David Moffett
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David Moffett (born 1947, Doncaster, England) was the controversial Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union from 2002 until 2005.
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[edit] Previous Employment
Moffett was born in Doncaster in Yorkshire, England in 1947 and emigrated to Brisbane,Australia in 1963 having spent a large amount of his childhood in Kenya. Prior to his job at the WRU, he worked as Executive Director of the New South Wales Rugby Union, Chief Executive at the New Zealand Rugby Union, Chief Executive at Australia's National Rugby League from 1999 - 2001 and Chief Executive of Sport England from November 2001 - November 2002 earning £140,000.
[edit] WRU Group Chief Executive Appointment
He took up his post at the WRU on December 2, 2002 having beaten off over 100 other applicants to the job, and immediately set about controlling the WRU's finances who were by this time heavily in debt (around £55 million) due to poor management of funds and expenditure on facilities such as the Millennium Stadium. Moffett created an 18 man Board of Directors, replacing a 27 man committee as part of his streamlining of administration at the Union.
Moffett also scrapped the Wales 'A' Team, long considered an important development side playing at a level just below that of full international level.
[edit] Regional Rugby
However the most controversial act by Moffett was the introduction of regional rugby to Wales. After much discussion with the clubs, he got his wish and for the 2003-04 season five regions were created, some jointly owned by two of the former clubs and two (Llanelli Scarlets and Cardiff Blues) were owned by only one club, promting complaints of favouritism from supporters of the other clubs. During the 2003-04 season 50% of the ownership of the Celtic Warriors region was sold to the WRU. At the end of the 2003-04 season Leighton Samuel, the owner of the other 50% of the region also sold his share to the WRU. With the WRU owning 100% of the region, Moffett took the decision to close it down. The regions each receive £2 million a year from the WRU, although originally Llanelli Scarlets and Cardiff Blues received less than the others, as a punishment for going alone.
With regard to the debt caused by the Millennium Stadium, on November 24, 2004, it was announced that Moffett had secured a deal with Barclays Bank to repay £45 million is to be repaid over 35 years and for the remaining £10 million of the debt to incur no interest and not to be repaid unless the WRU or the Millennium Stadium Plc default or sell the stadium or enter into partnership with a third party within the said period of thirty-five years. As part of this deal with Barclays, the WRU Group cleared its debt to BT for the land on which the stadium was built. He also secured permission from the Millennium Commission, who had provided a grant for the construction of the stadium to obtain a sponsor for naming rights of the stadium on condition that the word Millennium remained in the name.
[edit] WRU Group Chief Executive Resignation
Moffett signed an extension to his contract which would see him remain at the WRU until 2008 in March 2004. However on the September 29, 2005 he announced his resignation to take effect on the December 31, 2005. He cited personal and family reasons for his departure.
Under his command the WRU went from making a loss of £3.7 million in the year he joined, to making a profit of £3.6 million in the year he left. The WRU decided not to replace him, instead sharing his duties between the Millennium Stadium manager, Paul Sergeant and WRU Chief Executive Steve Lewis.
