SRU: Storm clouds gather again after troubled times

Gordon McKie, brought in as chief executive by the Scottish Rugby Union in 2005 to bring stability to a sport struggling to cope with professionalism, is in the sights of board members who appear to have lost patience after a series of stormy meetings.

McKie has largely succeeded with his chief aim, reducing the SRU's debt by around 5m to 15m and streamlining the business, but his failure to then move the business on by developing the rugby side and make an impression on what remains the core issue of developing professional rugby has led some to surmise that it is time for fresh blood at the helm.

It is understood that the board meeting hastily arranged for today is seen by McKie as an opportunity to tackle the challenges to his authority head-on, with the board split in their support for him.

McKie has been at the helm of the SRU for six years, but in recent times the Union's communication and understanding of rugby supporters has been at the heart of a rising number of complaints from fans. McKie and his finance director Eamon Hegarty were at the centre of the storm this season to close off Edinburgh's 'clubroom' facility in Murrayfield's 'President's Suite' after the start of this season without warning and so landing the SRU in court.

That is one of a number of PR problems which have led to concerns being raised with the incoming chairman, Sir Moir Lockhead, on his travels around the country, over a failure of the SRU leadership to grasp the importance of customers to increasing attendances and interest. The revelation that the reason for shutting the doors on Edinburgh supporters – with no alternative initially proposed – was to spend 500,000 on refurbishing the President's Suite, to hold Christmas parties for the Edinburgh public, caused fury.

But controversy is nothing new for this regime. Within a year of taking the helm, McKie was at the centre of a storm in the Borders when he stated publicly that he believed the team may be shut down in order to save money and improve the competitiveness of the other two professional sides – 18 months before the SRU closed the team. It led to unrest among players and coaches, some players deciding to leave and others objecting, while what support that was building for the fledgling team questioned their investment in a side seemingly on its way out.

Despite promises to fill the void left in the rugby-mad region with an academy, there was no future plan produced for the area, proposals to create a development side dismissed and even attempts to hold Edinburgh training sessions in the region were blocked by McKie, as he became embroiled in a spat with Gala RFC over payments due to the club.

In terms of developing the professional teams the current regime's failure to find suitable venues has proven a major stumbling block to success. The SRU was courted by Glasgow City Council to move Glasgow Warriors into the newly redeveloped Scotstoun Stadium and create a new sporting hub in the city, but the board decided against the move, to the disappointment of Glasgow City Council, and instead signed up to give Partick Thistle FC a six-figure annual sum to rent Firhill.

They did agree to move the squad's headquarters to Scotstoun, while the Scotland Rugby League team now call Scotstoun their international home.

The failure to secure broadcast interest from BBC Scotland is another major issue for the board. It is debatable whether anyone could persuade the Glasgow-based broadcaster to screen pro rugby, but there remains anger on both sides over how the talks have been handled.

McKie has never pretended to be anything other than strong and confident, which clearly is a strength in leading a sporting body with the SRU's myriad interests. But the lack of a clear vision to build the game remains his Achilles heel.

A succession of marketing officials and chief executives have come and gone at Edinburgh and Glasgow, with McKie deciding at one stage he did not require anyone in those roles, and reconsidering in terms of the CEOs but changing their responsibilities. There remains concern at how much they are actually permitted to run the teams amid claims of too much central control.

A lack of marketing has often been blamed for contributing significantly to the lack of growth in attendances at the pro club games, the Murrayfield cup finals and international sevens, but McKie remains sceptical of the benefits of marketing and has not appointed a marketing director. He also resisted calls to appoint a director of rugby to replace Ian McGeechan, who quit in 2005, and though he did with the hiring of Graham Lowe as director of performance rugby in 2009.

The SRU declared free admittance to Scotland 'A' games and age-grade matches, but stopped the sale of international tickets on match days, a move which angered supporters.

The reason given was the cost of putting on staff to sell tickets was not worth the receipts garnered, but again the SRU's communication and understanding of supporters was called into question.

Allied to the decision to close the back pitches car park, necessary due to agreements to create a Water of Leith flood barrier and new tram line, the continuing failure to come up with alternatives and properly communicate with supporters dogs the current regime. Many supporters who would gather in the back car park before and after international matches have found the international experience to be diminished.

It is a moot point if a great number are now staying away, but the SRU have lost significant revenue from international matches in recent years with previously sold-out Six Nations games with Wales and Ireland no longer attracting the full houses that used to attend.

The task of keeping Scottish rugby afloat in difficult economic times is a challenge that cannot be underestimated, but the problem issues are mounting up for the current leadership - along with the number of dissenters – and it appears that Scottish rugby is heading for another power battle.