Hockey: Reading man given key job

HOCKEY'S CALL for a grass roots man with big business management skills appears to have been answered with the appointment yesterday of Richard Wyatt as the new chief executive of the English Hockey Association.

The 52-year-old manager of the Premier League club Reading, whose son Jonathan is a current England international and Atlanta Olympian, starts his new duties on 1 April.

Wyatt, a board member at British Aerospace Defence Systems who has travelled extensively, is well aware of the tasks ahead. "My first six months will be about understanding the inner workings of the game and talking to as many people as possible about the issues," he said.

His career in the game has included spells at Swindon, and Old Tauntonians, where he was also coach and chairman, an initial period at the Rustlers at Reading and Sydney's Northern Districts, where he also became coach.

He has been in charge of Reading for the past six years, during which time they have both won league and cup honours.

The EHA president, Monica Pickersgill, announcing the appointment yesterday, said: "We are delighted to welcome Richard to English hockey. We are especially pleased to be able to have found a chief executive with the calibre and experience to undertake a challenging role at this stage in the sport's history.

"He has a proven pedigree as a motivational team leader in a changing environment as well as being a skilled manager."