The FA planning name change to the English Football Association

The FA are planning their first rebranding in 155 years of history by changing their name to the English Football Association.

The proposal was presented in a board meeting of the FA at Wembley on Thursday and will now be considered for approval.

However chairman Greg Clarke and outgoing chief executive Martin Glenn have long been aware of the need to modernise when the rest of the world consider it the height of arrogance that the English, while being the inventors of the game, are known simply as The FA.

Indeed Clarke and Glenn have made a point of publicly referring to themselves as 'the English FA' for some time.

It is move that clearly has a possible bid for the 2030 World Cup in mind, given the view that the image of arrogance did not exactly enhance England's chances of securing either the 2006 or 2018 World Cups even if it is now clear other forces were at play in FIFA's voting process.

While the name of the FA Cup will remain unchanged, new logos and other branding have been designed for the 21st century EFA.

The EFA would be responsible for governance of English football, its rules and regulations, and international relations, among other responsibilities,

As part of the changes, the FA would also bring in the sub-brand of 'England Football', which would assume responsibility for supporting the game from grassroots to the senior national team.

While the change could meet some opposition from the FA traditionalists, Clarke and Glenn are said to be confident of gaining approval.

For Glenn it will be the last act in modernising the governing body before handing over the reins to his successor.

As Sportsmail revealed last week, the FA's chief commercial and football development officer Mark Bullingham is a strong contender for the job.

He is one of two names on a final shortlist, Barclays' retail bank director Chris Pilling being the other candidate. A decision will be made next month.