Jack Sullivan grins. After a long, impassioned monologue about the future of women’s football, the 20-year-old managing director of West Ham Women is facing a curveball of a question: what’s the bigger goal, sustainability or a trophy? “Ideally, I’d like both,” he says with a laugh. “But I won’t be greedy. I’m hoping over the next year, or next two years, they can both be achieved.
“I wouldn’t want to judge them against each other. But I do think it’s incredibly important that we grow sustainably. The last thing we want to see is the game growing too quickly and then not being able to to keep up with itself.”
How far are West Ham Women from achieving that goal? “We’re not super close, but we’re not super far,” he teases. “It’s great to have the support from your men’s team. If men’s teams want to invest? By all means, brilliant, 100%, please do it. If we can be self-sustainable and get topped up by the men’s team a little bit then we can look and really start to use the extra money wisely.
“More money coming into the game has a snowball effect. If there’s more money being drawn in, we can spend more money on advertising, on this, on that.”
When Sullivan took charge in 2017 and oversaw the club’s successful bid to swap the third tier for the Women’s Super League, he had to face doubts about the teenage son of West Ham co-owner David running a women’s football team.
On first meeting Sullivan, in the buildup to the team’s first Women’s FA Cup final, which they would lose 3-0 to Manchester City, it was hard not to be charmed by the youthful enthusiasm of the then 19-year-old. Before that interview, a member of staff at the FA said the young boss was a “breath of fresh air”. “I was very bullish,” Sullivan says now, with a grin. “I knew the way I wanted to do things and it wasn’t always the right decision.”
Now, he is a little more polished, much more the pragmatic partner in building the women’s game. So when asked whether he looks at the return of the Bundesliga and the NWSL Challenge Cup in the US and has any regrets about the truncated WSL season he is quick to praise. “Firstly, I think hats off to everyone at the FA because they were really open with us. We had weekly dialogue and they have listened to the clubs. We all, ideally, wanted to finish, to play the games, but I think in reality, it’s probably the best and the most pragmatic decision to finish the season as we did.
“Germany and America are in very different stages of the pandemic, Germany especially, they’re a lot further ahead than we are. So I think you have to look at it differently.”
He has one misgiving. “I feel heartbroken for Liverpool,” he says of the club who were denied a chance to save themselves from relegation. “It was the correct decision to finish the league but, for me, and I’ve said this to the FA as well, I’m not sure it’s the correct decision that Liverpool went down. A lot can happen in football, we’re in a climate where a lot can change in a short period of time. So I just think for them to go down with such a small number of games played is tough.”
Now, his attentions are on 2020-21. “Next season is a huge, huge year for us, the TV rights deal will be up at the end of it and it’s a huge opportunity for us to sell the league on and off the pitch.”
The enforced break has also given West Ham time to focus on the bigger picture. “It doesn’t always feel like it is, but it is supposed to be a hobby,” reflects Sullivan. A hobby that wields power they have tried to use for good during lockdown. As part of the Hammers at Home campaign, club chefs have posted recipes and made phone calls to fans over 70. With their partners they have supported the local domestic abuse charities Refuge and Hestia. Partnering with two NHS trusts, they have run giveaways and fundraisers.
“Aqua British, our water sponsor, are donating a percentage of every bottle sold to the West Ham Foundation,” adds Sullivan. “Their bottles are 100% biodegradable and for every bottle sold they plant a tree as well. It’s not just financial sustainability that matters now. Across West Ham and at London Stadium zero waste goes to landfill.”
On the pitch, West Ham perhaps overachieved in their first year in the top flight by coming seventh in the league and reaching the Cup final. This time, they finished eighth. It has been a bit of a stand-still year. “We’re a bit disappointed, we always want to do better, but then again you sit there and remember that this was only our second season.
“It’s also not only us investing more into the women’s game. Everyone’s investing all the time. So we’re in a constant race, which ultimately is what you want to see.”