Q&A with Alex Williamson: Scottish Rugby's new CEO discusses money, pathways, governance and much more

Yesterday at 05:21 PM

IN his first press briefing since being appointed Chief Executive of Scottish Rugby Limited, Alex Williamson spent the best part of an hour this [Wednesday] afternoon discussing his plans to set up home in Edinburgh, endorsing the ambitious turnover targets for Scottish Rugby previously set by SRL Chairman John McGuigan, described a vision of success which involves all levels of the game in this country flourishing, and proclaimed that his ambition is to head-up “the leading union in the world”.

It was all very convivial and optimistic, as it always is at this early point in a chief executive’s life cycle. What was clear was that the 50-year-old – who is has spent his life south of the border but is a self-proclaimed long-standing fan of the Scotland team with a season-pass at Murrayfield – has used the six months which lapsed between his appointment to the Murrayfield hot-seat and his taking up of the job to gain a broad understanding of the internal dynamics at play in his new work place as well as the challenges the sport faces globally.

He doesn’t proclaim to have all the answers but made a pretty good fist of presenting himself as someone who is ambitious to move forward positively and collaboratively.

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Feet under the desk …

What is your rugby pedigree?

“I was a very good kicker of the ball because I was terrified of getting tackled or having to tackle. I played at university but always at a pretty tragically enthusiastic level. I was a fly-half actually – that’s why I kicked it because of the chance that an openside was going to nail me!

How has your professional background prepared you for this job?

“The interesting thing about somewhere like The Goodwood Group [where he worked as Chief Finance Officer, Chief Managing Director and then Chief Executive Officer from 2008 to 2017], we were surrounded by sport all the time and there’s a huge number of similarities to this. We sold tickets, we sold sponsorship, we were running large events regularly. About a million people came to Goodwood every year and it was always stuffed full of the great and the good of the sports that we were associated with. There’s a sort of learning in there and if you can dissect or separate historic beliefs and interesting facts, you can come out with some unbelievable insight.

“I came away from Goodwood having learnt a huge number of things from very wise people. When I was in the President’s Suite [at Murrayfield] not that long ago I just felt there were a few people in there who had some really interesting insight that I’m looking forward to spending time with. Actually, Andy Irvine was probably the first person who introduced himself to me. My mum always said that he had the best legs in rugby so I told him that and he immediately questioned the sanity of it.

“What I’ve been doing more recently at [House of Fraser and Inspiring Learning], I’ve had a lot of very good and very tough experiences in business. I’m not arriving here having just sailed through dozens of highly profitable and relatively straightforward roles. House of Fraser, Inspiring Learning, they’ve all carried challenges.

“Number one: I’m very resilient; number two: I’m satisfied and I think I can prove  that I’m very consistent in the way I operate regardless of the circumstance. So whether it’s going brilliantly or whether it’s going in very challenging directions, I’m going to still be sticking in there, grafting and working with my team to make sure it’s the best possible outcome.

“House of Fraser and others have carried some very interesting stakeholder dynamics. I think that means that in terms of when I look at the way the SRL Board engages with the SRU Board and the Club Rugby Board next to it, and everything else, that I think feels very organised and structured. I think I’m looking forward to working with that.”

Have you settled into life in Edinburgh yet?

"My daughter’s here at university, so she’s currently stabbing an effigy of me on the basis that I’ve just moved to the city. My bags are very genuinely in the lodge at the gates of Murrayfield, because I moved up this morning. My wife’s still in Sussex because my daughter’s still at school and so that will sort itself out, because she finishes in May-June time and then she’ll be off to university. My eldest is a Scot. My youngest daughter, she’s not sure.

"My wife is a Scot so her family are all over in Stranraer and that sort of area. My parents are on Bute. So the rest of us are sort of up here already. It’s only my wife and daughter who are still down there."

“I’m moving in [to the new house] on Thursday. We’ve got a place big enough for the whole family but obviously with my daughter living in student digs and all that sort of stuff it’s fairly sensible.”

Are you ready to hit the ground running at Murrayfield

"I started on the 20th [January], it’s been a whirlwind and one that I’ve been looking forward to now for the best part of six months. I had my first conversations with John [McGuigan] in June, it feels like forever ago and I have to say I could not be more proud to be here.

"It’s a very special moment for me. My family are predominantly Scottish, although one of my daughters hasn’t decided whether she’s English or Scottish yet. So, I’m sort of living a dream for a lot of members of my family, not least me.

"I’ve always been a huge believer in sport, and  the power of sport and community, and I’m sure you’ve heard that before. I think rugby in particular has always caught my imagination as a sport that can bind families, communities and people together more generally.

"And whilst there’s a load of challenges, I think that I’m someone really naturally suited to getting in amongst quite complex, important agendas. And I think I have the patience but also the determination to get through some of that stuff."

