World Cup chief Jon Dutton reveals how close he came to walking away following postponement

Dutton had spent six years laying the groundwork for the biggest and best World Cup in 2021 only to see his hard work and dedication flounder when Australia and New Zealand refused to take part, citing safety fears on the back of the pandemic.

Dutton and his team agonised before finally taking the decision to postpone and that sparked a flurry of activity as they began to reconstruct the tournament.

The chief executive lost 60 per cent of his team and thought long and hard about his own position.

“I was planning my next career move like many other people,” Dutton told the PA news agency at the World Cup launch in Manchester.

“So that had to change direction but I think what kept me was my family and my passion for the sport.

"It would have been easy last August to say ‘I’ve done everything I can and it’s time to step away and let someone else do what we’ve done over the last 12 months’. I’m glad I didn’t and moments like today make that really special.”

Dutton rebuilt his team and started the task all over again, renegotiating 150 different agreements, refunding ticket money and redrawing the schedule.

The perseverance will pay off when a bumper crowd – set to top the 40,033 for the 2017 final between Australia and England in Brisbane – descend on Newcastle for the first of 61 matches across the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments that will run in tandem for the first time.

“It just shows that everything that happened last summer was worth fighting for,” Dutton said. “We were all due to finish our contracts at the end of last December and we lost 60 per cent of the workforce. Of course it was hard for many people.

“We lost some good people but got some great people in and re-created the senior leadership team and what we saw today is a passion to deliver something really special.

“It’s been hard personally but also for the team. We’ve got a really small team, especially compared to the Commonwealth Games and the Women’s football Euros.

“They are mainly young people, some of whom have never worked in sport before, but hopefully we can now enjoy some moments together. I think at St James’ Park on Saturday we are going to see a really special game. Hopefully that will carry us through to game 61.”

It will be a couple of months before Dutton can finally put his feet up and decide what comes next but in the meantime he is hoping to take in as much of the action as he can as a fan as well as tournament boss.

“My dad took me to my first game at Leigh in 1978 so I’ve spent 44 years watching my home-town team,” he said. “I’ve worked in many sports and this is a privilege. I think this is a special moment that won’t come around again very soon.

“I didn’t want to get to the end and have any regrets. That has been our mantra, especially in the dark days when it was really tough.”