After seven-and-a-half years at the Club, this is my last formal day as Chief Executive Officer at Northampton Saints. It’s been an enormous privilege to serve the Club, and my family and I will always cherish the time we have had in Northampton.
As I write to you for a final time, I wanted to start with a few very important messages of thanks.
Firstly, I wanted to thank all of you, our loyal supporters. Whether you are a season ticket holder, a box holder or seasonal hospitality buyer, a frequent or occasional matchday attendee, or an ardent fan cheering on from afar, you make this place what it is. We are extremely fortunate to have such fantastic support from the town, the county and beyond. It means the world to our players and our staff that you stand behind the Club so passionately. We do not take that for granted and, as I depart, the strength of that support will certainly be my overriding memory of my time at Northampton Saints.
After all this time, the atmosphere at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens on a matchday still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I will very much miss being part of that week in, week out.
It's been an honour meeting and getting to know many of you over the years and I hope that - whilst you may not have agreed with every decision that’s been made – you have seen that we have always tried to work with the Club’s best long-term interests at heart.
I also wanted to thank our commercial partners. We are extremely proud to have a roster of incredible brands and businesses behind Saints, many of which we have worked in partnership with for a long period of time. Their involvement is central to the Club’s ability to remain competitive on the pitch and viable off it, as well as supporting our wider ambitions to grow our audience and utilise our venue.
In particular, I must thank everyone at cinch, especially Executive Chair Avril Palmer-Baunack, for their incredible ongoing support. This headline partnership has been transformative for the Club and remains absolutely critical to our ongoing ambitions. Likewise, Travis Perkins, Church’s, GRS, Carlsberg and Macron have all been amazing Elite Partners during my tenure.
It's been a real pleasure working with our Major Shareholders and the Northampton Saints Board of Directors. I will be forever grateful to the Barwell family for giving me the opportunity to come and work here. It goes without saying that Keith Barwell is an absolute legend of Northampton Saints – rightly the only non-playing inductee into our Hall of Fame. And, it’s been brilliant working closely with Ella Bevan, Keith’s daughter, who has such an infectious love for Saints and everything that it does.
More broadly, I believe that the Board of Directors is a real asset for our Club, and I am grateful to each of our Board members for their ongoing support during my tenure. In particular, I must thank John White. As a CEO I could not have wished for a better Chairman to work with. I’ve learned so much from John and have really enjoyed his brilliant company through the ups and downs that accompany a role in elite sport.
I will really miss the team at Northampton Saints. People make places, and that’s never been more true than here at cinch Stadium.
On the field, I’m incredibly proud of the squad that we’ve built. A group of fantastic players, but also great people. As I said to the team in my final meeting with them, it’s unbelievably infectious being in an environment where they come into work each day so focused on getting better and better at their craft. I don’t think you see that in too many organisations; it’s been a privilege to be part of.
The group of staff we have off the field receives fewer headlines but is equally talented; they’ve made my job relatively straightforward over the years. I am loathed to single out individuals because success in elite sport really is predicated on so many people doing brilliant work across the organisation, but there are some people I must mention.
I’ve been lucky to work with three fantastic Directors of Rugby in Jim Mallinder, Chris Boyd and Phil Dowson. I’ve loved seeing Dowse grow into the role over the last couple of years and I am confident that under his leadership, alongside Sam Vesty and the rest of the coaching group that we’ve built, we’re in great hands on the pitch. I also want to call out Tom Bullough, Matt Lee, Mark Hopley and Paul Shields who lead our key departments across our rugby activities. Their capability and commitment has been outstanding during my tenure.
On the commercial side of the organisation. I’m so delighted that Julia Chapman is stepping into the CEO role. Julia has been incredible to work with and has undoubtedly been the brains behind so much of what the Club has done in recent years. I have no doubt that she will thrive in her new position. She has a great commercial team around her. You don’t get representative honours when you work in these types of roles – if you did, this group are so good that they would have a lot of caps. I’ll certainly miss working with the extended team of full-time staff when I finish up.
I also wanted to thank the incredible array of temporary staff that work at cinch Stadium on matchdays and at events. Mick and the car parking team, our matchday stewards, our hospitality, bar and catering teams (orchestrated by our brilliant partner, Levy) and the many volunteers we have performing a multitude of roles. Clubs like ours simply cannot operate without these individuals and teams, and we are very lucky on that front here at Saints.
Last, but by no means least, I wanted to acknowledge the support I have had throughout from my family, especially my wife Caroline and our two children, Connie and Arthur. The CEO role can be all consuming, but they have always had my back and have understood and embraced the trade-offs that come with the job. Moreover, they’ve become lifelong Saints fans and when we reflect on not being at the Gardens – a place that has become our second home – week in week out, it will be as emotional for them as it is for me.
As I reflect on my tenure, I’m pleased with what we have been able to accomplish. The Premiership win last season was obviously the pinnacle, but the most satisfying thing for me was the way in which we did it, with a young and largely home-grown team that we have built over many years, playing a fantastic brand of rugby.
We’ve certainly had to navigate some choppy waters too, most notably the pandemic and the subsequent loss of three elite clubs. Whilst it’s undeniable that the sport still faces some challenges, Northampton Saints is well placed to be sustainable into the future. And, I am optimistic that with some of the recent structural changes across the game, we have a sport that can thrive for decades to come.
I’m also really proud of the fact that you’ve told us we’ve improved your experience of supporting Saints year-on-year. Whether that’s what you enjoy here on a matchday, or the communications and content you consume, ensuring you have the best possible time following Northampton Saints will always remain critical for the team here.
I am delighted to be staying on as a Non-Executive Director, and I'm looking forward to seeing what lies in store over the next few years for Saints. While I am very excited to start my new role at The R&A, I'll miss everything about the Club, and without doubt I will be watching fondly on from afar with my family alongside me.
For now, for one final time (from me), thank you, and come on you Saints!
Mark Darbon
Chief Executive
