There's an atmosphere that cannot be matched anywhere in the world, and that's what we must preserve."He confesses to being surprised and flattered at being asked to take over the chairmanship of Wembley National Stadium Ltd when Bates was relegated by an FA alarmed at escalating costs and embarrassed by the antagonism he had engendered at Government level. "I hope I've enjoyed the confidence of successive governments and ministers," says Sir Rodney. "Football people don't really know me other than occasional contact at Wembley meetings [he is an original member of the WNSL board] and through my chairmanship of Leicester City plc I don't attend FA or Premier League meetings. But I'd have been disappointed if I hadn't got a decent reputation in the City.
When the offer was made I thought about it over the weekend, discussed it with my wife Anne and weighed it up with the implications on some of the other jobs I do, one or two of which clearly will have to go. But I've still got to earn a living."A fraction of that (£36,705 a year) comes from his part-time role as head of UK Sport, which has just been extended for a further two years. This has seen Sir Rodney in charge of millions of pounds of Lottery funding for Britain's World Class Performance Programme, the setting-up of the UK Sports Institute and sport's drugs-buster-in-chief. The ultimate power player."Yes, I do feel I have influence and I know I can be pretty persuasive, but all this talk of power concerns me because I'm not sure what power is in sporting terms It is a very subjective thing I can't go to anyone in sport and say 'Do this or else'. But if I can help make a difference, I shall endeavour to do so."There can't be a busier man in Britain. His array of chairmanships stretches from the Rugby League (he first got into the sports business by helping to save his home-town club, Wakefield Trinity), Leicester City, Brands Hatch and West Yorkshire Broadcasting plc, to numerous NHS trusts and half-a-dozen charities.
He also holds more than 20 directorships and runs 11 companies, including one of the UK's leading computer-games manufacturers. The only time he bridles is at the suggestion that he is the last of the Thatcherites (he insists he is apolitical) and wears too many hats."I don't know why people keep saying this I simply manage my time well. Most of my chairmanships take up no more than six or seven days a year. My businesses all make money and I never feel I'm trying to do too much. In fact, I thrive on it, and believe me, no one gets short-changed."However, even the most committed workaholic would find it hard to keep pace with the 57-year-old ex-amateur rugby league forward and Yorkshire shot-put champion, a butcher's son who left school at 16, "worked in concrete", lost his job in 1969 and had a hand-to-mouth existence before helping to orchestrate the buy-out of amerchant bank.So what is the secret of his success? "Well, I do work hard, but I do delegate and I think I'm a good listener. Generally, I make decisions quickly but only after I've listened and given others the opportunity to have their say. Sometimes I think I actually do very little, but people say to me that having me there gives them the confidence to go out and do things I suppose I'm a problem- solver as much as anything.