BLACKPOOL Football Club has scored a hat-trick in the boardroom by appointing Rebecca Bingham to its board of directors.

The club's main sponsor becomes the third female to join the hierarchy at Bloomfield Road and will take her seat alongside vice-chairman Vicky Oyston and managing director Gill Bridge.

It is quite a coup for the club, the first to boast a female trio, and Rebecca hopes it paves the way for other women in the future.

She said: "It proves more and more women are understanding and enjoying football and know what they are talking about. All football needs now is its first female chairman."

Rebecca, who has thriving jewellery businesses in Southport and Preston as well as selling selected lines at Bloomfield Road, has sponsored the team for the past two years and is married to former Northern Ireland manager and Blackpool's director of football Billy Bingham.

But her involvement with the club stretches right back to her childhood when her father, an Everton fan, would take her to Bloomfield Road whenever Everton were playing away.

Little did she know that in years to come she would be taking one of the top positions at the very same club.

"It means a lot to me, having supported the club in the way I have over the past few years," she said.

"The fact the team is doing so well at the moment makes it even more exciting.

"Blackpool is a great little club with a real family atmosphere and we want our facilities to become second to none which will hopefully increase the female status within the football club."

And she is thoroughly looking forward to the challenge, saying: "I am delighted to have been asked. Billy is a bit apprehensive because although I can be a quiet person, I won't be talked down and can stand my ground."

Other new appointments to the board include Michael Joyce, managing director of the International Colosseum, and Ken Chadwick, head of corporate affairs.

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