Mark Cartwright is a Welsh sporting director and former professional goalkeeper who has emerged as one of the most influential executives shaping modern football infrastructure in both Europe and the United States. He has experienced the game from every angle as a player, agent, Technical Director in the Premier League with Stoke City, Chief Sporting Director for the United Soccer League (USL), and most recently, Sporting Director at Huddersfield Town. Cartwright is known for transforming recruitment structures, embedding high-performance cultures, and redefining how clubs create value through talent development.
Capped at U21 level for Wales and a former Division Three title-winner with Brighton & Hove Albion, Cartwright transitioned off the pitch into agency, successfully negotiating contracts and transfers before being appointed Technical Director at Stoke City in 2012. There, he reduced transfer spending by 96% while increasing the squad’s asset value by more than 300%, helping the club secure multiple top-nine Premier League finishes.
In 2021, he became the first-ever Chief Sporting Director in USL history, where he implemented a new transfer ecosystem that resulted in record-breaking fees, a six-fold rise in sustainable transfer revenue, and a landmark wave of USL talent moving to MLS and European clubs.
Recognised by FIFA, The FA, and the UAE Pro League as a consultant and mentor to executives around the world, Mark Cartwright is widely regarded as a modern sporting director who blends negotiation expertise, elite recruitment models, and a people-first approach to leadership.
Our Exclusive Interview with Mark Cartwright
Personal & Leadership Philosophy
Family and friends, I have a wonderfully supportive wife and two amazing children.
Who is Mark Cartwright outside of football, and what keeps you grounded away from the pressures of the game?
Family and friends, I have a wonderfully supportive wife and two amazing children, they understand the stresses of the game and my focus here is to make sure we all laugh and enjoy our time together. To clear my head, I find walking and working out helps me find the clarity I need away from the game. And of course, a good group of friends that come from different angles of life that can share love and laughter. I’m blessed in this department having lived in the US and UK and journeyed around Europe I have a diverse array of friends and confidants both home and abroad that can share a variety of discussions and perspectives and I can lean on for advice.
You’ve seen football from almost every angle as a player, agent, Technical Director, league executive and now Sporting Director. How has that shaped your view of leadership in football?
I’ve been incredibly lucky to have not only worked with but also met and befriended many inspiration leaders in the world of football, from that angle I have been able to absorb all manners of high performing leadership and along with my personal values and skills, I’ve developed my own style that has helped me throughout my journey
What personal values have anchored you through each transition in your career?
Hard work, a never give up attitude, I was told on my 17th birthday I would never play football again but through sheer hard work and tenacity I managed a 10-year professional career, I took this into the next stages of my career. Honesty and humility.
From Goalkeeper to Deal Maker
You went from earning a scholarship in the U.S. and playing professionally to becoming a licensed agent. What lessons from your playing days helped you most during negotiations and talent representation?
As a player that had always negotiated his own contracts, I knew the importance of preparation, planning and even manipulating the conversation so that what the manager said was exactly what I had wanted him to say.
As an agent, what did you learn about the human side of transfers that sporting directors sometimes overlook?
I know the tricks of the trade on the agency side, so I have always been able to “call people out” when I knew they weren’t correct, but always in a manner where they knew it was because I was “poacher turned gamekeeper”. It helps that I can see and understand their viewpoints and be able to either agree or disagree in a productive manner. I also believe that the majority of Sporting Directors won’t fully understand the relationship an agent has with their players and families and that it goes far beyond just doing a deal, therefore you need to use your emotional intelligence and be considerate of how deep this goes for the player and his family.
Stoke City Era: Reducing Spend, Increasing Value
I built a very good recruitment department with key personnel who I can proudly say moved on to bigger and better positions.
During your time at Stoke City, you reduced transfer spending dramatically while increasing squad value by over 300%. What were the key principles behind that strategy?
I built a very good recruitment department with key personnel who I can proudly say moved on to bigger and better positions, then clarity of exactly what we were trying to achieve in terms of net spend, squad valuation and then most importantly the ability to trade for a profit, so all the usual player KPI’s but also future value.
How do you build a recruitment model that outperforms budgets?
As above but adding in different marketplaces to match our budgets.
What does a good academy-to-first team pathway look like in your eyes?
First, let’s be honest luck is a huge factor in a pathway, avoidance of injuries, staying grounded, families giving the right leadership all help determine the future of a potential player. From there, it is building the right sequence of events of events to push the player through, that could be loan opportunities, it could be determining that the player already has the right physicality and mentality to be pushed up through the levels. I stay open minded as to what the pathway can look through understanding of the individual needs and the pace the individual is developing both as a player and person.
Redefining the USL: Transfer Culture & League Identity
You were the USL’s first-ever Chief Sporting Officer. What was your vision when you took that role?
These clubs are incredibly sophisticated on the business side, commercial, ticketing, marketing for example. My aim was to bring the Sporting side onto the same levels of sophistication and development and to help them understand contracts, how to build and keep value in a player and then most importantly to open the world to them and help them bring a player trading model into their clubs.
You helped USL players move to MLS and European clubs at record fees. What changed in the ecosystem to allow that?
Through education, player values, multi-year contracts, understanding of the FIFA rules and regulations, realising that a 1-year contract gave you little to no value in a player, education around player pathways and recruitment, education on squad building and ultimately by helping them be recognised on the global scale through my connections across the globe
Huddersfield Town: Culture Reset & Long-term Vision
You’ve spoken about resetting the culture at Huddersfield Town. What does a “high-performance culture” mean in practical terms?
There are many ways to look at this, but in reality, it is about providing the right environment and the right team around the team, to be able to deliver the highest level of quality to a strategically recruited team of players. It can be implemented across the whole club so that every single person in the business knows that what they do can help on a match day, that commercial bringing in extra revenue to help fund a purchase, it’s media showcasing the player in the best manner to the fans and the list goes on!!
When you’re tasked with rebuilding a club’s sporting identity, where do you start? People, processes, or philosophy?
You must start with the vision from the owner, then break it down into the philosophy of how you will implement the plan of action, understand what you already have and don’t have, strengths and weaknesses in the building and then put the correct processes into place making sure you have “the right people with the right knowledge in the right positions”. All moving in the same direction -the direction you want them moving in!
Modern Sporting Director: Skills & Future
What do you believe the next generation of Sporting Directors need to understand that perhaps wasn’t necessary 10 years ago?
Social media for sure, and because of this the future generation need to understand the resilience they will need under the ever-increasing scrutiny. They need to be far more front facing and media trained than ever before. Players are also far more aware of their mental health and it’s importance, maybe 10 years ago players had to “just get on with it” but now emotional intelligence and awareness of mental health is a huge topic for SD’s.
With transfer values rising globally, how important is it for clubs to develop internal valuation models instead of just reacting to market price?
It’s vitally important that clubs can decipher current trends around the varying markets and have internal processes that can help determine a valuation of a player to a marketplace that not only brings in the highest value but also the highest possibility of the player succeeding – given the amount of add on clauses and sell on % this is hugely important.
You’ve advised FIFA, The FA and leagues abroad, what trends do you see coming in global football governance that clubs must prepare for?
Looking Ahead
With experience across Europe and the U.S., do you believe talent migration trends will change over the next decade?
I don’t see many trends changing in terms of player migration, where I do think it will change is coaches pathways and migration, I see that the best young coaches here in the UK need to look abroad and open their eyes to the different styles and approached worldwide, this will give them a more holistic view.
Finally, what legacy do you want to leave in any club or league you work with?
For me it’s about progress and development of not just the club but the people within it, can you leave the infrastructure, the processes, the people in a better place than when you arrived.