Saints chairman White to step down at end of season

John White (left) first joined the Northampton board in 2012

Northampton Saints chairman John White is to step down at the end of the season after eight years in the role.

A former player for the club, he saw Saints win the Premiership title for the first time in a decade last season, beating Bath in the final at Twickenham.

"After a lot of careful consideration I believe this is the right time to move on," he said in a statement.

"The club is in great hands with our leadership team and commercial staff who continue to deliver strong growth year after year and, of course, our loyal supporter-base is second to none."

White, who replaced Tony Hewitt as chairman, said the Premiership success in 2024 was his proudest moment in 13 years since first joining the board.

Reflecting on his time at the club he added: "I am also extremely proud about the way we negotiated the pandemic, and how we have developed so many homegrown players from within our academy system over the last few years – seeing several of those individuals also go on to become full and age-grade internationals has been extremely rewarding."

Northampton have found things tougher in the league this season and are currently eighth in the table with five wins from their 13 games so far.

But they are the only English side still involved in the European Champions Cup and victory over French side Castres on Saturday would put them into the semi-finals for the second year in a row.

"The club has been extremely fortunate to have someone of John's calibre in place as chairman for the last eight seasons," said chief executive Julia Chapman.

"Having played for Saints himself, John has combined his knowledge and love of rugby with a lifetime of experience at the most senior levels in the world of business, and he has expertly steered the club's board through many highs and lows during his chairmanship.

"Personally, I am very grateful for the support he has given me over the last six months in particular, as I transitioned into my new role as chief executive."