Joyce Cook OBE, the founder of the Centre for Access to Football in Europe (CAFE), is one of four new appointments to the board of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA).

Cook has a strong track record of working in disability sport. She also holds the managing director position at CAFE, which champions access for disabled people at football matches, as well as being chair of disabled sports fans charity Level Playing Field and was formerly a member of the Football Association’s (FA) Disability Equality Advisory Group.

She will be joined by recently retired County Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue Service chief executive Susan Johnson OBE, expert planning barrister Philip Kolvin QC and head of operations for Jockey Club Racecourses South West Region David Mackinnon.

The four have been appointed by culture secretary John Whittingdale and will being their three-year terms on 8 February 2016.

Their appointments come at an important time for the SGSA, which was earmarked for a “more formal role” in helping sports grounds reach the “required standards for accessibility” in the government’s sports strategy, Sporting Future.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) indicated that it will enable the organisation to “significantly increase the income it generates” and will see its budget will be protected over the course of the five-year parliament.

Sports Grounds Safety Authority launches