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As a Commercial Director and Director of Marketing and Communications for the Football Association (The FA), Paul Barber created "FA Partners". The FA's sponsorship programme for 1999–2003 secured multi-million-pound agreements with a range of sponsors including McDonald's, Pepsi, Carlsberg, Nationwide Building Society, British Airways, The Libyan Government and Umbro. FA Partners linked these sponsors to both the top levels of The FA's rights - the England team and the FA Cup - and to the women's game through the national team and Women's FA Cup, as well as grassroots football through The FA Trophy and FA Vase competitions.
Barber joined Tottenham Hotspur's[2] board in 2005. As executive director reporting to chairman Daniel Levy, Barber was responsible for Tottenham's commercial programme, ticketing and hospitality areas, marketing and brand management, and various aspects of the club's match day operations. A lifelong Spurs fan, Barber also acted as the club's main interface with fans' groups. In 2006, Barber concluded Tottenham's then record shirt sponsorship agreement, worth a reported £34m over 4 years, with Asian betting firm Mansion.com.[citation needed] Earlier in the same year, he agreed a multi-year deal with German sportswear firm Puma which supplied Tottenham's kit and technical equipment until 2011.[citation needed] Barber left Tottenham in 2010 to become the first British sports executive to lead a Major League Soccer club when he joined Vancouver Whitecaps. He remained on the board at Tottenham Hotspur as a non-executive director until the summer of 2011.
While in Vancouver, Barber oversaw two stadium moves in less than 12 months between November 2010 and October 2011. The Whitecaps completed the 2010 season in the 5,000-seat Swangard Stadium in Burnaby, British Columbia, before moving to the temporary Empire Field site in Vancouver in March 2011. In October 2011, they then moved to the newly refurbished 2010 Winter Olympic Games venue BC Place, which had a capacity of 55,000 and featured a retractable roof, as well as the largest centrally hung video board in North America.[citation needed]
On pitch results led to the early dismissal of coach Teitur Thordarson and the subsequent appointment of Tom Soehn as interim head coach, and later Martin Rennie (who subsequently parted company with the Whitecaps at the end of the 2013 season, after two seasons in charge).
Brighton's ground, the American Express Community Stadium, which opened in mid-2011, expanded to a capacity of just over 30,000 in his first full year with the club.
In Barber's first season (2012/13), Brighton recorded their highest league finish for more than 30 years and reached the Championship play-offs, with attendances topping 30,000 for the first time since the 1980s. However, the season saw the acrimonious departure of Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet, who was dismissed by the club for gross misconduct.[citation needed]
During the same season, Barber announced Brighton & Hove Albion's most valuable ever sponsorship deal, confirming on 13 March 2013 that American Express had signed a multi-year agreement to be the club's shirt sponsor for its men's, women's and youth teams.[4] The deal extended American Express's relationship with Brighton, which started with the stadium naming rights agreement in 2010.
Barber was named overall CEO of the Year at the annual Football Business Awards on 7 November 2013.[5] Barber also received the award for Football League Championship CEO of the Year at the same event. In 2016, Barber was named European Sports Executive of the Year at the Stadium Business Awards.[6]
Oscar Garcia resigned for personal reasons at the end of the 2013/14 season, and Brighton appointed former Liverpool captain and Bayer Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia.[7] Hyypia resigned after just 6 months and was replaced by the more experienced Chris Hughton on 31 December 2014. Hughton, like Poyet before him, had worked with Barber at Tottenham Hotspur.
In mid-2014, Brighton opened new training and academy facilities which cost over £30 million, named the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.[8] In 2022, the club extended its facilities at the Lancing site to include one of the UK's first-ever purpose-built women's and girls' training centers, while also further upgrading its facilities for its men's and boy's teams.
On the back of their surprisingly poor 2014/15 season, Brighton set a new club record with an unbeaten run which, to the end of November 2015, extended to 18 league matches and saw the Seagulls top the Sky Bet Championship. In the same month, Brighton enjoyed more success at the 2015 Football Business Awards where the south coast club were named "Overall Best Football Club to Work For" and "Best Community Scheme (non-Premier League)".
On 19 November 2018, and in addition to his responsibilities as the club's chief executive, Barber was promoted to deputy chairman.
Chris Hughton was dismissed in 2019 after securing Brighton’s Premier League status for a third successive season. He was replaced by Graham Potter, who went on to cement the club’s position in the Premier League in 2019/20 and 2020/21 before securing its best-ever finish in the top flight - 9th - in 2021/22. Former Shaktar Donetsk coach Roberto de Zerbi replaced Potter, who resigned to join Chelsea, soon after the start of the 2022/23 season, the club’s sixth consecutive season in the Premier League.
On 22 June 2015, The Football League announced that Barber had been elected to its board of directors as one of three Championship representatives.[10] Barber served two years. During this period, Barber was one of the EFL's FA Council members, a member of the Professional Game Board, and one of The FA's international ambassadors. On 7 June 2018, Barber returned to The FA Council as a Premier League representative. In November 2018, Barber was also re-elected to the Professional Game Board, also as a Premier League representative. Barber remains a Premier League representative in both capacities.[citation needed]
Barber served as a Non-Executive Director for Rose Bowl PLC, parent company of Hampshire County Cricket Club, for Tottenham Hotspur FC, and for Nolan Partners Ltd, a UK-based Sports Executive Search & Recruitment firm.
Barber is a speaker at sports industry and business conferences all over the world, including events in the United States, Canada, Australia, China, the Middle East and across Europe.[citation needed] Barber has also delivered lectures and key-note presentations at universities and business schools, including Cambridge University's Judge Business School, and Wharton Business School in the United States, as well being a guest lecturer on FIFA's Diploma in Club Management.[citation needed]
