Charlotte Samuelson’s arrival as PREM Rugby chief operating officer gives English rugby’s top-flight a senior operator at the centre of its expansion push.
PREM Rugby confirmed Samuelson will carry executive responsibility for the newly formed Club Office, plus finance, HR and business transformation. That makes this more than a routine appointment: it places a former World Rugby COO directly into the league’s machinery as the Gallagher PREM tries to turn its wider growth plan into something workable.
We are pleased to announce the arrival of Charlotte Samuelson as Chief Operating Officer @premrugby.
— Jonny Fordham (@JonnyBFordham) June 24, 2026
Why the appointment matters
The Club Office brief is the sharp edge. Samuelson is set to work with the 10 Gallagher PREM clubs, the RFU, the Championship board and Premiership Women’s Rugby, tying her role directly to the expansion league agreement announced earlier this year.
Her World Rugby record is the obvious calling card. The governing body said in January that Samuelson had helped reshape its business model, build its Global Services division and support a new Rugby World Cup delivery model. She also served on the boards of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027.
For a competition trying to grow beyond a narrow club calendar, the appointment signals a boardroom priority: operational control, stakeholder alignment and cleaner delivery. It also lands at a point when rugby’s new global calendar is already putting extra pressure on domestic structures, as covered in our Nations Championship analysis.
PREM Rugby chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor described Samuelson as an operator with a track record at the highest level. The harder test starts now: turning that CV into visible progress for clubs, partners and supporters.
