Simon Paul Clegg

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 11 August 1959) is a British sports businessmen. He has been Chief Executive of the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It is responsible for organising and overseeing the participation of athletes from the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, at both ...

, a Championship Football Club and a

European Youth Olympic Festival The European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) is a biennial multi-sport event for youth (14 to 18 years old) athletes from the 50 member countries of the association of European Olympic Committees. The festival has a summer edition, held for the fir ...

. He was Chief Operating Officer of the inaugural 2015 European Games in Baku and also managed the British Biathlon Team and Team GB athletes at twelve Summer and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

. In addition he orchestrated the national political and PR campaigns to persuade the Government and Mayor of London to bid for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Early life

Simon Clegg was born in Harlington,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

and grew up in Godalming, Surrey and attended Stowe School in Buckingham. He spent two years as a trainee

Quantity surveyor A quantity surveyor (QS) is a construction industry professional with expert knowledge on construction costs and contracts. Qualified professional quantity surveyors are known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in the UK and Ce ...

in Guildford and joined the Parachute Regiment as a territorial soldier. After two years later and a short period as a regular soldier in the Parachute Regiment he passed the selection process for entry into the

Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town ...

. He was commissioned in 1981 into the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and posted to 94th Locating Regiment in Celle, West Germany. After three seasons as a competitive cross country skier and biathlete he was in seconded for 12 months to the British Ski Federation. On his return to the Army he was selected to join the Royal Horse Artillery and in 1988 at the age of 28 completed the final year of his Short Service Commission by commanding a Battery in 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery.

British Biathlon Team

On secondment from the Army Clegg managed the British Biathlon Team for the 1984/85 season and was involved in World Cup races in Belarus and East Germany and a world championship event in

Ruhpolding Ruhpolding is the municipality with the biggest area of the Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps and next to the Austrian border. Ruhpolding has a biathlon track. ...

(West Germany). On returning to the Army in 1985 he was appointed part-time Manager of the National Development squad. Clegg was nominated by the British Ski Federation to be the

's Team Quartermaster for the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary, Subsequently was asked to manage the sole British ski jumper Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards. He undertook a similar role as Team GB's Quartermaster at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

British Olympic Association

On leaving the Army in 1989 Clegg joined the British Olympic Association as Assistant General Secretary becoming Deputy General Secretary two years later and in 1997 became the organisation's first Chief Executive. In 1990, he was seconded to help manage the IOC Session in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and in 1995 was Chief Executive of the

in Bath, the largest international multi-sport youth event ever staged in the UK, involving 48 countries, 10 sports and 2600 athletes. In total Clegg managed Team GB athletes at twelve Olympic and Olympic Winter Games, six as Team GB's Chef de Mission including Salt Lake City (Team GB's most successful Olympic Winter Games since 1936) and Beijing (Team GB's most successful Olympic Games since London in 1908). In Beijing he achieved the aspirational target that he'd set for Team GB in London of fourth place in the medals table (for which he had been ridiculed in certain parts of the British media) four years early. During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Clegg controversially decided to take the

International Equestrian Federation The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abu ...

to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over a judging decision in the three-day event. The court found in favour of the British Team, who were supported in the action by France and the US, resulting in

Leslie Law Leslie Law MBE (born 5 May 1965) is a British eventer, who won the individual gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. He started riding at age 10, competing with his brother, and participated in his first accredited event in 1982. He attend ...

winning the gold medal,

Pippa Funnell Philippa Rachel "Pippa" Funnell MBE (née Nolan, 7 October 1968) is an equestrian sportswoman who competes in eventing. In 2003, she became the first person to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing (consecutive wins at Rolex Kentucky, Badmint ...

winning the bronze medal and the entire team being upgraded from bronze to silver medalists. These medals were presented by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen at the Team GB reception at Buckingham Palace after the Games.

2012 Olympic Games

Clegg was part of Manchester's failed bids for the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. In 1997 on his appointment as the British Olympic Association's Chief Executive he, together with his Chairman,

Craig Reedie Sir Craig Collins Reedie (born 6 May 1941) is a Scottish sports administrator, noteworthy as the former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, a former chairman of the British Olympic Association (1992–2005) and a vice-president of, and a ...

and Project Manager, David Luckes, set about exploring whether London could host an Olympic Games. Clegg orchestrated the political and PR campaigns which culminated in the announcement in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister that London would bid for 2012. Clegg handed the project over to the bid committee headed up initially by Barbara Cassani and then subsequently Seb Coe. He was a board member of the bid, one of three British signatories on the host city contract in Singapore and subsequently a board member of LOCOG until he resigned on leaving the British Olympic Association after the Beijing Olympic Games. Clegg was however invited by Lord Coe, the LOCOG Chairman, to retain his position on the LOCOG Sports Advisory Group where he remained until the closing ceremony. During the 2012 Olympic Games, Clegg was appointed as the official Olympic Attache for Guam.

Ipswich Town

Clegg was appointed Chief Executive of Ipswich Town in April 2009 replacing Derek Bowden and working directly with the club's owner Marcus Evans. One of his first tasks was to replace the manager, Jim Magilton with former Sunderland FC manager with Roy Keane on a two-year contract that was terminated on 7 January 2011. Paul Jewell replaced Keane until he resigned in October 2012 whereupon the former Wolves FC manager, Mick McCarthy was appointed with whom Clegg worked until he himself resigned in February 2013. It is reported that Clegg obstinately supported Liverpool FC in his childhood because his father was a Manchester United shareholder. From 2007- 2009 Clegg was a member of the Chelsea FC Advisory Board.

2015 European Games

In 2013, Clegg was appointed as the European Olympic Committee's Senior Consultant (subsequently Executive Director) for the European Games in Baku. In 2014, he replaced Jim Scherr as the Organising Committee's Chief Operating Officer and relocated to Azerbaijan. He led a team of 2,500 full-time staff, supported by 12,000 volunteers, to deliver an event with a global television audience of 823 million households in an unprecedented compressed timescale.

Honours/Awards

He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 for his management of Team GB at the 2000 Olympic Games (Team GB's most successful Olympic Games since 1920) and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for his contribution to the London Olympic bid. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan awarded Clegg the Dostlug Order in July 2015 for his contribution to the success of the inaugural European Games. In 2008, he was awarded the British Sports Journalists' JL Manning award for outstanding services off the field of play and in 2012 an Honorary Degree from University Campus Suffolk. In 2000, he was part of the BBC's Sports Personality Team of the Year award.