Neil Doncaster (born 1970) is an association football executive. He was appointed as chief executive of the Scottish Premier League in July 2009, having previously held the same position at Norwich City F.C. from 2001 to 2009.
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Born in Devon, Doncaster graduated from Bristol University in 1992,[1] qualified as a solicitor and worked for four years for Burges Salmon, solicitors. In 2008, he obtained an MBA from the University of East Anglia.[2]
While at Norwich City, he was a director of FL Interactive Limited, the subsidiary of The Football League responsible for official club websites, and EventGuard Limited, a security company.
Doncaster joined Norwich City in November 1997 as company secretary and solicitor, and two years later he was promoted to Head of Operations before taking up the role of Chief Executive in 2001.
During his time at Norwich, he took an active role in English football. From 2006, he was a director of The Football League. In July 2008, he was elected to The Football Association board as one of two representatives of The Football League.[3]
As Chief Executive of Norwich City, Doncaster oversaw their promotion to the Premier League for the 2004/05 season. However, after the team's relegation from The Championship to League One in May 2009, he stepped down from his position, along with Chairman Roger Munby.[4] In the following months, he also left his positions on the boards of the The Football Association and The Football League.
On 7 July 2009, Doncaster was appointed Chief Executive of the Scottish Premier League.[5]