CARLTON has appointed Richmond commercial guru Cain Liddle as its new chief executive.
In a major leadership surprise, the Blues this afternoon confirmed Liddle had won the job over more heavily-fancied former AFL football operations boss Simon Lethlean.
The move leaves Lethlean to contend for the Collingwood chief executive position.
Liddle, who played four senior games at Geelong in 1994-95, has spent eight years at Punt Rd helping build the Tigers into a financial powerhouse.
Richmond’s chief customer officer, Liddle was a key figure in the club’s extraordinary membership growth, helping double the tally from 36,000 in 2010 to more than 75,000 this year.
He was also responsible for ticketing, retail, licensing and corporate revenues.
Liddle will begin work at Ikon Park on Monday. He replaces Steven Trigg, who was surprisingly let go at the end of the season.
Carlton president Mark LoGiudice said the club was thrilled with the appointment.
“After a thorough and extensive process conducted by David Campbell of Egon Zehnder and led by the selection panel consisting of myself, and club directors Kate Jenkins and Chris Judd, we are fortunate to have secured Cain as the Club’s next CEO,” LoGiudice said.
“He brings a wealth of commercial and consumer experience and we believe he is the ideal candidate that will be integral in leading the Club to its next level of success.”
Liddle said he was excited to join Carlton.
“The Carlton Football Club is a proud organisation with a significantly rich history, and a very exciting future,” Liddle said.
“To be given the opportunity to work with such a talented team both on and off the field, who are united in their determination to deliver Carlton members sustained success across both the male and female competitions, is an opportunity for which I am extremely grateful.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/carlton/carlton-appoints-cain-liddle-as-new-chief-executive-officer/news-story/898c6f945cba54b8425869d031a656ca
