Former UK Athletics chief executive David Moorcroft has been appointed as executive director of the Coventry Sports Foundation – a charity he helped to found 35 years ago. The foundation manages three sports and leisure centres in the West Midlands city and also delivers a host of community sport programmes in the area.

Moorcroft set up the charity in the 1980s as chief executive. He will now work on new developments and initiatives which the foundation is planning to carry out in the city over the coming years.

He said there were a number of encouraging developments in Coventry’s sport scene, such as the development of a new aquatic complex in the city and a potential 50m swimming pool.

“I work across the country and I believe the city is very much moving in the right direction through the development of its sports strategy,” said Moorcroft, who is also a director of the Sport and Play Construction Association (SAPCA).

“We started the foundation to improve the access to the best sports facilities and provisions for all areas and communities of Coventry and that ambition is still very much at the core of everything we do.”

Moorcroft has been credited with bringing Olympic football to Coventry’s Ricoh Arena during the London 2012 Games as the chair of London 2012 in the West Midlands and Coventry Sports Foundation chief executive Paul Breed said his “experience and expertise will be a huge help as we move forward”.