Pitch’s Varney Becomes Brentford Ceo
Jon Varney, former partner at sports marketing agency Pitch International, has been appointed as Brentford Football Club’s new Chief Executive.
The 49-year-old, himself a Brentford fan and long-time season ticket-holder at Griffin Park, was the “stand out candidate” according to Cliff Crown, Brentford FC Chairman.
After almost seven years with Pitch, Varney is to take up the new position with the EFL Championship side on 1st March and replaces Mark Devlin, who stepped down at the end of December 2018, following seven years in the role.
Varney had previously spent nine years at Premiership Rugby between 2003-2012, where he was responsible for the organisation’s income streams, which included broadcast revenue, merchandising, match income and key sponsorship deals.
A founding partner of Pitch International Commercial, Varney worked within football, rugby and cricket federations to develop commercial strategies.
At Pitch, Varney also managed the commercial rights of the Brazil Global Tour, a series of international matches for the Brazilian national football team.
Varney had started his career with the Rugby Football Union in Twickenham and also worked on Coca-Cola’s football sponsorships in the 1990’s, which included the 1996 European Championships, held in the UK.
Brentford adopted a thorough recruitment process conducted by sports specalists SRi, with the panel including four Board members and Simon Hayes, ex-partner of executive search specialists Odgers Berndtson.
Cliff Crown, Chairman, said: “Jon was the stand out candidate, not only because of his commercial experience, but because of the passion he exuded during interview.
“Not only do we get someone who has run their own business very successfully, but someone who is extremely well connected in the sports industry and has a history of commercial success.
“This will help Jon play an important part in us achieving our key goals over the next 18 months.”
Commenting on his new role, Varney added: “As a lifelong Bees fan and a season ticket holder, I feel extremely honoured and privileged to have been offered the opportunity to drive forward the Club’s off pitch activities as its new Chief Executive.
“I’m confident the new Brentford Community Stadium will be the catalyst for significant commercial growth and will provide players, fans and business partners with a home to be proud of.
“These are exciting times for Brentford FC, and I look forward to playing an active role in our future success.”
Photo: © Brentford Football Club
