Huddersfield Town

A statement from Chairman Phil Hodgkinson

- Club Statement on Neil Hart
- Neil Hart has reneged on his acceptance of CEO role
- Comments from Chairman Phil Hodgkinson

Huddersfield Town can today confirm that Neil Hart has reneged on his acceptance of the position of Chief Executive at the Club.

Following a thorough process, the Club identified Neil as the preferred candidate to become its new Chief Executive and offered him the position, which Neil quickly accepted.

Neil requested that his acceptance of the position was announced publicly as quickly as possible, as his previous employer – Burnley FC in the Community – wanted to advertise for a replacement for his role of CEO.

Huddersfield Town understood and agreed, but only on the proviso that Neil signed his contract of employment with the Club before any announcement was made. Neil agreed, and signed this contract.

The announcement of Neil’s appointment as incoming CEO was made on 12 December 2019.

Subsequently, Neil contacted Huddersfield Town Chairman Phil Hodgkinson on the morning of 18 December 2019 and informed him that, following the announcement of Burnley CEO Dave Baldwin’s appointment as the incoming Chief Executive of the EFL, he had been offered the position of Chief Executive by Burnley Football Club; a position he had accepted.

Huddersfield Town Chairman Phil Hodgkinson commented:

“Neil’s decision, and the reversal of his signed commitment to Huddersfield Town, is incredibly disappointing.

“I’m a great believer in honouring a commitment once it has been made and that certainly is not the case with this situation. The Club is of the utmost importance, but I feel personally let down too.

“I’ve never had this happen to me in 25 years of working in business. In many ways football is a unique industry, but this is not acceptable to me or to our Club.”

Phil continued:

“Obviously finding the right Chief Executive is of paramount importance to the Club and we will carefully assess how we re-approach this process. We certainly won’t rush into an appointment on the back of this disappointment; we must get the right person in situ.

“In the interim, I will work closely with our excellent Board of Directors and staff to ensure that Huddersfield Town keeps moving forward.”