Everton CEO set to leave club for rugby role

Not so long ago an Everton fansite ‘Everton That’ claimed to have some ‘ITK’ (in the know) knowledge that chairman Bill Kenwright, chief executive Robert Elstone and Board member Jon Woods would all be leaving their roles at the club very soon. Now it appears that the movement is underway.

The Guardian is reporting that Robert Elstone will be leaving Everton to return to rugby league where he came from back in 2005. However, he will not be returning to the Castleford Tigers but instead will head up the Super League after being nominated by all twelve clubs as the best candidate for the role following his key role in the mid-90s in it’s creation. The Super League is considered the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern hemisphere, with eleven teams from England and one from France, and is up for a new television deal in 2021 with Elstone set to be involved.

Since his arrival at the Toffees, Elstone has played a key role in numerous financial and organizational decisions at the club, some of which were highly controversial as fans believed Everton were being undersold on, especially sponsorship deals.

Farhad Moshiri has made over the Board since his arrival, including bringing in his own ‘numbers guy’ Sasha Ryazantsev, and it is expected that the trio leaving will be the next phase in his plan to fully take over at Everton.

Elstone has been a key figure in the planning phases for the club’s move to the new stadium at the Bramley-Moore docks, and spoke at length during the general meeting in January regarding the portfolio of projects.

There will be more to come on this as and when the news is confirmed by the club.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/mar/13/everton-ceo-robert-elstone-super-league-rugby