Vaughan aiming to create vision for Wasps’ future
SELF-SUSTAINING CLUB COMPETING AT TOP IS 3-YEAR TARGET, CHIEF TELLS FANS
WASPS chief executive of sport Stephen Vaughan has set a three-year target of being self-sustainable as a business while competing at the top of the table.
The Gallagher Premiership was suspended in mid-march with only 13 of 21 rounds played due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Wasps had risen to a season-high position of fifth following a third bonus point in succession defeating Gloucester in their last game a month ago.
Two days after the 39-22 Ricoh Arena success, news of the Wasps group losing nearly £5m in a sixmonth period was revealed by Coventrylive.
During a sequence of three recorded videos posts on to the club’s social media channels, Vaughan, who joined from Premiership rivals Gloucester last summer, answered supporters’ questions on a variety of topics.
Among them was one tackling the future plans and vision of the club which relocated from London to Coventry in 2014.
He said: “When we get back in to work, I am going to be sitting down with a group of leaders across the whole business, including the player department, and we’re going to bring together what our joined-up vision for the club looks like.
“This is key because we’ve got to optimise our business but also our playing department at all levels.
“But I think it’s pretty clear we want to optimise the way we play on the pitch
“I am not going to be telling everybody what the vision is, we’re going to create this together, that we have a no excuse culture, we want to identify with what it means to be a Wasp.
“That might mean looking back into the history of the club, it might be looking into the future, it might be getting people involved with the club who had been involved [in the past]. “We need to be a self-sustainable business as well.
“There’s a lot of things we are going to be doing that are really exciting in the future, to make
I am not going to be telling everybody what the vision is, we’re going to create this together.
Stephen Vaughan
sure that dream is a reality. I see the next three years being a phased approach, in terms of getting that vision for the club, communicating that vision for the club.
“We want to be self-sustaining, we want to be competing at the top of the league, and we want to position ourselves right in the heart of the community.
“We are going to have to open to our community to find out how we can do that better.”
Vaughan also explained that the coronavirus pandemic had not impacted the club’s squad building ahead of next season.
To date, Wasps have have announced only one signing, Ryan Mills from Worcester Warriors, with Billy Searle heading in the opposite direction.
Joe Launchbury and Michael Le Bourgeois also signed contract extensions.
“Our business is done so the answer is no,” said Vaughan, answering the fan’s question.
“I am really pleased with where we are and what we are going to look like next season.
“There will be no direct effect on that.”
Vaughan previously suggested announcements on signings and resignings were planned prior to the season being suspended.