Money matters …

The plan is to cut Scottish Rugby losses from £11.3m in the last financial year to £3.8m in the current year, and to hit break even by the end of 2025-26, whilst also continuing to spend significant cash on maintaining Scotland Men and the pro teams close to their current levels, as well as investing heavily in bringing Murrayfield up to the standard required for a modern top-level sports/entertainment venue. Is that credible?

"Of course there are going to be some bumps but I do think the plan that’s been laid out by John is absolutely deliverable. And I actually think there’s a lot of commercial and financial opportunity going forward. So, yeah, I’m confident that there is a muscle in this organisation that is more than capable of dealing with the challenges that inevitably all rugby unions are facing. In fact, I think it’s in good shape."

“I absolutely did enough to satisfy myself. I spent quite a lot of time with Oliver Colling, who’s the interim CFO, getting to grips with what was in the numbers, what was in the forward forecasting, what assumptions were being made. [I’m] feeling very positive about the common sense that’s being applied to that. There isn’t a strong wish list approach to it. It’s very modest in its assumptions and I think that there’s therefore opportunities to get after commercial upsides.

"But they all need to be worked up because obviously there’s been a leadership gap for the best part of a year. And so the team have, I think, done a fantastic job of keeping that moving and getting the numbers back on track. I think the £3.8m [forecasted annual loss] looks very deliverable for this year. And then going into 2025-6, that’s really where I can start to have a bit of an impact, particularly on the returns.

"I think the organisational design part, say the redundancy programme for instance, I think that’s been done. So from my point of view, it’s about maximising the revenue opportunities.

“There are a whole series of opportunities at the stadium that have not been tapped into yet, and I think that is evident in the splits between our ticketing and our hospitality and our partnership revenues.

“In terms of hospitality income for instance, it materially under-indexes against some of the other unions. So I think that’s something that, as we think about the investment priorities at the stadium, we should be giving careful thought to how we do that. We’ve got this wonderful footprint, [and] the way we use the space can be given additional thought.

“The way that we interact as a collective with Glasgow and Edinburgh, I’m not sure that we’re totally maximising on all those things, in terms of how we can support them in building their commercial outcomes.

"So, I just think there’s just a massive amount of rugby potential and that’s not taking any account of what this really can be, which is the destination of choice in Scotland for all major entertainment events."

You’ve got five big concerts coming this summer – Oasis three times, Robbie Williams, and Billy Joel – can you do much more than that without causing uproar with the residents of EH12?

"I don’t know, I think the point you make is an important one around relationships with community. I had a lot of experience at Goodwood where we were running motor sport events in a relatively built up area. It’s about common sense to an extent but there are also things that you can do on a much smaller scale that I’m interested in as well.

"If we build out our hospitality facilities then we ought to be a place that is also being used heavily by third parties day to day, not just those big celebration events once or twice a year or five times a year."

You’re fairly dependent on factors out of your control in terms of broadcast deals and so on. As a guy coming in fresh to rugby, how quickly are you going to be able to get on top of that? And be able to influence that? Because otherwise you’re kind of floating in the wind aren’t you a bit? 

"I’ve spent a little bit of time with the Chief Executive of both Six Nations and the British & Irish Lions, and I’ve got a variety of meetings in the coming weeks. There’s a World Rugby Council meeting in mid-February. So I’ll get up to it fast.

"I’ve done lots of media deals in the past in my previous life at Goodwood. I’m across the basic principles of some of the challenges, having had those conversations. Clearly John [McGuigan] has been sitting in that seat for a period of time, so there hasn’t been a lack of voice around the table. Between him and Robert [Howat], I will get a really good understanding quickly. My expectation is that Scotland will be a loud voice around that table, but obviously I need to know what I’m talking about before I can do that!"

What’s Scottish Rugby’s position on free-to-air TV rights? Is it realistic that the Six Nations will continue to be on free-to-air television when money is obviously so important? 

"I’m catching up a little bit but my understanding is that there’s been no commitment one way or another. It’s all available to free-to-air [at the moment]. The negotiations or the conversations with Six Nations are all wide open. Anything that’s been talked about so far, in my understanding, is gossip rather than based on fact. I’m looking forward to getting into those conversations and understanding the whys and wherefores.

"I don’t have a strong view on it at this point because I haven’t seen the detail but hopefully in the next two or three weeks I’ll have got across that."

On-field matters …

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has been linked with a move to Leicester Tigers, and some top players are coming out of contract this summer – with Tom Jordan already away to Bristol and Jack Mann apparently off to Gloucester – so, have you engaged in any ongoing contract negotiations yet?

"No, I haven’t. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with David Nucifora [Scottish Rugby’s recently appointed Performance Director]. In fact, I’m with him again on Friday.

