Two candidates – Colin Rigby of Stewart’s Melville and Keith Wallace of Haddington – will stand for election as Vice-President of the Scottish Rugby Union at this year’s AGM, which is due to take place 15th August. Current Vice-President Ian Barr will step-up to take over from Dee Bradbury, who will have completed her two-year term as President of the organisation when the meeting rolls around.
Discussions are still ongoing as to whether the AGM can happen on the scheduled date, and if so in what format that will happen. The ideal scenario is that it goes ahead at Murrayfield as usual, with social distancing measures undertaken to comply with government protocols, although there is a real possibility that there may be a need for video conferencing if travel restrictions are still in place.
Regardless of how the AGM proceeds, both candidates will be keen to convince voting clubs that they are prepared to stand-up for the clubs’ rights after a period of significant governance turmoil.
Rigby has sat on the National One forum for nine years before joining the Council as the representative for that constituency in 2018. In the same year, he became Honorary Vice President of Stewart’s Melville.
He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management and the Institute of Sales & Marketing (specialising in finance, strategic alliances, risk and compliance), and works as Director of Strategic Alliances and Channel for FISCAL Technologies.
“The potential influx of money coming into the game requires trust and realistic objectives on how this is to be best utilised,” he told clubs, when seeking support for his candidature. “If we want our game to be at the forefront of world rugby, we need to change our mind-set, focusing on the development of our domestic game, adopting a more collaborative joined up approach, promoting effective youth, schools and performance academies.”
Wallace is about to start his third year as President of Haddington, and previously served on both the Council and Board of the SRU in 2005-06. He is a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Director and has a keen interest in corporate governance, having served on the Board of a number of companies. He has recently been a vocal critic of Murrayfield governance.
Meanwhile, two motions are known to have been tabled by clubs to be considered and voted on at the AGM, which deal with improving openness and transparency from inside the Murrayfield corridors of power, and altering the bye-laws to assert the authority and responsibility of the Scottish Rugby Council (as the elected representatives of the clubs) to oversee and hold accountable the work of the Scottish Rugby Board (hired to take care of the day to day running of the business).
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