Bristol Bears CEO heading to the exit - report
Long-serving Bristol Bears stalwart Mark Tainton is set to leave the Gallagher Premiership side – reportedly off the back of the gaffe which saw the club needing to offload players to remain under the salary.
The Daily Mail report that Tainton – the former interim head coach and current chief executive officer – is being held accountable for the error that has seen a slew of players heading to the exit as Bristol look to remain under the new Premiership salary cap.
Big-name players like Dave Attwood, John Afoa, Nathan Hughes and Alapati Leiua are departing the club this season.
It was reported that the club missed a deadline to offload a total of six players, a backstop which meant a year extension on their contracts kicked in.
It’s been a difficult season for the West country outfit, who currently sit 10th in the Premiership, a league which topped in the regular season just one year ago.
The former fly-half spent twelve years as a technical coach with Ireland and served as interim Head Coach during the second half of the 2016/17 Premiership campaign.
In 2017, Tainton took over as Chief Operating Officer and played a leading role in the successful rebrand to the Bristol Bears.
Ahead of the 2019/20 campaign Tainton was appointed Chief Executive Officer.