Before that he managed England for eight years and four major tournaments, including two European finals, taking the team to its most sustained success in more than fifty years. He rebuilt a side that had lost its connection to the country around belief, culture and a clearer sense of what the shirt was for. That period has been studied by Harvard Business School.  As a player, Gareth captained Crystal Palace to the First Division title at 23 and led Middlesbrough to the League Cup in 2004, the first trophy in the club’s 128-year history. He won 57 England caps, having been the 1071st player to represent his country.

He founded Leaders in Sport in 2007 and built it into the leading conference and publishing network in world sport, bringing together senior executives from the biggest organisations in global sport. He sold the business in 2021 and stayed on as non-executive chair until 2024. Before Leaders he was head of business development at the Football Association and director of sales and marketing at Bristol City.

Jimmy is an investor in businesses including Alpine F1 and Game4Padel, and supports Everton’s Foundation, where he helped launch the world’s first digital learning centre and was named its fundraiser of the year in 2024.