Ron Gourlay is a British businessman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Valencia CF. He was formerly CEO of Chelsea, F.C.West Bromwich Albion and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Football

Chelsea

Ron Gourlay worked at Chelsea since 2004, having previously worked for

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Umbro Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are sold in over 100 c ...

. He was appointed the chief executive of Chelsea on 17 September 2009, following Peter Kenyon's decision to leave the club on 31 October 2009. He was quoted as saying: "It is a huge honour to be offered the chance to lead Chelsea". "We have a fantastic team both on and off the field and those teams can move us on to even greater success in the future. To be responsible for that is a fantastic challenge and I will be giving it my total commitment, drive and energy" after being named as the successor.

Reading

On 10 July 2017, Gourlay was appointed as

, leaving his role with immediate effect on 19 November 2018. Following his departure, former-Reading chairman John Madejski claimed that Gourlay did not understand the culture at Reading and that he had damaged links between the community and club during his sixteen months at the club.

West Bromwich Albion

On 2 February 2022 following the departure of then head coach Valerien Ismael, Gourlay was appointed as CEO of

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Al-Ahli FC

On 22 January 2024 he is appointed CEO of the Saudi side.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourlay, Ron British chief executives Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff British sports executives and administrators Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Chief operating officers