex FA; and prior to her time in football, Lynsey worked as National Project Manager for the Basketball Foundation, the charitable arm of the British Basketball League; and that was with Badminton England.

Originally from the North East, Lynsey is a lifelong Middlesbrough fan, and always try to get to a home game at the Riverside Stadium when up north.

Khilna has over 10 years of financial and commercial experience in the corporate sector, having worked at KPMG and then as part of the Senior Management Team of one of the largest private companies in the UK.

Khilna graduated from London of School of Economics with a first class bachelor’s degree in Economics and qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG.

Whilst at KPMG she set up and led a sustainable offshore practice in India.

Khilna is a huge sport enthusiast having grown up with two brothers in a football-mad house and playing a number of racket sports competitively. Khilna is passionate about the physical and mental benefits of sport and keen to tackle inequalities at all levels.

Khilna, a Wembley resident, is currently taking time out to bring up a young family after a successful professional career and actively volunteers as an ambassador for the pregnancy awareness charity, Action on Pre-eclampsia. She is also a member of the Finance and Audit Committee of Sported, the UK’s largest network of community groups promoting fairness and creating opportunities for young people through grassroot sport and physical activity.

Andrew is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive of innovision; a live event and experiential marketing agency.

He has been at the forefront of global mega-events, major national event celebrations, brand activation and major sporting events for the past 30 years. Notable work includes BBC Sports Personality of the Year, The Tour de France, London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Red Bull Air Race and Pride in London.

Andrew is also a passionate advocate of inclusivity. In 2016 he founded and launched, Parallel; an award-winning fully inclusive mass participation event and accessible festival which champions active lifestyle, community and disability inclusion.

Andrew loves sport and still plays football for Nottsborough in the West London Veterans League. He lives in the London Borough of Brent with his wife, Claudia and 4 children.

Ellis currently works at Everton FC as Team Operations and Player Care, following her passion for athlete care and wellbeing. This interest was sparked whilst studying at Sheffield Hallam University, where she completed research centred around athlete wellbeing and welfare within Team GB.

Ellis has a keen interest in sport development, working as the National Sport Manager for English Universities Sport and as a board member for the Federation of International University Sport, supporting the development of events such as the World University Games.

A lifelong lover of football, Ellis is a Manchester United fan who yearns for the glory years to return to the Theatre of Dreams. She has always enjoyed playing many sports, not just football. She absolutely loves watching any sport, at any level – from rugby, to F1, to skiing, to boxing, with the darts at the Ally Pally being a particular highlight every year. Combining her love of travel and sport, she often takes trips away designed to take in a major sporting event.

Nayim is Project Manager of the Legacy Football League has been a football coach for 8 years and formerly coached at Arsenal FC.

Growing up in the toughest and most deprived parts of London, Nayim is now the Chair of the London FA Youth Council, Senior Impact Lead at the National FA Youth Council and Co-chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation: Legacy Youth Board.

His lived experiences make him passionate about creating transformative and meaningful opportunities for young people.

Nayim describes himself as a young leader and an expert in community engagement.

Alderman Kawsar Zaman is a barrister specialising in public, employment and regulatory law, including Sports Arbitration. He is also a senior elected official in the City of London as an elected Alderman.

He is also a qualified solicitor having practiced at Clifford Chance LLP and Allen & Overy LLP. Kawsar is a governor at Morpeth Secondary School in Bethnal Green, a Trustee of Toynbee Hall, and a pro bono legal adviser to Nujum Sports.

He is a lifelong resident of Tower Hamlets and was the first in his family to go to university, graduating from LSE, Oxford and Harvard Law School.

He is an avid Arsenal FC fan.

Marilyn grew up in Stonebridge Park in LB Brent, one of the most vibrant yet deprived parts of London.   Marilyn took up running aged 10 and whilst at boarding school also played lacrosse, tennis and netball – a diversity of sport that reflects her athletic versatility.

She captained the GB team at the 2005 World Student Games, winning bronze in the 800m; and a year later represented England at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Marilyn was part of the GB&NI or England athletics team for nine consecutive years. She finished third in the 800 metres at both the 2007 and 2008 IAAF World Athletics Finals andwas on the bronze winning 4 × 400 m relay teams at the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She is now works for Equinix, a data infrastructure company and is also a public speaker, Life Coach and Mentor and champion of women and girls. Driving change in professional sport and athlete welfare, she founded a podcast series called “Detach the Stigma”. Marilyn is also an ACGP governance practitioner.  

Outside of athletics, Marilyn enjoys singing (Gospel, Jazz & Soul), travelling and spending quality time with her family, friends and dog, Bentley. In 2016, Marilyn was the Sports category winner at the Igbo Women’s Awards held in London.