What Charlie Methven's shock resignation means for Sunderland and the key questions it raises

A prominent figure in the club’s operations in the last 18 months, his departure marks a significant moment in Stewart Donald’s tenure.

So what does it mean and what comes next?

We take a closer look.

Where it leaves Sunderland’s board

Methven is the second board member to leave this season.

The executive director’s departure comes less than two months since managing director Tony Davison left his role as managing director and stepped down from his place on the board.

Davison is a lifelong fan of the Black Cats, who initially worked at the club from 1996 to 2005, including famously donning the Samson the Cat mascot outfit on matchdays.

Methven and Donald brought him back to the club after their takeover, with Methven particularly close to Davison having worked with him at Tottenham Hotspur and Oxford United.

Throughout last season Davison was praised by Methven for his work in driving up Sunderland’s commercial revenues, crediting him with a key role in the formation of the business club and the return of summer gigs to the Stadium of Light.

Upon his departure, Methven cited personal reasons and thanked Davison for his ‘immense personal sacrifice’.

With the pair having both departed, there are now just four figures on the Sunderland board.

Donald, Juan Sartori, Angela Lowes and Neil Fox.

Lowes has been at the club as finance director since 2011, while Fox is a long-standing business associate of Donald’s. Though he is an influential figure behind the scenes on the business side of the club, Methven said in a recent interview with the Echo that his role is a part-time one.

The major unanswered questions

As such, there are clear questions about the day-to-day running of the football club.

Though Methven did play an important role in the recruitment of Jack Ross in the summer of 2018, he has had no influence on the club’s footballing operations, aside from his position as a member of the board.

The same applies to Tony Davison, and as such their departures leave the club’s footballing structures largely in place.

Richard Hill is Head of Football operations. His role and influence has been under significant scrutiny in recent times, with it initially being stated upon his arrival that he had no first team duties. That is true in the sense that Ross and now Phil Parkinson have the final say on incoming recruitment, with Tony Coton leading the club’s [limited] scouting operations. Though Ross had deep frustrations with the club’s structure, that was primarily to do with a lack of scouting system and the process that saw him land a player on deadline day of the January window that, while his primary target, marked a significant shift in the club’s policy and drastically moved away from the kind of financial parameters he thought he had been working under. The protracted takeover discussions last summer further weakened his hand heading into the current campaign and deepened his frustrations.

Hill is primarily in charge of negotiations behind the scenes with incoming and outgoing players, though he did play a part in the search for a new manager after Ross departed the scene.

Coton now leads an expanded scouting structure, with new appointments being made on the back of the deal that saw the FPP Sunderland group inject funds into the club.

Parkinson leads first-team footballing operations, backed by Donald to bring in his own backroom staff, including physical performance coach Nick Allamby.

There remains no overarching figure to lead football strategy in the long term, whether it be as a Director of Football or a technical director.

Methven and Davison’s departure leaves a gap mostly on the commercial side of the club, where both were prominent figures.

As it stands, Davison has yet to be replaced.

Donald recently stated that he will again step up his involvement at the club following a recent absence, and be a more regular and visible presence on Wearside.

Both he and Methven have stated that the return of Juan Sartori is key to recent developments, but it remains unclear just how Sunderland’s day-to-day operations will be led in the crucial coming weeks and months.

What can we expect from Juan Sartori?

The role of Sartori in the club’s new structure will be one keenly observed by fans.

Sartori’s arrival, the Uruguayan purchasing a 20% stake, was heralded as a crucial moment for the club. His contacts in the game were noted, his father-in-law Dmitry Rybolovlev, President of AS Monaco FC.

There was also talk of exciting talent from South America arriving at the Academy of Light.

Sartori was initially a regular and energetic presence at the Stadium of Light, infamously singing with fans in the Roker End during a 3-0 win over Scunthorpe United.

Those appearances gradually became more sporadic at the turn of the year as Sartori surprisingly launched his political career in his native Uruguay.

Though he failed to win the nomination to become his party’s presidential candidate, he was subsequently elected as the country’s youngest ever senator.

That requires him by law to spend a certain amount of time in Uruguay, but both Methven and Donald have said his role at Sunderland will step up following his return to the UK.

How that plays out, and what influence he will hold over day-to-day operations, remains to be seen.

What about FPP?

Having invested in Donald’s holding company, Madrox, the FPP Sunderland group do not have a shareholding and therefore a day-to-day influence on the club’s operations.

That remains purely Donalds responsibility, though Methven recently confirmed at a talk-in with supporters that they will be sending a representative to the club’s upcoming board meeting, at which we now know Methven will officially step down.

Methven said: “I think they’d like to see more of the club and how the club works.

“One of their representatives will be coming to a board meeting in December to see how we operate.

“They’ll certainly be taking a very keen interest – how the playing side develops, how the fans react – they’ll be interested in all aspects of this.

“As a club, I hope as we move forward we can all put our best foot forward and be the best we can possibly be.

“If Sunderland AFC can be the best it can be, then it will be an enormously attractive proposition – not just to this group.”

Verdict

Methven cited a number of factors in the decision to step down from his place on the board, including his personal life and the return of Sartori.

It is nevertheless unarguable that he was becoming an increasingly polarising figure at a club in desperate need of unity after a woeful start to the League One season.

Methven first courted significant controversy in September last year, referring to fans who watched games on illegal streams as ‘parasites’. He later rowed back on those comments but continued to divide opinion, and recently drew criticism for his comments on supporters and the criticism Donald had received.

He also drew heavy criticism for his comments on the deal with FPP, stating that it was not related to the football club just days before it was revealed on Companies House that the loan was secured against key club assets.

Donald appeared to contradict those remarks just days later.

Methven had been a key figure in the club’s operations after Donald’s takeover, the public face of a number of key marketing campaigns, including the drive that almost saw the Stadium of Light sold out for the boxing day visit of Bradford City.

Those campaigns became increasingly sporadic and his departure comes at a time when the ownership’s stock is arguably as low as it has been since their arrival on Wearside.

Methven’s statement in full

“This is a really tough decision to make, but for both family and work-related reasons it was something I felt I had to do. My wife and I are expecting our first child in the New Year, and the reality of my day job – which is largely political consultancy – is that the first months of a new government will be very challenging.

“I’ve been a largely absentee husband, father and colleague for nearly two years, as the SAFC project took over most of my life, and it’s time that I re-paid those close to me for their patience.

“As a shareholder, I will of course take a very keen interest in how we get on in the coming months and there are a couple of projects away from the day-to-day running of the club where I will continue to help Stewart and Juan, who has now returned to the country.

“Finally, I would like to thank Stewart, for his unfailing friendship and some great times, the SAFC staff, who have worked hard to keep the club running so professionally as we went about a tough re-structuring and SAFC’s supporters, especially those involved with the Red and White Army and the Branch Liaison Council.

“I strongly believe that with the restructuring completed, and investment in place, the club now has the stable platform to move onwards and upwards.”

Donald’s statement in full

“This is a really difficult one for me, as Charlie and I have been working non-stop together on this for almost two years. He came and asked if he could resign a couple of months ago, as he was finding it very difficult to keep all the plates in his life spinning, but I asked him to stay on until the investment process was concluded and Juan was back in the UK.

“I am grateful that he did that, as it enabled me to take a breather and re-gather my energies for the next stage, but it will still feel odd without him, even if we still see each other on a social basis. I want to wish him and Helene all the best as they look to start their family.”