Steve Foster
Co - Founder and Chairman
Steve is a former professional football player who made over 650 professional appearances. Starting his career at Portsmouth in 1975, he transferred to Brighton and Hove Albion in 1979 where he won three England caps and played in the 1982 World Cup Finals. After a brief stint at Aston Villa, in 1984 Steve transferred to Luton Town where as Captain, he lifted the 1988 League Cup defeating Arsenal in the final. After a spell at Oxford United he returned to Brighton in 1992 and played for another 4 years, retiring aged 39 to start his business.
Steve founded the leading career-ending insurance provider for professional footballers in Europe and provides insurance cover worldwide. His policy is the only of its kind to have the endorsement of The Professional Footballers Association. Insuring all of the 5,000 current professionals, the company also offers top end cover of up to £30m.
Steve's deep knowledge and relationships in and around football and business sparked the idea of Sports Horizon together with Paul.
Andrew Riant
Commercial Director
Andrew has more than 36 years’ experience in the international financial services industry, with a track record of achieving improved distribution for his clients across a wide range of jurisdictions.
His career in the marketing and sales of cross-border wealth solutions has underpinned the development of a successful consultancy business, serving corporate clients ranging from FTSE 100 companies to niche players seeking broader international distribution for their services.
Andrew’s sporting background and connections have more recently enabled the creation of funding opportunities for sports clubs and organisations in several countries.
Andy Dennis
Operations Director
Andy comes from a banking background, having spent over 27 years working in various positions within one of the major UK high street banks. This culminated in a 10-year focus on developing the SME sector, optimising his bank-client relationships.
This detailed understanding of client companies in a wide range of sectors has, since 2012, been applied to Andy's own management consultancy business.
Andy forges a strong sense of partnership with his clients, maintaining daily contact through their key development phases and identification of new and broadened opportunities.
Prof. Paul Castle
Co - Founder and Managing Director
Paul is a professor of sports physiology with over a decade of experience in elite sport and innovation.
Paul has provided sport science support, research and consultancy in many sports including professional football for Brighton and Hove Albion FC and UEFA (The Union of European Football Associations); and Team GB Paralympics for Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
In 2012 Paul joined GlaxoSmithKline to work on innovation for the sports nutrition brands Lucozade Sport and Maximuscle. For the last 7 years Paul has evaluated new products, inventions and start-up businesses for potential partnerships with GSK. He has brokered commercial partnerships exceeding £500m across international household brands.
An award-winning innovator, Paul is always looking for the next innovation that can help people. Combined that with his passion for sport science and Sports Horizon was created together with Steve.
Prof. John Brewer
Chief Science Officer
John is the former Head of Human Performance for the Football Association, where he formed part of the support team for the 1990 Italian FIFA World Cup.
He ran his own sports science and sports injury business at Lilleshall National Sports Centre for 15 years and developed the UK version of the infamous “bleep test” that has been used for decades to assess fitness of professional footballers and referees.
John then spent 5 years running R&D for Lucozade Sport at GlaxoSmithKline, and has held significant Board level roles including Chair of the London Regional Sports Board, Non-Executive Director of UK Anti-Doping and Chair of British Handball,
John is a Professor of Sports Science, author of four books including the "London 2012 Training Guide for Track Athletics” and he is regularly used by the media as a Key Opinion Leader in sport and health matters.
Antony Boyce
Legal Counsel
Antony studied Pharmacology as an undergraduate before gaining his PhD in 2004 at Imperial College London.
Soon after he embarked upon his legal education and career, being admitted ta Solicitor of England and Wales in 2012.
Antony has extensive experience working in high value, multiparty, complex transaction for multiple functions within global corporations. he has been Lead Counsel for many transaction and his wealth of experience in business to business transacting is perfect for Sports Horizon.
Career highlight to date include a single M&A deal to the value of £1.3Bn and an £18Bn JV deal between two of the largest healthcare companies in the world.
Antony Boyce
Legal Counsel
Antony studied Pharmacology as an undergraduate before gaining his PhD in 2004 at Imperial College London.
Soon after he embarked upon his legal education and career, being admitted a Solicitor of England and Wales in 2012.
Antony has extensive experience working in high value, multiparty, complex transactions for multiple functions within global corporations. He has been Lead Counsel for many transactions and his wealth of experience in business to business transacting is perfect for Sports Horizon
Career highlights to date include a single M&A deal to the value of £1.3billion and an £18billion JV deal between two of the largest healthcare companies in the world.
The Scouting Team
Sports horizon has a worldwide team of scouts that are either PhD qualified sports scientists or MBA qualified technology experts that are deeply embedded in the sector within their jurisdictions.
This team are constantly connected to the industry and searching for new innovative start ups, products or services.
As key relationships holder in their fields, this team are briefed on any new needs as they arise and mine their networks.
Prof. Nick Webborn OBE
Chief Medical Officer
Nick is one of the world’s leading sports medicine specialists with over 25 years experience. He has a huge range of sporting expertise in many sports but in particular football, swimming, tennis and athletics.
Nick helped develop the winning bid for the London 2012 Olympic Games and was the Chief Medical Officer for the Paralympics and for The Invictus games.
In 2016, Nick was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours list for services to Paralympic Sports Medicine and the British Paralympic Association.
Nick is leading a head injury prevention research programme and has been invited to co author the 6th International Consensus on Concussion in Sport 2020.
Patrick Jamieson
Finance and Transactions Director
Patrick is a graduate of Bentley University, in Boston Massachusetts USA where he received his B.S. in Economics & Finance.
Over the last 12 years, Patrick has helped to drive successful inorganic growth opportunities in various large companies and guided strategic investments across a broad spectrum of industries including: Life Science, Healthcare, and most recently, the exciting sector of emerging Automotive Technology.
He has deep experience in corporate finance, M&A, divestitures, licensing, and fostering a network of strategic alliances / partnerships to help businesses reach their organisational goals.
IIOur Innovation Scouting Team
Global network of PhD's / MBA's
George Parris
Consultant
George is a former professional footballer with experience in the Premier League and Division 1, including 300 games for West Ham Football Club and 8 games for England Schoolboys.
Since retirement from active play, George has held roles as Academy Scout for Arsenal Football Club; Coaching and Coach Education roles for Sussex County Football Association and interim Manager and Technical Director for Brighton and Hove Albion Women's team. George also runs his own soccer school.
Qualified in Football Management, Therapeutic Counselling, Counselling studies, Child Protection and Applied Suicide Intervention, George is a valuable consultant to Sports Horizon.
Sports Horizon has a worldwide team of Innovation Scouts that are PhD qualified sport scientists and/or MBA tech experts that are deeply embedded in the sector within their jurisdictions.
Key covered regions include Europe, North America, The Middle East, Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.
Experienced in sport science, sports medicine, scientific innovation and technology, this team are constantly searching for new innovative start ups, products, services or solutions.
As key relationship holders in their fields this team are briefed as each new need arises, while continuously being tapped in to their networks.