Jim Boyce | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 21, 1944 [1] Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Nationality | British |
James Richard Wesley Boyce [2] OBE (born 21 March 1944) is a former senior Vice-President of FIFA. [3] He was the president of Northern Ireland's football organising body, the IFA, from 1995 to 2007. [4]
Boyce is a lifelong supporter of Cliftonville F.C.; as a young lad of seven, he acted as a ballboy. He was club vice chairman from 1977 to 1988 and then chairman until 1998. He is currently Cliftonville's patron. [5]
Boyce was one of a number of FIFA officials to call for the publication of the Garcia Report into allegations of corruption surrounding Russia and Qatar's bids for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. [6]
He described the failure not to build a national stadium at the former Maze Prison "a massive mistake". [7]
Boyce played for Ballymena Cricket Club during the 1970s. He was team captain between 1974 and 1978.
He was seriously injured by a bomb planted by republicans in the early 1970s and was off work for a year not long after his marriage to Hazel. [3]
A senior figure in insurance, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to football in Northern Ireland. [8] [9]
