Susan Whelan steps down as CEO

[The Doctor]

power struggle between an actual businesswoman and a jumped up youth coach leading to the businesswoman leaving is pure Leicester. Like she's not done a great job in the last couple of years but if you're getting rid of one of the two it has to be Rudkin.

 

Still, step forward new CEO Ron Judkin

[Spanner73]

16 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

Really don't think this is quite the good news everyone thinks it is. 

 

Looks a lot to me like it's a tightening of Rudkin's grip.

 

Absolutely !! 
Is it just me that can only see this ship is sinking quickly ? 

[Lambert09]

Not locking down a sponsor is the largest incompetency in football. For a club as cash strapped as ourselves, it’s beyond negligent 

[Tommy G]

48 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Go and get Paul Barber from Brighton. Pay what it takes(compensation wise)

 

Mentioned it on here before. Anyone wondering why watch the High performance podcast with him - available on YouTube. 

 

Paid money on utter shit for years pay him what it takes(within reason) get this rebuilt started. 

Would you trade in a Porsche 911 for a clapped out Nissan Micra with a load of MOT fails with no money to repair it? 

 

Admire your optimism but there's more chance of Faes winning the Ballon D'or

[jammie82uk]

11 minutes ago, sharpylcfc said:

You know how Top got booted or voted out of control of King Power by the board there, can this happen here?

He moved from CEO to Executive Chairman? 

[sharpylcfc]

5 minutes ago, jammie82uk said:

Just keeping up appearances 

Very much doubt the club would have her turn up to meetings that she no longer has reason to if she doesn't work for the club.

[sharpylcfc]

1 minute ago, jammie82uk said:

He moved from CEO to Executive Chairman? 

I thought someone in here said he got voted out by the board at King Power?

[Raj]

People who think this is good and will make positive changes are unfortunately deluded.

All it means is that team Rudkin has won and his ars& likcking has reaped him rewards.

It will be more power for people who don't know how to run a football club, who have no respect from their peers and couldn't run a Greggs if it was on the busiest high street in London.

Kuhn Vichai had Whelan as his number 2 in his successful businesses for a reason.

Top has Rudkin running around for him- You make your own mind up if this is a positive step.

 

Sinking ship im afraid.....

 

 

[urban.spaceman]

44 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

No need to mock it up. 

 

Kinell Foxton Locks has changed a bit!

[Tommy G]

2 minutes ago, Raj said:

People who think this is good and will make positive changes are unfortunately deluded.

All it means is that team Rudkin has won and his ars& likcking has reaped him rewards.

It will be more power for people who don't know how to run a football club, who have no respect from their peers and couldn't run a Greggs if it was on the busiest high street in London.

Kuhn Vichai had Whelan as his number 2 in his successful businesses for a reason.

Top has Rudkin running around for him- You make your own mind up if this is a positive step.

 

Sinking ship im afraid.....

 

 

Well summarised. 

[dmayne7]

59 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Go and get Paul Barber from Brighton. Pay what it takes(compensation wise)

 

Mentioned it on here before. Anyone wondering why watch the High performance podcast with him - available on YouTube. 

 

Paid money on utter shit for years pay him what it takes(within reason) get this rebuilt started. 

And we think the owners/leadership team live in cuckoo land?! Why an earth would he come here?

[Tommy Fresh]

18 minutes ago, Ashley said:

New challenge? Bigger club, foundations there to actually become a challenging club again. 

 

Best TG(arguably) in the World. Exciting plans(not likely to take place soon) for expanding the ground and surrounding areas. Itd take a year or two but why not. 

Tony Bloom with his moneyball model or Top and Rudkin .....

[dmayne7]

1 hour ago, PlasticFantastic said:

Rudkin to CEO might not be the worst, can bring in a new DOF then

With Rudkin still calling the shots? A guy with a footballing background and not a business one. Would be absolutely disastrous

[Tommy G]

2 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

With Rudkin still calling the shots? A guy with a footballing background and not a business one. Would be absolutely disastrous

Generous

[foxfanazer]

Ding dong the witch has gone 

 

Seems like a perfect time for Rudders to **** off too

[bmt]

20 minutes ago, GLC said:

The failure to find a suitable replacement for KBET, leaving a significant hole in our revenue for the season led to more tension between her and Top

It seems that she jumped before she was pushed

The lack of a replacement on this is genuinely astounding to be fair. 

[wurmer]

One down, two to go.

[Sean2000]

1 hour ago, ramboacdc said:

 

Its mad that a CEO may have left because they didn't get on with a director. Surely CEO is a higher rank and it's a case of her getting rid of him. Unless Top didn't want to lose his polo pal and overrulled her? 

