The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. The world's oldest professional sport trade union, it has 4,000 members.

The aims of the PFA are to protect, improve and negotiate the conditions, rights and status of all professional players by collective bargaining agreements.

The PFA is affiliated with the Professional Footballers' Association Scotland. The Northern Ireland PFA disbanded in 1995.

The PFA was formed on 2 December 1907 as the Association of Football Players' and Trainers' Union (the AFPTU, commonly referred to at the time as the Players' Union). On that date, Charlie Roberts and Billy Meredith (who had been involved in the AFU), both of Manchester United, convened the Players' Union at Manchester’s Imperial Hotel.

This was the second attempt to organise a union of professional footballers in England, after the Association Footballers' Union (the "AFU"), formed in 1898, had been dissolved in 1901. The AFU had failed in its objectives of bringing about a relaxation of the restrictions on the movement of players from one club to another in the Football League and preventing the introduction of a maximum wage of £4 per week for players in the Football League.

Gordon Edward Taylor (July 20, 1910 - July 26, 2003) was a Canadian politician, businessman and teacher.

He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1940 provincial election representing Drumheller for Social Credit and continued to sit in the legislature for 39 years. He survived the 1971 defeat of the Social Credit government and remained in the legislature until 1979. Taylor was Social Credit's parliamentary whip from 1943 to 1950. From 1951 to 1971, he served as Minister of Highways in the governments of Ernest Manning and Harry Strom. During his tenure, 8,401 kilometers of highways were paved, and Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton was planned. He was also minister of telephones from 1950 to 1959. While a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) during World War II, he also served with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Taylor ran twice for the party leadership, coming in second to Harry Strom in the 1968 leadership election to replace Ernest Manning and coming in third in the 1973 leadership race.

Joseph S. Blatter (born 10 March 1936), commonly known as Sepp ("Giuseppe") Blatter, is a Swiss football administrator, who serves as the 8th and current President of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association). He was elected on 8 June 1998, succeeding João Havelange. He was re-elected as President in 2002, 2007 and 2011.

Despite winning four terms as President, Blatter has often been dogged by controversy and allegations of corruption. His tenure has seen controversy over allegations of financial mismanagement and the acceptance of bribes resulting in Qatar's successful 2022 World Cup bid. Blatter personally has attracted criticism from the media, senior football figures and players due to several controversial statements. These include suggesting that female football players should wear tighter shorts to appear more attractive to men, that Latin American countries would 'applaud' John Terry for having an extramarital affair, that homosexuals should 'refrain from any sexual activity' while attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and that on-field racism could be corrected with a 'handshake'. Blatter also received criticism for not postponing his 2011 election in which his term as FIFA President was extended through 2015, despite the fact that all other candidates for the role had been suspended or withdrew. Prior to his election as FIFA President, Blatter was a senior FIFA official for 23 years. In his earlier professional life, Blatter held a variety of senior management positions in several Swiss organizations.

David Oswald 'Bobby' Barnes (born 17 December 1962) is an English former professional footballer. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League and represented England at youth level.

Barnes, who was born in Kingston upon Thames, London, was a quick, skillful winger who began his career as an apprentice with West Ham United, the team that he supported as a boy, winning an FA Youth Cup winners medal in 1981 and England youth international caps. He turned professional in September 1980, and scored on his League debut against Watford in September 1980. He had an extended run in the first-team in the 1983–84 season and featured in the 1984–85 season, making 43 league appearances in six seasons, scoring five goals. He went to Scunthorpe United on loan in November 1985, playing in six league games without scoring, before joining Aldershot in March 1986 for a fee of £15,000. He was an immediate success, scoring 26 goals in 49 league games and helping Aldershot to promotion through the first ever Third Division play-offs in 1987.

Dean Christopher Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional football player, now manager of League Two side Aldershot Town. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22 year career. Despite playing for 16 clubs in 19 spells the majority of his goals and appearances came at Brentford, Wimbledon, and Bolton Wanderers. He is the twin brother of David Holdsworth.

As a player he started his career at Watford in 1986, where he spent three years before signing with Brentford, following a short loan spell. A highly successful three years followed before he was signed by Wimbledon in 1992. After an impressive five year spell he transferred to Bolton Wanderers. He spent six years at Bolton, before in 2003 joining Coventry City, Rushden & Diamonds and then back to Wimbledon. In 2004 he signed with Havant & Waterlooville, where he spent one season before joining Derby County. In 2006 he dropped out of the Football League for the final time, joining Weymouth. Short spells followed at Heybridge Swifts, Cambridge United, and Newport County.