Commercial director behind £100m deal resigns in latest setback to RFU

The Rugby Football Union’s commercial director has resigned in another setback for the beleaguered ­governing body. ­Stuart Ramsey, who was ­instrumental in securing a £100m naming rights deal for Twickenham with Allianz last year and recently agreed a partnership for England teams with Apple, will leave the RFU next month for a new role in triathlon.

Ramsey’s impending departure follows the resignation of the RFU chair, Tom Ilube, last December over an executive pay row with the news coming a few weeks before a special general meeting of the RFU, which will determine the fate of the chief executive, Bill Sweeney.

Sweeney is under pressure to resign after more than 150 clubs called on him to go after the ­revelation that he received a £358,000 bonus last year, taking his overall remuneration package to £1.1m, despite the union posting losses of £37.9m.

A motion of no confidence in Sweeney and proposal for the RFU directors to terminate his contract, put forward by the Rugby Football Referee

Ramsey’s departure is not linked to the SGM, although sources at Twickenham have indicated he had become disillusioned at the RFU. He is due to leave

“RFU commercial director, Stuart Ramsey, will be leaving the organisation next month to follow his personal passion projects, one of which is to help grow triathlon,” an RFU spokesperson said. “We thank Stuart for all he’s achieved during his time at the RFU including several new commercial partnerships. We wish him all the best for the future.”

The RFU made 42 members of staff redundant last September, which hit morale at Twickenham, with the ill-feeling increasing further in November when it emerged Sweeney had been paid £1.1m for the year ending June 2024, due to the maturation of a long-term incentive plan (LTIP) scheme.

It subsequently emerged that five other RFU directors shared bonuses worth almost £1m as part of the LTIP scheme, which was set up to incentivise executives to stay in their jobs after taking pay-cuts during the pandemic. To compound matters, details of the LTIP were hidden in the footnotes of the RFU’s annual accounts and other stakeholders had not been informed about them before the bonuses were revealed by The Times.

Sweeney is determined to fight on despite the rebellion, particularly with England staging the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the final at Twickenham this year. The former chief executive of the British Olympic Association is believed to retain the backing of the RFU Board, although pressure from clubs could yet see him forced out at the SGM.

Sweeney has spent the past few weeks on a tour of the country ­visiting amateur clubs in an attempt to shore up support at grassroots level. The former England captain Bill Beaumont, who replaced Ilube on an interim basis as the RFU chair in December, is thought to be in his corner.

An independent review into the LTIP scheme published by law firm Freshfields concluded that the executive bonuses were “appropriate” and “competitive” for the industry, but criticised the RFU’s lack of transparency. The report noted there had been “no direct communication” from the board with the RFU Council over the matter and recommended a “comprehensive review” of the board’s governance structures.