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\t\tThe owner of Harlequins has joined the board after decades being hands-off. Why?\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tFriday 27 March 2026 3:00 pm
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tFriday 27 March 2026 11:33 am\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tThe owner of Harlequins has joined the board after decades being hands-off. Why?\t<\/p>\n
It is not uncommon for rugby clubs and their associated companies to appoint directors to their boards; it happens quite often and the more eye-catching news tends to relate to individuals who are removed from their posts.<\/p>\n
Take the departure of Lloyd\u2019s of London\u2019s chief financial officer Alexandra Cliff from the Saracens board after less than a year last November. Or former England Rugby captain Jamie George\u2019s exit from player contract operation Team England Rugby. The latter, in George\u2019s case, was followed by a retirement announcement this year.<\/p>\n
In an interesting move this week, Harlequin Football Club Limited \u2013 the company that directly controls the eponymous rugby team \u2013 appointed the club\u2019s long-term owner Duncan Saville to its board.<\/a><\/p>\n Curious move for Harlequins<\/p>\n Saville, who has been a co-owner of the club since 1997, has sat on the parent company\u2019s board \u2013 Harlequin FC Holdings Limited \u2013 for decades, much as you might assume as part of his role as the club\u2019s owner.<\/p>\n But with the club languishing closer in points to winless Newcastle Red Bulls at the bottom of the Prem Rugby table than the team above Harlequins in eighth, and a long-time search for a new head coach concluding that the interim man, Jason Gilmore, was the right person for the job all along, it is a curious move after all of this time.<\/p>\n Why would a long-time owner \u2013 described as a Singapore resident on Companies House \u2013 suddenly want to be closer to the club than he has in years?<\/p>\n One London-based sport business insider tells City AM that the move could be about \u201ccontrol at a critical moment\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n They reason that, following on from recent investments in Prem Rugby sides Newcastle and Bath by Red Bull and Sir James Dyson<\/a> respectively, Saville may just want to be around while the league looks to go through a transition.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tToulouse minority owner: Prem Rugby franchising \u2018very exciting\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n But they also point out that Saville is likely \u201cshifting from a hands-off investor into a role of active governance\u201d.<\/p>\n An Institution at stake?<\/p>\n Harlequins is an institution of Prem Rugby, key to a number of the league\u2019s most iconic moments. But the Londoners are in a rut at the moment, without a win in the top flight since October having only won one other game in the Prem this season, in the same month.<\/p>\n They\u2019re unable to string any run of performances together and fans are getting restless.<\/p>\n