Robert Elstone Takes Advisory Role at Truro City

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.

This is a man who once helped steer a Premier League club and then ran rugby league’s flagship competition. Now he is lending that experience to a Cornish team fighting to climb out of non-league’s second tier after relegation from the National League last season.

Elstone will work alongside Truro’s leadership, offering strategic advice as the club tries to regroup and reset. The remit is broad: support the board, sharpen the club’s direction and strengthen the foundations of both the first team and its associated football charity.

His CV carries weight. He arrived at Everton in 2005 as chief operating officer and, four years later, moved into the top job as chief executive. In 2018 he crossed codes, taking over as executive chairman of Super League, where he remained until 2021 before joining PwC as an advisor.

He also knows the terrain of non-league ambition. Elstone previously advised Stockport County during their National League days, a period that ended with the club reclaiming its place in the English Football League.

At Truro, the appeal is different, and clearly powerful. Speaking to the club’s website, Elstone praised the “clarity of vision and determination” he found in the senior management and highlighted what he called the “uniqueness” of the Cornish club. He talked of “huge potential for success” and of working across all levels of the setup to help realise those ambitions.

For a club trying to turn relegation into a springboard rather than a spiral, the arrival of a figure used to operating at the sharp end of English sport signals intent. Now the question is whether Truro can match the scale of his experience with progress on the pitch.