Halliday won 23 caps for England between 1986 and 1992

Esher Rugby Club have appointed former England international Simon Halliday as their new executive director.

Halliday, 50, who has previously worked for Bath and Harlequins, will target improving the club's profile and brand.

He told BBC Surrey: "Esher have a lot of challenges ahead of them. I am hoping to be able to bring my sporting and business experience to the club.

"We're not based in a big city so we've got a job to make sure people want to come and watch Esher play rugby."

He added: "We field more than 100 rugby players on the pitches of England every weekend. I think that is a very valuable message to give out to people as to what we represent."

Halliday coached the first team at Esher during the early 1990s after his retirement from the game.

"I'd like to think I was responsible for getting the club thinking a bit bigger. Many years on I'm amazed by how far this club has come by playing Bristol and winning," he said.

Esher chairman Bob Stratton added: "We see Simon's appointment as one of the missing pieces of the jigsaw off the field.

"Things have gone very well on the pitch recently culminating in promotion last season and now we are going to try and match that success in all other areas."

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