CEO who oversaw Wasps’ move to Coventry steps down

David Armstrong – the man who oversaw Wasp rugby’s acquisition of Coventry’s Ricoh Arena – will step down as the club’s chief executive in June.

Armstrong will be replaced by Wasps’ deputy chair Nick Eastwood, but will remain as a non-executive director.

During his three years at the helm, he guided the Premiership Rugby through a period of transformational change when it controversially swapped London and the South East for the Midlands in October 2014.

Wasps had been a tenant at Wycombe Wanderers FC’s Adams Park ground in Buckinghamshire when the opportunity to purchase the Ricoh Arena arose.

Now Wasps is one of the most financially robust entities in club rugby, with a stadium it owns and all the ancillary revenue that comes with it.

As well ticket revenues, Wasps rents the stadium out to Coventry City FC and businesses that want to use the Ricoh as a conference venue. The stadium also hosts concerts and elite-level netball.

Armstrong said his tenure had coincided with “dramatic change and growth”, adding that the club’s board was “building a powerful long-term platform to take the club to great heights in the years to come”.

Wasps chair Derek Richardson said Armstrong’s impact on the club had “been huge”.

He also praised the incoming chief executive who also “played a crucial role in the club’s transformation” since joining in 2012.