Football pioneer's Global Chamber role

International football pioneer Janie Frampton has netted a striking new role - as vice-president of the Greater Birmingham Global Chamber of Commerce.

Janie (pictured), who has forged a high-profile global career in the traditionally male world of football over several decades, is adding another prestige string to her bow with her latest Chamber role.

She was previously vice-president of the Greater Birmingham Commonwealth Chamber and has been involved with the Chamber in the city for the last five years.

She is best known as a trail-blazing pioneer who forged her own career in the tough environment of world football, rising at a junior level from one of the earliest female referees in the professional game to become a leading light in FA and FIFA circles, including consultancy work at World Cups, travelling the world from the Middle East to the Caribbean.

Now Janie, who started as a youth team referee in the early 1990s and rose to rub shoulders with the likes of Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson, Roy Keane, Graeme Souness, Paul Gascoigne and many others, is hoping to bring her wide experience to bear for the Greater Birmingham Global Chamber.

She said: "You learn many skills from being a football referee - conflict management is key to what you are doing.

“There is a crossover to industry and the corporate world and you learn a lot about managing people.

“There is nothing to stop us bringing in bilateral trade along with sporting commitments."