I went on BBC Lancashire to talk about Steve Waggott leaving his job as chief executive of Blackburn Rovers Football Club, and my story on TheBusinessDesk.com.
Me and Graham Liver both agreed that the two line statement felt harsh and I said it was "classless".
It simply said: “It has been agreed that Steve Waggott will be leaving Blackburn Rovers.
“We would like to thank Steve for his work over the past seven years and we wish him well for his future endeavours.”
Here is the rest of my story.
Fans groups are furious that the chief executive, although unpopular with them, appears to have been offered up as the fall guy for a series of catastrophic recent decisions, including the withdrawal of funding for the BRFC women’s team earlier this week, and the mid-season departure from the promotion chasing club of manager John Eustace for relegation-threatened Derby County.
The fans consensus is that Waggott is being made a scapegoat, and a statement from fan group, the Supporters’ Coalition, highlights the owner’s representative Suhail Pasha, who is now also on the board, and who fans feel is not accountable for any of the recent mishaps.
In a statement they said: “It’s clear to the Coalition that Ewood Park is currently rudderless, with knee-jerk reactions, floundering responses and concerning concentration of power around one man – Suhail Pasha Sheikh.”
The statement went on to say that two short paragraphs to announce Waggott’s departure was “not sufficient for a football club facing as many challenges as Blackburn Rovers currently is.”
For his part Waggott may claim that he has been unfairly castigated in what is almost certainly his last big job in football, given he will be 71 in June.
In the latest report and accounts it was revealed that his pay package for the year soared to £592K, mostly bolstered by a rise to £433,028 for his basic salary from £308,888, and increased contributions to his pension of £159,002.
He will claim he has kept the owners sufficiently engaged to keep the lights on, and has played a part in maintaining a strong Championship side on a limited budget.
The former player’s agent, who also worked in leadership roles at Coventry City and Charlton Athletic, will also claim credit for recruiting high calibre managers including Tony Mowbray, who lifted the club out of League One, European Champions League winner Jon Dahl Tomasson, and John Eustace.
He may also argue that his hand hasn’t been helped by pressure on the owners in the Indian courts for their investment in overseas businesses. In early 2024 theBusinessDesk.com reported that the Lancashire club’s financial destiny hung in the balance as the owners had to apply to the High Court in the capital New Delhi for emergency permission to pay an outstanding tax bill. An earlier application to send £26m to Blackburn was turned down when the Indian government’s Economic Directorate refused to issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to payments to Rovers.
Venky’s achieved permission to settle the tax bill which they argued would have caused “a huge loss to the reputation.”
However, any assessment of Waggott’s performance will also have to take into account falling attendances, poor fan relations, and a failure to bring in commercial revenues to the club. At way less than 10,000, season ticket sales are almost half the level of neighbours Bolton Wanderers, in a division below. His biggest sponsorship deal was with a local vaping company, which abruptly walked away in the summer of 2024 after the new Labour government committed to outlaw the marketing of vapes.
The annual report pointed towards fresh efforts to raise commercial income streams under a new structure of a Chief Operating Officer and Head of Commercial and the further development of the Business Club, improving match day experience and attendance levels.
Towards the end of the 2024/25 season the Supporters’ Coalition urged Waggott, Pasha and sporting director Rudy Gestede to stay away from the club, which they declined to do.
In an excruciating interview with the club’s media, and the local BBC, the three displayed a marked lack of empathy with the frustrations of fans, with Waggott self-assessing his own engagement with them as excellent.
“For the seven-and-a-half-years I have been at the club, my door has been very open to the fans,” he insisted.
“I attend all the fans’ forums, the Supporters Trust, We Are The Rovers, individual groups, away travel groups, individual people who write emails with constructive criticism. I bring them in and discuss certain points with the club.”
But it has been the decision to withdraw from Championship tier of women’s football that has provoked the latest outpouring of ire at the leadership of the club.
Both the Blackburn Rovers Trust and the Supporters’ Coalition slammed the decision by the club and the Coalition once again called for Venky’s to sell the club and for the removal of their representative Suhail Pasha from the board.
“The Blackburn Rovers Supporters Coalition is devastated and outraged by the decision to remove Blackburn Rovers Women’s Football Club from the Tier 2 Women’s Championship League,” they said.
The feeling now is this latest development appears to be heading towards an inflection point in what has been a bizarre ownership story, even in the context of British football. Despite sinking over £300million into Rovers, the Rao family haven’t attended a game at Ewood Park since Mrs Desai’s husband was hit on the shoulder by a snowball thrown by a protesting fan in January 2013, angered at relegation from the Premiership the previous season and the ensuing chaos at the club.
