Leaders and How They Lead: Bristol Rovers FC’s Tom Gorringe

The CEO of the Bristol Rovers Football Club reflects on his impressive ten year career as a young leader in the sports business world.

Welcome to Leaders and How they Lead, the podcast series that looks at what it means to be a leader in the sports industry.

We’re taking a range of perspectives over the course of this series; going deep with leaders of teams, agencies, governing bodies, venues, and charities – very different types of organisation and very different types of leader.

We’re going to be pressing them on what makes them tick; how they think they manage (upwards and downwards); how they handle failure and conflict; how they communicate strategic vision; how they communicate full stop; how they develop people; how they lead to win – whatever ‘win’ means where they are.

Our guest for this episode is Tom Gorringe. Gorringe began his career as an Intern at Portsmouth FC. He spent the next four years at the club, during which time they experienced two relegations, two administrations and an FA Cup Final. He continued to climb the ladder with stints as a Sales & Marketing Manager at Cardiff City FC and Head of Marketing at Brighton & Hove Albion F.C before moving to Bristol Rovers FC, first joining in 2017 as a Commercial Director. In November 2021, he was made CEO of the club at just 32 years of age, making him one of the youngest CEOs in football.