BEING the chief executive of a rugby league club is not exactly an easy profession.
A number of important roles to determine the success both on and off the field makes the position one to constantly stress about.
And for former Castleford Tigers CEO, Steve Gill, it was a position in which he faced a number of demons – as well as one major regret.
“I went through a tough place mentally early on and I probably regret being as open as I was,” Gill told League Express.
“I kind of regretted it, I was open and honest about how I was feeling and I got quite a lot of help off sporting chance with Colin Bland who is the CEO of the organisation and of course the late great Jack and Bridie Fulton.
“I had – and still have – a real passion for the club, and I had some really proud moments at the club.
“I’ve grown up being a ball boy, scoreboard attendant, under-17s coach, under-18s coach, scholarship coach, first-team assistant coach under the big man Dave Woods, head of youth development and finally CEO. I was so proud and to be able to talk about and represent the club it was like a dream come true.
“But when you show a weakness, there’s always someone who wants to exploit it for their own ends. It taught me so much on the value of family and life and what’s important in how you go about things.:
Gill believes that the current set-up at The Jungle needs to be tweaked to make it work.
“I still believe the club has got the potential to get back to the heady days of 2017, after all they have the best fans in Super League in my opinion.
“I was proud of the way we increased our attendances and made the old girl a place where we were all proud to come on any given Sunday and I loved talking to the fans before and after the game.
“The Jungle was our home and people paid good hard-earned money to be entertained and that’s what drove us to be successful and I valued each and every one of them.
“I sense a fair bit of toxicity currently with the fans and the club at the moment and I feel a certain amount of nervousness where the team is in the league. I’d hate to see us go back into the Championship as it could be very serious for the club financially and nobody wants to see that .
Would Gill ever contemplate a return to Castleford or elsewhere in rugby league?
“I’m 63 now, I’ve got other things I want to do. I enjoy the other side of life; it might seem a strange statement but when you’re faced with the problems we had in 2013 nobody wanted to be involved with the running of the club, but as soon as there’s success – you know the rest.
“I want to spend time with my family. My mum and dad are in the latter stages of their lives so I need to be there for them so I don’t have any regrets.
“There are things that are more important to me now. I believe I served the club well in the years I spent there but that’s in the past so the answer would be a definite no.”