RFU announces Head of International and Public Affairs

Ben Calveley, the RFU's new Head of International and Public Affairs

The Rugby Football Union has today confirmed Ben Calveley as its new Head of International and Public Affairs. Ben will join the RFU on 13^th June from UK Sport where he has been Head of Corporate and International Relations.

Calveley was chosen after a comprehensive and intensive interview process and will take responsibility for all the RFU’s relationships with governments in the UK and overseas and will also co-ordinate and manage the Unions interactions with other key international stakeholders in rugby and other sporting organisations at home and abroad.

Ben will report to Peter Thomas as Director of Communications and will therefore play a key role in ensuring the RFU’s marketing and communications activities are aligned and impactful in the lead up to Rugby World Cup (RWC2015) and beyond.

John Steele, CEO of the RFU, commented, “Although we are the governing body of the game in England we are part of a global game so this is a growing area of importance for us, and indeed for all sports. Our reputation and relationships with governments and quasi-governmental organisations will be critical to our success and our collaboration and involvement with other domestic and international rugby stakeholders equally so. Ben is one of the leading people in this emerging area and we are delighted to have been able to attract him to the RFU.”

During over four years spent at UK Sport Calveley expanded his responsibilities beyond straightforward public affairs to  include communications and international relations – an area that witnessed significant growth during this period as Ben led a team advising all Olympic and Paralympic sports on how to increase their influence within the International Federations to which they affiliate.  Calveley joined UK Sport from PMP, the sports consultancy, where he led the Football division and managed complex domestic and international sport projects involving multi-disciplinary teams including advising on how to develop grass root and elite sporting systems in a number of international markets, working with Sport England to monitor and evaluate impact of community funding awards and working with Premier Rugby Limited (PRL) on eligibility criteria for top division clubs. Prior to that he was a sports development manager for Merseyside Sport driving sports participation programmes in the North West.

Ben holds an MBA, qualified as a consultant  and started his career in Mergers and Acquistions for Arthur Andersen. He lives in Buckinghamshire with his wife and two young sons and is a Wasps fan. Ben spent the majority of his playing days with first Southport and then Waterloo RUFCs and represented Lancashire County at colts level