Bristol City have started their search for a new CEO by posting the lucrative position on the networking and job search portal LinkedIn.
The ad went online on Tuesday and at the time of writing just 24 hours later, has received 119 applicants according to the website. City are looking to replace Richard Gould who will take up his new role as the Chief Executive of the ECB following the January transfer window.
They will be big boots to fill with Gould playing a key and integral role in financially stabilising the club over the last 12 months. As well as helping to trim the wage bill by £5million, he has also played an important role in bringing the Former Players' Association to light alongside Neil Palmer and Scott Davidson and helped enhance relations between the club and supporters.
City are looking for their third CEO since last June following Mark Ashton's departure to Ipswich. The advert states: "A rare opportunity has arisen to join the Bristol City Football Club as Chief Executive Officer. This is an exciting and challenging new executive appointment.
"You will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operational functions of the football club across the men and women’s teams, as well as overseeing the long-term strategic objectives of Bristol City."
The ideal candidate will also be qualified in, "having excellent negotiation skills and will be responsible for agreeing player and performance staff contracts". They will also "manage to the agreed budgets and financial plan and ensure compliance with all applicable regulations and standards and will regularly report to the board of directors on operational performance and growth targets."
Gould has also been successful in rebuilding the relationship between the club and the supporters and manager Nigel Pearson spoke of the challenges in finding his replacement. He said: "It will be a really big loss for us. The work he has done since he's been here - he has a very clever touch with how he works.
"I think it's important that we also recognise at the moment that he's going to be here until the end of the transfer window.
"That will give you an indication into how we are all sort of thinking about it. It's really important we have some continuity with how we move forward.
"Richard's job along with everybody else is to try and make this club have a sustainable operation which means making some tough decisions. And decisions in my position and his position are not always going to be absolutely in agreement with everything but what we both recognise is that we need to make decisions that are right for the football club.
"Somebody of Richard's calibre is going to be difficult to replace but it's important that whoever comes in has the right skill set to continue the work that is being done."
City released their accounts last week that confirmed losses of £28.5million, just under £10m better off than 12 months ago. They are around £12m in the threshold of avoiding a potential points deduction, as detailed by Football Finance Expert, Kieran Maguire.
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