Saracens is pleased to announce that Peter Deakin has joined Saracens from Sale Sharks as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.

Peter first joined Saracens back in 1997 when the club moved to Watford. The two years he spent at Sarries are fondly remembered, transporting the club from a little heard of minnow to the major rugby brand it is today.

Success on the pitch was mirrored off it as the club left all in its wake with a host of initiatives never before seen in Rugby Union. Words like community, marketing and CashBack are now common-place in the sport and this is thanks to the Deakin Era.

The record attendance at a club rugby match outside of Twickenham is just under 20,000, set at Vicarage Road for the Saracens v Newcastle fixture back in 1998. This was testament to the new ideas coming from the club and since then Saracens have been the benchmark with regards to promoting and marketing the game.

Speaking from the Saracens offices today, Peter said: ‘This opportunity came out of the blue. It was totally unexpected because I had been looking forward to doing some consultancy work at Sale Sharks after recovering from illness and having a strategic input with Sale’s future.

‘Saracens is the only club I would have left Sale for. I had a very good working relationship with Saracens’ owner Nigel Wray when I was there before and I am looking forward to picking up the reins at a club where I spent two very happy years.

‘During that time, together with a lot of quality people we were able to build a huge new audience for the club and, in many ways, Saracens were the front-runners for the exciting developments that have seen crowd figures rising throughout the Zurich Premiership.

‘I’m delighted to be returning, it’s an enormous challenge but I’m looking forward to working with the wonderful people at the club and the supporters again. I don’t envisage it will be too long before we are moving forward again.’

Peter joined Saracens from Bradford Bulls where he played a leading role in turning around that club’s fortunes. Success on the field being matched by a threefold increase in attendances.

After leaving Saracens, Peter joined Warrington Wolves as Chief Executive and was the driving force behind the creation of a new stadium in the town centre. It was through discussions with Sale Sharks over a possible ground share arrangement that he met Sale owner Brian Kennedy, and was offered the position of Chief Executive.

He moved to Heywood Road and said things had been moving well until last June when he was diagnosed as having a brain tumour.

‘That meant I had to stand down and Carl Fox was brought in as Managing Director. Brian Kennedy and Ian Blackhurst were very good to me during my illness and it was natural that they should bring someone in to manage the business.

‘Once I had good news concerning my illness I had planned to continue in a consultancy capacity at Sale, until this opportunity arose to return to Saracens.

‘I have very happy memories of my time at Sale and I am leaving a team that is third in the Zurich Premiership and one that is through to the semi-finals of the Parker Pen Shield. The club has a quality platform on which to build now and they are a great set of lads, players and coaches. And the club has a very dedicated backroom team.’

Saracens and Nigel Wray have their man back and no one is more pleased than the Saracens owner: ‘I’m personally delighted to welcome Peter back to the club,’ commented Nigel. ‘It seems such a long time ago that he joined us first back in 1997 and what he did for us in those two years transported us to the forefront of rugby.’

‘The team he left behind has carried on the work and now with his appointment as Chief Executive, I am confident that he will pick up where he left off. I know that the people behind the scenes will be very excited about Peter’s return and I am sure this will be mirrored by the fans as Peter is very good news for the club.’

Tim Lawler, Managing Director at Saracens, said: ‘What ambitious club would not welcome Peter to the team? His reputation speaks for itself and we’re very excited about his return.’

One of Peter’s first jobs will be to appoint a new coach for the club, something he is already pressing ahead with.

For further information please contact:

Matt Jones – Media Manager
T: +44 1923 204 616
F: +44 1923 475 275
E: mattjones@saracens.net