Ian McMahon revealed as new chief executive of Professional Jockeys Association

Ian McMahon's non-racing background has been hailed as a positive after he was named as the Professional Jockeys Association's new chief executive on Monday.

A former professional footballer, McMahon replaces Paul Struthers, who stepped down in December just days after the conclusion of a disciplinary hearing involving Bryony Frost and Robbie Dunne, when the PJA's leadership was criticised for its handling of the case.

The appointment of a new chief executive is seen as key to repairing the reputational damage from the Frost-Dunne case.

McMahon, who officially starts on April 11, has worked in a variety of sports in Britain, the United States, South Africa and Hong Kong, having begun as a footballer with Oldham Athletic and Rochdale before injury curtailed his career at 21.

Josh Apiafi: in charge of the PJA for two yearsCredit: Dan Abraham

For the last five years he has worked in the golf industry and most recently has managed the John Lewis Partnership golf operations.

That depth of experience was viewed as a massive plus by Josh Apiafi, who occupied the PJA role from 2007 until 2009 and is now a familiar face to television viewers through his work as a pundit on Sky Sports.

"I think it's positive getting more diverse thought," he said. "That's always welcome in racing and I'm sure he'll be able to bring some brand new energy and ideas from his previous roles into this one.

"He's got a great board around him and if you went in with the same experience as them you'd only be repeating it. He's going to bring in new expertise and can lean on his board and those senior jockeys around him when he needs to.

"I think the weighing room would be more open-minded to a non-racing person now than they were because they see themselves as athletes and saw themselves as jockeys back in the day.

"The Racecourse Association is run by David Armstrong, who came from rugby and [outgoing BHA chair] Annamarie Phelps came from rowing. It can only be good to have professional sports administrators, who – if the structure is good – know they'll be able to perform their job well."

Jockeys: the weighing room has a new leaderCredit: Edward Whitaker

Apiafi stressed the need for McMahon to communicate effectively with the weighing room and added: "We've got the ability to do that far better than when I was chief executive or before that John Blake and Michael Caulfield.

"The only way we could communicate as a whole was through a group text message sent by Weatherbys, but now we've got WhatsApp and Facebook groups, so there's an abundance of techniques he can access.

"That's why it was a surprise when there was the debate about the weights rising and people said they didn't know what the PJA was up to because you have got all those communication techniques. When I started in 2007, I think only 20 per cent of jockeys had an email address – that's how bad it was."

Representing racing's broad range of participants is another challenge for McMahon, who was not available for comment on Monday.

"How do you represent those at the top and those struggling to pay the mortgage equally and fairly?" Apiafi said. "Commercially the big guys draw the dollars in, but you've got to be responsible for them all."

McMahon, who impressed PJA chair Jon Holmes during the application process, said in a statement: "I am very excited to have been given this opportunity to work at the association and very much look forward to the challenge."

Paul Struthers: spent nearly ten years at the PJACredit: Edward Whitaker

Holmes said: "There was strong interest in the position from inside and outside the industry, and Ian was interviewed by several members of the board, who came to the unanimous decision that he had the experience and skillset to take the association forward at this important stage.

"He will work alongside Dale [Gibson], who has been a tower of strength in his role as interim CEO."

McMahon joins the organisation at a time when its stock has fallen and Frost said she was made to feel like "an inconvenience" by the PJA following her complaints about intimidation and threats from fellow jockey Dunne, who subsequently received an 18-month ban from the sport from an independent disciplinary panel. An appeal against the ban will be heard at the end of the month.

In the immediate aftermath of the verdict, the PJA issued a statement that said Frost "felt" bullied, a phrase also used by Holmes in an ITV interview, which led to headlines suggesting the jockeys' organisation had 'backed' Dunne.

The departed Struthers, at the helm for nearly ten years, subsequently agreed the organisation had been wrong to say Frost had "felt" bullied, rather than accepting that she had been.

Read more:

PJA upbeat as negotiations continue over 3lb weight allowance for jockeys

Paul Struthers to leave role as Professional Jockeys Association chief executive

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