Scottish Rugby appoints Gemma Fay as first Managing Director of Women’s Rugby

In the newly created position, Fay will lead the continued expansion and professionalisation of women’s rugby in Scotland to ensure sustainable success from grassroots through to the elite programmes. The key areas of responsibility for this role are strategic development, commercialisation, and financial budget management.

She will work closely with Performance Director David Nucifora, newly appointed Head of Women’s Performance and Pathways Andy Rhys Jones, and Chief Customer Officer Olaf Gueldner. Fay will also join the Scottish Rugby Senior Leadership Team, the first time the women’s game is represented as its own business area at that level, reflecting its position as a central pillar of Scottish Rugby’s long-term strategy.

As Managing Director, Fay will continue to represent Scotland’s interests at the highest level of the women’s global game.  In her role as a World Rugby Council Member, she played a pivotal role in shaping the future direction of women’s rugby worldwide, most notably contributing to the establishment and evolution of the WXV global competition structure. She also serves as Chair of the Women’s Committee at Rugby Europe, further extending Scottish Rugby’s influence in advancing the women’s game internationally.

A former Scotland international footballer and record appearance holder with 203 caps, Fay brings a wealth of experience in elite sport and leadership to the role. Since joining Scottish Rugby in 2018, she has been instrumental in transforming the landscape for women and girls across both the community game, into high-performance rugby while also driving strategic change at a global level.

Fay first joined Scottish Rugby as Head of Women & Girls’ Rugby, before being appointed Head of Women’s Performance, where she successfully oversaw Scotland’s qualification for the country’s first-ever Commonwealth Games appearance in 2022 and its first Rugby World Cup in 12 years.

In her subsequent role as Head of Women & Girls’ Strategy, Fay has been at the forefront of delivering one of the most significant periods of growth in the history of the women’s game in Scotland. Since the establishment of the Women’s and Girls’ Strategy, registered female player numbers have risen from 6,173 to over 9,800, surpassing Scottish Rugby’s original 2026 target two years ahead of schedule and 73 clubs now field women’s teams across the country, reflecting unprecedented participation growth.

In addition to this, the Celtic Challenge competition was established, creating a vital performance bridge between domestic rugby and the international stage. This has since led to the creation of Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors women’s teams marked a major milestone in the evolution of the women’s high-performance pathway.

The strategy also delivered the first full-time professional contracts to 28 players back in 2022, and seen record-attendances at Scotland Women’s matches, selling-out Hive Stadium for the first time in the 2024 Six Nations.

Gemma Fay, said: “I feel incredibly proud to have spent the past seven years working with such a passionate and dedicated community, both within Scottish Rugby and across the wider game. The progress we’ve made collectively has been wonderful – but I truly believe that there is so much more potential still to unlock.  Throughout the recruitment process it was clear that mine and Scottish Rugby’s ambition for the women’s game in Scotland were aligned.

“This role represents an exciting opportunity to build on the strong foundations we’ve established, to continue driving performance, participation and commercial investment in the game to ensure women’s rugby in Scotland is recognised as a world-class model of growth, sustainability, and success.”

Scottish Rugby Chief Executive, Alex Williamson, said: “Our commitment to the success of the women and girls’ game remains undiminished and Gemma’s appointment is itself an important landmark as our first Managing Director of the women’s game.

“The speed of growth locally, and internationally, has required us to put a robust infrastructure in place to ensure the female game can continue to grow both through increased participation and high performance success and as a business in its own right that can attract investment, contribute to our strategy and ensure Scotland plays a central role in shaping the future direction of the game.

“I’m looking forward to Gemma joining the senior leadership team and building on her impressive work in this area.”

Hear from Gemma Fay