His role is to provide leadership and to be accountable for ensuring that the CGF deploys a best practice governance framework and compliance framework. Rod will support our General Assembly, Executive Board and its various Committees to ensure they achieve the highest standards of governance as well as providing general governance and legal advice across the organisation. 

Rod is a 30 year qualified Solicitor and part qualified Company Secretary, After a successful career in medical law, Rod moved into sport law and management and he has 18 years’ experience in senior Executive, CEO and Board level roles in the sector. He has was a Non-Executive Director at each of the Mountain Training Trust, Badminton England and the Ladies Golf Union. In that latter role he led the legal negotiations with the R&A on behalf of the LGU to merge the international governing bodies of men’s and women’s golf. During his time in Golf, he was instrumental in improving the governance structures of England Golf’s membership bodies, advising them on incorporation and merger between men’s and women’s county bodies. He also led on the development of Diversity Strategies at each of England Golf and British Cycling. 

This experience includes strategy development and implementation; major sporting events strategy, planning and delivery; finances; commercial development; membership; risk management; responsibility for HR and the development of a People Strategy; all aspects of commercial and regulatory sports law; sport governance; litigation; compliance, safeguarding and anti-doping; and data protection.

Rod lectures on sport law at Northumbria University, was previously the external examiner for the sports law masters at De Montford University and in 2021 was a judge of the Chartered Governance Institute’s Annual Awards. He is in his final year studying an MBA at Newcastle University.