Nicky Butt Thankful For VSI Executive Education Boost
Manchester United legend Nicky Butt has revealed how he signed up for VSI Executive Education’s CEO of a Sport’s Organisation programme with absolutely no intention of becoming the senior leader in a football club!
Two years later, he is Chief Executive of Salford City and gunning for promotion to EFL League One after a very encouraging first season at the helm.
Butt confesses that he was perhaps not the most gifted of Sir Alex Ferguson’s iconic class of ’92 despite no lesser player than Pele voting for him in his team of the 2002 World Cup.
He was widely recognised as a fearless, formidable leader in United’s all conquering team and is certainly making his presence felt at the Peninsula Stadium.
The one-time midfield general explains how before he eventually severed his links with Old Trafford’s development squad, he joined a VSI programme that was primarily designed to deliver the formal leadership skills and network to function as a Chief Executive in sport.
“I didn’t ever want to be one,” he says. I just wanted to be more in tune with a chief exec, to be more empathetic. But then the world spins round and all of a sudden last year, this job comes up and here I am.” And he added: “I’m enjoying it.”
Butt and his high-profile ownership partners have big ambitions for the club and were only thwarted in their attempts to buy a bigger stadium when the local council controversially stepped in and acquired it themselves.
At a time when far too many people in Salford are living in poverty, the decision left Butt astounded: “I find it ridiculous that a council can buy a £16 million stadium when there are 42 percent of people in Salford living on the breadline.
“But what can we do?”
Salford enjoyed a meteoric rise through the non-league divisions following the bold decision by the class of ’92 and their fellow backers to buy the club but they have been stranded in League Two since 2019.
Managers have come and gone without delivering the much-coveted promotion and Butt admits the club may well have been wise in certain instances to show more patience.
“We have been hasty at times,” he says, sounding every bit a very considered Chief Executive. But he explains: “Our background means we always want perfection, but we have to step back and realise we are a League Two team.
The words could have come straight from the mouth of VSI’s widely acclaimed football finance expert Dr Rob Wilson who expertly profiles all things money in the business of football.
Butt benefitted from Dr Rob Wilson’s ‘Money Game’ module on the CEO of a Sports Organisation programme. He explains just how important it is that football employs executives with the bespoke skills to function in any league or on any budget.
He said: “Nicky made a great decision to join the programme. He has an elite performance background having spent most of his life at major clubs but had little executive experience.
“He stepped out of his comfort zone but applied all the resilience and determination of his playing career to his learning. “Despite not necessarily wanting a CEO position, I was confident at the time that the programme will equip him well for the challenges ahead.
“The delegates are a really eclectic mix of successful ambitious individuals. Many are already in senior position in sport looking to extend their network while securing high level learning. Others are already in very serious public or private sector jobs but want to work in sport and know they have to bespoke their skills and develop a network.”
Butt himself spoke enthusiastically on Sky Sports News about his experience with VSI before he accepted the position at Salford.
He told viewers: “VSI are doing an amazing job, helping people like myself become more knowledgeable about the running of the clubs, the way it all works and things I am not so comfortable with.
“It’s a great company who help us learn more and develop.”
VSI co-founders Tony Faulkner and Andy McIntyre launched the business after watching with frustration the drain of high-level talent from the game at a time when football clubs were struggling to manage exponential financial growth.
McIntyre said: “All our programmes are industry driven and highly vocational. We are in the business of equipping people with real world leadership skills that allow them to function successfully in the most senior of positions.
“We were challenged initially to support the development of a talent-pool of aspiring sporting directors. We created the MSc Sports Directorship with cohorts in Manchester and Miami as well as an international ‘online’ cohort.
“It was evident that the profile of the boardroom had to change and allow all the knowledge and experience of professional athletes to have their post playing career capped at a coaching level was wrong. So much wasted talent!
“Many delegates like Premier League title winners Wes Morgan and Joleon Lescott have been out of full-time education since 16-years-of-age, but such have been determined to demonstrate themselves as highly credible senior leaders.
“The likes of former Aston Villa star Marisa Ewers graduated two years ago and is already General Manager at the club.”
Faulkner added: “It is not just former or current players studying to become a sporting director. Other candidates have been department heads with big ambitions, while even the likes of the highly experienced Northern Ireland Manager Michael O’Neill have shown that you should never stop learning if you want to maintain career momentum.
“Olympic medal winners such as Beth Tweddle, Goldie Sayers and Kelly Sotherton have made massive contributions during their time as delegates. This is not just about one sport.
“I get a real buzz seeing the delegates learning so much from all the different sports in the cohort.
“We as a business are so proud when we see Nicky’s success but his is just one of so many great successes among our alumni.
“I’d like to think we are creating cognitive and cultural diversity in the boardroom through delivering education opportunities.”
