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December 31 - Phil Anderton (pictured), the former chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) and Heart of Midlothian, has been headhunted by Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan to be the head of Al-Jazira, his Abu Dhabi football club.
Anderton had been working as the chief marketing officer of the Association of Tennis Players (ATP) World Tour since leaving Scottish Premier League club Hearts falling a row with the club’s owner Vladimir Romanov.
Anderton leaves tennis on a high, having masterminded the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which were a virtual sell-out when they were held in London for the first time last month at the O2 Arena in London.
During his four-year spell with the world governing body for men’s tennis he also reworked the calendar, introducing a more comprehensible tournament structure.
He is the second leading figure within the ATP to recently leave the organisation to take up a role in football.
Earlier this year Andy Anson quit as chief executive to become the head of England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
Anderton has been tasked by Sheikh Mansour to help develop Al-Jazira’s brand in Asia.
The club, who are coached by Brazilian Abel Braga, are currently top of the United Arab Emirates League having gone undefeated in their first eight matches of the season.
Anderton originally joined the SRU as head of marketing and helped increase attendances at Murrayfield by cutting ticket prices.
He was then promoted to chief executive before resigning in 2005 after SRU chairman David Mackay was forced to resign by the union’s general committee.
