LTA LEFT IN LIMBO AS CHIEF RESIGNS

BRITISH tennis is searching for a new leader again after Michael Downey resigned as supremo at the Lawn Tennis Association after barely three years in the job. Downey is to return to his native country to his old job running Tennis Canada, from where he was initially hired in late 2013. The decision to end his short but lucrative stay as chief executive at Roehampton is bound to disappoint the LTA hierarchy who, among other things, paid him a £190,000 relocation fee as part of a remuneration package that peaked at £624,000 per year. Downey said that he had ‘quite enjoyed’ the job, but that he and his wife wanted to be closer to their families on the other side of the Atlantic. LTA chairman David Gregson said he wanted Downey to stay on but claimed the organisation had made ‘great strides’ during his time in charge. Downey, who will be staying on for another six months, was hired ahead of homegrown candidates despite having little knowledge of the British game. His most high-profile call was to appoint veteran Bob Brett as supremo of national coaching, which did not work out as the Australian was better suited to working in a tracksuit than in a largely administrative role. Senior appointments have been hit and miss, with ex-British Cycling guru Peter Keen coming and going in the elite performance hot seat. There was also a rebellion from the counties about his plan to charge British Tennis members to enter the LTA’s allocation of the Wimbledon ticket ballot. Recently there have been signs, however, that his huge marketing investment in trying to get more people to play the game is paying dividends, with numbers holding steady relative to other sports.