Ian Mather is the calm hand on the tiller putting Cambridge United on the path to success
Ian Mather has never been afraid of making difficult decisions.
It has been a trait that has been prominent throughout his professional career as a solicitor, and evidenced in his role as Cambridge United chief executive officer.
The characteristic, though, goes back far further and was to the fore when Mather was just four, and choosing Manchester United as his football team.
“I was brought up in a Manchester City household. My dad was a city fan, my brothers were City fans, my uncles were City fans, and I started to say I was a United fan, to be awkward,” he explains.
“There came a point where my mum said she was going to buy some wool to knit a scarf and was it red wool or blue wool, and the four-year-old Ian said red wool, and I was stuck then – and I’ve been stuck with them ever since, which was a good choice at four.”
The most immediate question has to be whether that ‘awkwardness’ was just a phase, or something that has also followed into adult life?
“I think there is an element that has carried on, being willing to challenge and not just accept what is there. I think there is definitely that in me throughout,” says Mather.
We are talking at the Abbey Stadium on the eve of Cambridge United’s first campaign in League One in 19 years, and at a time when the club is in its best position for decades.
Mather has been the steady and calm hand on the tiller during much of the evolution of the past two years, acting as the brilliant conduit between the day-to-day operations on the ground and the board and owners.
It is definitely not how he initially saw retirement after 36 years in the legal profession, but with that business acumen coupled with a passion for football, there is a degree of serendipity that when United needed a chief executive, Mather was available.
He grew up in Manchester in the halcyon days of the late 1960s and early 1970s for United and City.
It was sibling rivalry, particularly with his older brother by two-and-a-half years – he has two older brothers and a sister – that drove Mather to be contrary to his family and side with Manchester United.
“My dad thought it was a bit odd, but he was really brilliant at just letting kids get on with their lives, and being supportive. He was just pleased I was interested in football,” says Mather, but he adds: “My mum just dreaded a derby, and prayed for a draw!”
Growing up they would split their time from going to Old Trafford one week, and Maine Road the next.
Without hesitation Mather can rattle off the scorers for Manchester United in their 1968 European Cup final win over Benfica. “Charlton, Best, Kidd and Charlton scored in that order, played in blue,” he says.
“It gets under your skin. I guess I chose a team that was really on a high, but I didn’t choose them at that time that I knew they were going to be on that high – it was just for a scarf!”
As much as Mather was a football fan, and played socially with friends, in school he competed in rugby union.
Talking about the nuances of the game, it is telling that the 11-year-old found his way to scrum-half, arguably the key decision-making position.
“I think they thought I had the skills to do it, quick hands, probably wasn’t the biggest and too small to be in the forwards,” says Mather, adding it “is the most interesting position on the pitch because you are in the middle of it all the time.”
There is an unmistakable theme that develops early on in our conversation – and emerges time and again – and that is one of decision making.
“I certainly have, throughout my life post 11 years old, been in leadership positions quite a lot, and a decision-making position quite a lot,” he explains.
“I think it’s one thing that anyone in a leadership role has to be prepared to do, to make difficult decisions because otherwise you go around in circles.
“You don’t always make the right decision. Nobody can claim in life to have made every decision right but you get further and faster if you are prepared to make decisions, and accept occasionally that some won’t be perfect.”
The choice to pursue a career in law was not immediate though.
Mather, who had a spell in North Yorkshire in the police, first read economics at the University of York and it was while writing an essay with a legal element to it that his interest was piqued.
“I was at home in Manchester and the book I wanted was in the law library at Manchester University and I walked into the library, and I liked the atmosphere,” he explains.
“It sparked something in my head that said, ‘this actually could be quite an interesting career’ and I started analysing what I thought I was good at and law seemed to fit. The more I looked, the more it seemed like an obvious thing to do.”
After studying law at Northumbria University, Mather relocated to Cambridge in 1982 to become a trainee solicitor at Palmer Wheeldon, qualifying in 1984 and becoming managing partner by the age of 34.
They merged with Eversheds in 1998, and he became senior partner leading the employment practice, before leaving in 2011 to join Mills & Reeve as partner in the employment team and heading the Cambridge office. So just what was the appeal of law?
“It’s a very interesting career to work in, and actually one of the nice things about being a lawyer is that you are central to what is going on,” he says.
