Mark Dodson says Siobhan Cattigan case had no bearing on his decision to quit Scottish Rugby

Outgoing chief executive defends his 13-year tenure after decision to step down

Mark Dodson will step down in June after 13 years as chief executive of Scottish Rugby. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Mark Dodson insists he is leaving Scottish rugby in a healthy position and on his own terms after announcing that he was stepping down early after 13 years at the helm.

The chief executive said the Siobhan Cattigan case had no bearing on his decision and he would leave it to others to judge his often controversial stewardship of the sport.

Dodson, 63, will vacate office this summer, a year before his contract is due to expire. He said he reflected on his position after the Rugby World Cup and concluded that it was the right time to go.

The governing body has recently gone through a period of major transition, with an overhaul of its governance structure and the appointment of John McGuigan as the new chair of the Scottish Rugby Limited Board.

“Several factors were in play to influence my decision,” said Dodson, who left the Guardian Media Group to become chief executive of Scottish Rugby on September 3, 2011, succeeding Jock Millican. “When we got back from the World Cup, I thought long and hard with the family and we believed it was only right that the next World Cup cycle be given to someone who is actually going to see it through.

“My contract was up until 2025. It was there to make sure we had continuity between the new governance structure and the new boards being bedded down. We’ve made tremendous progress on that. John and I have worked really closely together since he joined the business and the new strategy piece we are doing at the moment will run for a 10-year period.

“It was right for me to say, I think we should hand this over to someone who will be able to execute it over the long term. The national teams are in good shape, the two pro teams are in good shape, we had a record crowd [for the recent 1872 Cup game], we’ve got two nascent female teams just coming through. We felt it was the right time to move on. There are other things I want to do in my career and we felt it was the perfect time to do that.”

Dodson is the union’s longest serving chief executive and has been responsible for modernising swathes of the sport in Scotland. But his tenure has not been without controversies, most notably his handling of the Cattigan affair.

Scottish Rugby apologised “wholeheartedly” last November and after saying it had let down the family of the former international. Cattigan died in November 2021, with her family saying undetected rugby-related brain injuries caused a “catastrophic decline” in the 26-year-old's health.

It took the appointment of McGuigan for the SRU to handle the affair in the appropriate manner. McGuigan said the governing body “should have managed this tragic situation better” and “take responsibility” for the way it dealt with “certain elements surrounding Siobhan’s funeral”.

Dodson was unrepentant when asked about it at the SRU agm last November and insisted on Friday that it had no bearing on his decision to go early. “There is no connection,” he said. “It is an upsetting affair and it’s been a difficult time for everybody, but it had no bearing on my decision at all.”

Dodson said he was under no pressure to quit and believes the union remains in a strong position financially despite posting a £10.5 million loss in its accounts last year. “I think the business is performing really, really well,” he said. “We’re trading well in a really difficult market so, from my point of view, the business is doing well and I’m happy with where we are on that.”