Richard Gould: Taking care of business

Richard Gould’s career has always been about the business side of sport, but his journey has been anything but ‘business as usual’. He has been CEO at Somerset Cricket Club, Surrey Cricket Club and at Championship football club, Bristol City, where he was until the end of last year. He has now returned to the cricketing crease, as it were, to run the England and Wales Cricket Board.

While it might seem surprising that someone can switch so seamlessly between the beautiful game and the gentleman’s game, it’s something Richard takes in his stride.

“There are many similar themes between all sports and particularly at club level, which means there is quite a lot of movement between football, cricket and rugby,” Richard explains. “The main di erence being that the recruitment and contract process for footballers tend to include bigger numbers and more intermediaries.”

But unlike many club managers, he skipped the professional sportsman years, as he was, by his own admission, not good enough to play professional football and decided to focus his attentions elsewhere. As a teenager he joined the Army cadets at school and became unusually focused at a very young age. He won an Army scholarship when he was 16 and went to Sandhurst shortly after achieving a very modest set of A-levels - again, his words. By 20, he was a young o cer leading a troop of soldiers in the Royal Tank Regiment stationed in Germany. He stayed in the Army for just over 10 years before the first of his rather surprising career shifts - retiring as a Major in the Army and getting a job at Bristol City as the Commercial Manager.

The Hardest Working Member Of Staff

He took this first Bristol City job over 20 years ago, but in 2021, after years at the helm of some of the country’s most successful cricket clubs, he found himself back there again, this time as CEO. Here his job was to set the vision and key objectives for the club and ensure that their resources were balanced correctly to deliver success. They needed to win games, keep supporters happy, create great footballers and ensure the club remained financially sustainable within the parameters set by their very supportive owners. He describes it as a fun job and one that took up all of his time – a theme that seems to run through each of his roles.

“None of the jobs I have ever done are 9-5, they have all been non-stop full immersion roles; and I really enjoy that. I like to try and be the hardest working member of sta in the business,” he says and then adds “I like listening to people because I can learn so much. I try to speak to as many people as possible during the day and then catch up on paperwork after hours. If we have a problem in the business, I know the answers are often with someone in the business; I just need to find them!”

You Cannot Hand Hold All The Way

But what about the footballers and their relationship with money? What are senior sta doing to support them? Our own research here at SK has highlighted just how volatile and fragile this relationship can be. Richard explains that there is a balance to how you manage this. While you don’t want them to get into financial trouble, you cannot hand hold all the way, it’s about giving them strong role models and providing sound advice –whether they take it, though, is up to them.

“Work starts very early through the Academy system, where they can see how the older players behave and we keep a careful eye to ensure they are picking up good habits. The value of their contracts tends to rise relatively gradually because we think this helps them develop further as footballers and people; rather than getting too much too soon. But we don’t get overly involved because they have to be self-reliant and we hope that they are getting proper professional guidance. I have sometimes given feedback on intermediaries that seem to be performing poorly but ultimately the player needs to make good choices both on and o the field.”

QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS:

What puts a smile on your face? My family, and Wizard the dog.

What’s your favourite quote? If you leave it until the last minute, it generally only takes a minute (but said with heavy irony).

How do you deal with disappointment? Head down and get on with it.

What is your favourite board game to play? Monopoly.

What are your three favourite red wines? Bordeaux Left Bank, any three.

Who do you most admire and why? Field Marshal Lord Montgomery of Alamein. He got stu done.

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