There seems to be a misunderstanding of how the club hierarchy works at LCFC. The DoF does not and never has reported the the CEO. He reports directly to the chairman, as does the CEO. They are equals rather than boss and subordinate. That means two things 1) she couldn't fire him and 2) she had no responsibility for footballing matters. Her role was strategic with responsibility for commercial and financial matters. 

 

It's always puzzled me why she gets stick. What happens on the footballing side is something she had no control over, or responsibility for. Financially, it was relegation #1 that sunk the ship. We lost £30m in merit payments that season, and missed PSR as a result by £29m. That is all on one man IMO - Rodgers. No competent manager gets us relegated with the squad we had in 2022/23. Rudkin's responsibly was giving him that stupidly expensive deal and not sacking him quickly enough. I also think that Rodgers (and other managers subsequently) had too much influence over transfers - leading to us over paying for players we subsequently didn't want. 

 

Whelan can be criticised for the BC Game deal but, if it was the best deal on the table at the time it's perhaps unfair, especially after the fact. Most football clubs are sponsored by betting companies and she's responsible for getting as much money in the door as she can. We'd all complain if she left millions on the table and then put up ticket prices to balance the books. And if she didn't get on with Rudkin, that's another factor in the plus column for me. 

 

I suspect she was the one keeping a rocking ship on the right path. In time, this may prove to be a really bad departure; and she won't be short of job offers. 

 

Edited 2 October 2025 by Sean2000

[Dan]

1 hour ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

Great news that she is gone.

 

incredibly bad news that Top steps up as CEO in the interim.

 

the choice of Rudkin and Susan. Honestly and mods, this is not an insult or anything. This is a genuine question. In case anyone knows. 

Serious question: This loyalty to Rudkin, is Top ****ing him ? No jokes. Like, are they lovers ?

 

 

He must have serious dirt. There's no other explanation.

[nettle]

9 minutes ago, sharpylcfc said:

I thought someone in here said he got voted out by the board at King Power?

Didn't he get voted out so he could spend more time running the mighty foxes with his best mate and to take us back to the promise land?

[Sean2000]

29 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

power struggle between an actual businesswoman and a jumped up youth coach leading to the businesswoman leaving is pure Leicester. Like she's not done a great job in the last couple of years but if you're getting rid of one of the two it has to be Rudkin.

 

Still, step forward new CEO Ron Judkin

Spot on. 

[sharpylcfc]

8 minutes ago, nettle said:

Didn't he get voted out so he could spend more time running the mighty foxes with his best mate and to take us back to the promise land?

The promise land of the championship and league 1 in a couple of years if we don't go straight back up.

[sharpylcfc]

1 hour ago, moore_94 said:

https://www.lcfc.com/pages/en/media-article/leicester-city-lcfc-susan-whelan-chief-executive-ceo-departs

 

Susan Whelan: Chief Executive To Depart LCFC
 

Leicester City Football Club announces that Susan Whelan has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer after 15 years of dedicated service.

 

Susan joined the Club’s Board of Directors following King Power’s acquisition in 2010 and was appointed Chief Executive a year later. Over the course of her tenure, she played a key role in supporting the Club’s operations and long-term vision, contributing to some of the most memorable moments in Leicester City’s history. In that period, the Club rose from the EFL Championship to become Premier League champions in 2016 and FA Cup and Community Shield winners in 2021. The Club also secured its three highest Premier League finishes, resulting in three European campaigns that included a run to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2017 and the semi-finals of the UEFA Conference League in 2022. 

 

Her leadership also supported the Club’s commercial growth and infrastructure development, including the delivery of the Club’s state-of-the-art training ground in Seagrave, the master planning of the King Power Stadium expansion project, and the integration of LCFC Women into the Club’s core operations. She contributed to shaping the Club’s long-term strategy for the women’s game across Leicestershire.

 

Susan also helped strengthen Leicester City’s role in the community. As a trustee of both the Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation and Leicester City in the Community, she supported initiatives that improved lives across the region through sport, education, and social inclusion.

 

Leicester City Football Club expresses its sincere gratitude to Susan for her leadership, professionalism, and unwavering commitment over the past 15 years.

 

In the interim, Leicester City Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha will assume the role of acting Chief Executive Officer, ensuring continuity in leadership.

 

Senior representatives from the Club will meet with its Fan Advisory Board, which includes representation from the Foxes Trust, in due course to ensure continuity in our commitments to fan engagement.

Funny how this is mentioned and we've not heard anything about it for about 3 years though. 

[jammie82uk]

31 minutes ago, sharpylcfc said:

I thought someone in here said he got voted out by the board at King Power?

https://corporate.kingpower.com/en/executives/

[Pita]

3 minutes ago, sharpylcfc said:

The promise land of the championship and league 1 in a couple of years if we don't go straight back up.

With Rudkin in charge going up will be very difficult