“We don’t make the decisions, you advise the clients on the course of action that is best for them.
“I always thought lawyers divide into two types.
“There are ones who love the puzzle and pick it apart, and the others who can actually give advice and that’s really understanding where the client wants to be and find the best route to get them there.
“The other side of the law was the management. I did management roles from an early stage. The thing about that is making change happen, and developing and growing the business.”
It was not constrained to law though. Mather served as chairman of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce for two years, chaired the management board of the Cambridge & Peterborough Independent Economic Review, was chairman of Cambridge Ahead for nearly five years, and has been the chairman of the Cambridge Arts Theatre for 10 years.
Another role was trustee of the Cambridge United Community Trust since July 2016, and meant that within a day of Mather retiring from Mills & Reeve in 2018, Shaun Grady was on the phone with an invite to join the U’s board.
“A bit like Dion Dublin said recently, I didn’t have to think about it for a second, it was a yes,” says Mather, whose connection to the club goes back to the 1980s when his training principle as a trainee, John Wheeldon, was former United chairman Reg Smart’s solicitor.
“I really respected the people who were involved in the club and I thought that if I could help make a difference and add something then I wanted to be part of it.”
After the need for a chief executive had been identified, he took on the task in July 2019, initially on an interim basis but nobody could have predicted what was to follow in March 2020 with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There was no way I could up sticks then because we had a lot more to see through,” says Mather.
The challenges included football’s finances, contributing to League Two clubs’ decision to end the season early for the first time since the Second World War, salary and squad caps, getting supporters back in stadiums and working with the team of Ian Darler and Andy Beattie to assist the EFL and Movement Strategies on the safe flow of fans around grounds.
“You were swimming against the tide, but just making something happen,” he says.
When you talk to Mather, there is a real sense that he wants to help make a difference, be it not just for the U’s but the broader game.
The club became a founder member of Fair Game, which believes English football should be reformed based around four principles – sustainability, integrity, transparency and community – and Mather spoke about it at a special meeting at the House of Commons.
It is clear in conversation that this relationship with sport as a whole, and football in particular, was formed in those formative years, including when choosing Manchester United over Manchester City.
The joy of sport has been passed on to his daughters, two of whom competed in national championships as gymnasts while a third has run the London Marathon.
“I think sport teaches you a lot of things, doesn’t it? It teaches you how to deal with disappointment, because you are not always going to win,” says Mather.
“As a child I would be very, very grumpy, now I’m just grumpy!”
That may be so, but you would never get that sense from the U’s chief executive who has clearly made a big impact at the Abbey.
Collective effort at Cambridge United reaps rewards
Ian Mather has been delighted to see Cambridge United’s efforts off the pitch translate to success on it.
Having taken over as chief executive on an interim basis in July 2019, no-one could have predicted what was to follow which, in a football sense, was ultimately the U’s getting promoted to League One.
The need for the role had been identified, and when Mather reflects on the biggest challenge since taking over, it was relatively straightforward.
“I think it was getting a brilliant group of people working better together than they were before,” he explains.
“There are loads of talented people here, and there were at the time, but it wasn’t particularly working as a unit.
“Actually, that was a relatively easy fix by getting them to talk to each other more and just giving a sense of common purpose.
“I think we are now in a position where everyone is aligned and I think that helped us definitely in the last season.
“We could make decisions more quickly because we all want the same thing and all have a similar view of what we hope to achieve.”
Mather believes that the biggest success is something that is not particularly visible.
It relates to providing the football side of the business with the resources they need to deliver, such as the protocols required to manage the restrictions caused by the pandemic and getting things like a marquee at the training ground.
“I think it’s efforts off the pitch translate to on the pitch,” says Mather. “It’s that degree of organisation which off the pitch helped Mark (Bonner) on the pitch.”
But what are the biggest challenges for the future?
“I think it’s maintaining that sense of cohesion that we are all working together for one aim,” he explains.
“We have to have a successful business to support a successful football club.
“There is no point in having a successful team, but if the business can no longer support it then there lies ruin going forward.
“You have to have the two working together.”
As for the most enjoyable thing about being chief executive, it is an easy answer.
“I think it’s seeing the club come together and being a really friendly place to be where people really enjoy their work, and it shows through with enthusiasm,” adds Mather.
“That’s a buzz to see that.”