"I’m with Gregor Townsend and the whole men’s team next week. I’ve met very briefly with Sean Everitt and I’ve spent some time with Doug Struth at Edinburgh. I’m over at Glasgow in a couple of weeks’ time with Franco and Al Kellock.

"Obviously with Franco, he’s contracted until 2026, I do know that. He’s doing a fantastic job and long may that continue."

Are you comfortable with Nucifora taking a role with the Lions this summer? Were you aware of that possibility before you started here? 

"He and I talked about that when we first met, actually, that he thought that may be a possibility.

"First off, I think I’m going to work really well with David. I like him an enormous amount and I also like the clarity of his thought. He’s very powerful, particularly in a space where I have very limited experience. To have someone with that size of IP [intellectual property] in rugby is incredibly helpful.

"I think we should be delighted that he’s involved in Scottish rugby and we’ll have a great way of working. The fact he is with the Lions I think can only benefit and will be hopefully really good for Scottish players too."

What attracted you to taking on what some people might view as a poisoned chalice?

"My interest in the role was because not only do I believe in the kind of power of sport, but I do believe that Scotland has all of the elements that it could be the leading union in the world. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll win the World Cup. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re going to win a Grand Slam, but it does mean that we should be excellent in everything that we do – highly competitive on the field, outstanding across men’s and women’s in the pathway programmes, fantastic in the way that we deliver our experiences in the stadium, and very right-minded in the way that we integrate with World rugby. That is, I think, what Scotland can be and I think that we are some way along that journey in some areas, and we’re quite a long way off it in others.

"And I would think if you dip-tested anyone passionate, including in this room, you’d probably all agree that we are nowhere near our maximum. And that is what I’d like to share. I’d like us to agree in a year’s time that we’re somewhere closer to our maximum and that you can see and feel through everything that we’re doing.

"But it’s important to understand that is in every touch point, not just the performance on the pitch. Because that’s an easy sort of binary. Are you any good or are you bad? I think we should be away from this sort of feast or famine.

"We’re going to be bloody good and we’re going to try really hard all the time. And sometimes it will be awesome and sometimes it will be disappointing. But you can believe that the organisation as a whole is highly functional.

“I think it is important to make that distinction because it’s fool’s gold to say we’re definitely going to win the World Cup because I just don’t know that and I don’t know whether we’re going to win the Six Nations but we’re going to have a bloody good go.

“The critical first elements are a simple plan, really clear alignment between every part of the organisation, and drill on that constantly because if you have good alignment and a reasonably simple plan and you start to deliver against that plan, I can’t tell you how quickly it builds confidence.

“And I’m not saying that on a high performance side there is a lack of confidence but across the organisation there has been a lack of leadership for quite a long period of time and so I just want to get after binding that senior team and drilling into their teams the clarity of plan, and from that I think you will start to see that things move faster, decisions are made more comfortably, and we can talk to you more coherently about the improvements we’re making, and hopefully you’ll start to see it.:

Your job security is tied to a successful national team and full stadiums, so are you really committed to supporting the grassroots?

"When I’m speaking to Gav Scott [Director of Rugby Development], there’s a whole wave of work that I’d like to engage with that he’s doing in club rugby. And I popped in to see the Club Rugby Board [CRB] last week, because that whole ecosystem of being the leading union in world rugby is about being just that. And that’s why I’m saying it doesn’t necessarily mean we win the World Cup.

"But when someone comes up to you from another union’s press office and says, ‘how the hell are they doing that?’ It’s because they feel that in some way we’ve cracked some of the challenges.

"Because you know that every union in the world is facing exactly the same issues.There’s participation issues and there’s sponsorship issues and there’s media issues and all of those sorts of things.

"And we’re going to get after those and we’re going to be good at them. That’s to answer your question. And that’s why, because if we don’t do that, then we’re always going to have a struggle to continue to fund the clubs in the way that they need us to.

"And we’ve got to feel that that’s a binding responsibility."

Caring for the whole game …

Because it is a virtuous cycle, isn’t it? You need strong clubs to feed the pro game, because that’s where your next wave of players and your future hardcore supporters come from. 

"No. There is plenty of structure. It's pretty clear what the roles and responsibilities of the various entities are, and that, for me, is a really good sign. Then it just comes down to human qualities and working well with one another, having good debates and being willing to challenge, being open and honest, and all that stuff I stand for."

“I think my salary is commensurate with the role in the sector and my understanding is it’s lower than it has been in the past, but also, if I’m the highest paid person it will be in the annual report I guess. I’d like to think there will be no surprises when it comes out.

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The post Q&A with Alex Williamson: Scottish Rugby’s new CEO discusses money, pathways, governance and much more appeared first on Scottish Rugby News from The Offside Line.