All England Club CEO Ian Ritchie has been "named as the Rugby Football Union's chief executive, six months after John Steele" was ousted from the position, according to Paul Rees of the GUARDIAN. Ritchie was "believed to be on a salary" of US $465,704 (all figures U.S.) at Wimbledon, $31,047 "more than the RFU paid Steele." His start date "still has to be agreed, but it is hoped he will be able to start work by March" (GUARDIAN, 12/15). REUTERS' Mitch Phillips noted Ritchie, who "spent six years in charge of Wimbledon, takes over from acting CEO Stephen Brown who will revert to his role as chief financial officer once Ritchie has served a yet-to-be-determined period of notice" (REUTERS, 12/14). Ritchie said, "The decision to leave the AELTC was a difficult one. I have been fortunate to work for a wonderful organisation and am extremely proud of what it has achieved over the past few years. I know that Wimbledon will continue to go from strength to strength with its exceptional leadership and fantastic management and staff" (London TELEGRAPH, 12/15).
ACCOMPLISHED TENURE: In London, Simon Briggs notes Ritchie was "the man in charge" of the retractable roof that "appeared on Wimbledon’s Centre Court two years ago, and remains the single most impressive feat of sports engineering in the world." The project "could all too easily have spiralled out of control." Sunset+Vine Productions Chair Jeff Foulser said, "The thing about Ian is that he hasn’t got a big ego. He just wants to get things done in the best possible way, and he’s very collaborative. Having said that, he negotiated Wimbledon’s new deals with the BBC and ESPN on his own. He is expert at dealing with the media -- he spent more than 20 years in TV after all -- and that will be a real asset at the RFU." Briggs notes there is a "clear appeal to the RFU job right now, which might have led Ritchie to choose it above the other post he was recently in contention for -- the chief executive of the ATP." Former English tennis player Andrew Castle said, "For an ebullient character like Ian, the prospect of running the next Rugby World Cup (to be held in England and Wales in 2015) must have been a real draw card" (London TELEGRAPH, 12/15). Also in London, Alexandra Willis wrote tennis "lost a stalwart figure." Willis: "A thoughtful, good-humoured, clearly intelligent yet intensely friendly man, there has been hardly a bad word written or said about him" (TELEGRAPH.co.uk, 12/14).
TASK AT HAND: In London, Neil Gardner notes Ritchie's appointment "brings to an end a four-month hunt for a successor to John Steele, who left in June, just nine months after he took office" (LONDON TIMES, 12/15). Also in London, Mark Souster writes after "probably the most tumultuous and damaging year in its long history, the Rugby Football Union began the task of rebuilding its tarnished image" by hiring Ritchie. His "immediate task will be to provide stability and direction," but he is "confident that English rugby union can move on from its recent tribulations and make a much needed fresh start." Souster notes Ritchie "becomes the fourth RFU chief executive in 2011," and Ritchie "knows that the stock of English rugby union is at an all-time low" (LONDON TIMES, 12/15). In London, Neil Harman notes it will "now be the dilemma of the All England Club to replace the man on whom it had come to rely to enhance its commercial strategy." All England Club Chair Philip Brook said, "We are losing a very likeable, engaging leader, but that is not the half of it. He has put into place a very strong executive team and, as a business, Wimbledon has never been stronger" (LONDON TIMES, 12/15).
