Robert Elstone Joins Truro City as Advisor to Revive Club
Robert Elstone, the former Everton chief executive and Super League boss, has stepped back into football with one of its more unlikely projects – an advisory role at National League South side Truro City.
Relegated from the National League last season, Truro are a long way from the bright lights of the Premier League boardroom where Elstone built his reputation. That, in part, is the appeal. A remote Cornish club with big ideas, trying to punch their way back up the pyramid, has drawn in a man who has spent almost two decades at the sharp end of British sport.
Elstone will work alongside the club’s leadership, offering strategic advice and support as Truro attempt to regroup and climb again. His arrival signals clear intent: this is not a club prepared to drift after the blow of relegation.
Elstone's Background
He knows the terrain. Elstone joined Everton as chief operating officer in 2005 and, four years later, took on the chief executive role at Goodison Park, overseeing a period of relative stability and regular top-half finishes in the Premier League. In 2018 he crossed codes, becoming executive chairman of Super League, England’s elite rugby league competition, where he stayed until 2021 before moving into advisory work with PwC.
Lower down the football ladder, his influence has already been felt. Elstone previously advised Stockport County during their National League days, a stint that preceded the club’s return to the English Football League. Truro will hope that experience of guiding an ambitious non-league outfit can be replicated in Cornwall.
Vision for Truro City
Speaking to the club’s website, Elstone praised what he has found behind the scenes at Truro. He highlighted the clarity of vision and determination within the senior management, not only for the first team but also for the club’s associated football charity. For a man who has operated at the highest level, he described the “uniqueness” of the Cornish club as compelling and pointed to what he sees as significant potential for success.
His remit will stretch across the club’s structure, from boardroom strategy to broader organisational development. The aim is simple: to turn that potential into a concrete route back up the divisions.
For Truro, marooned in the sixth tier but thinking bigger, the question now is not whether they have expertise in the building. It is how quickly they can turn Elstone’s experience into momentum on the pitch.
