Nigel Hargreaves has been appointed as the new commercial director of Powerleague, the five-a-side football centre operator.

Hargreaves will take up the position with immediate effect, joining the company from The Small Sided Football Foundation that he founded in September 2009. A former head of strategic development at the Football Association, Hargreaves will report to chief executive Sean Tracey and aims to enhance Powerleague's commercial ventures.

Tracey said: "Having previously set up programmes to encourage people both young and old to lead healthy lifestyles by playing 5-a-side football, Nigel is ideally suited to the role at Powerleague."