Dave Whelan
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David Whelan is of Irish descent and born in Bradford on 24 November 1936, and raised in Wigan, is a former professional football player with Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra, and the current owner of Wigan Athletic. He is the former owner of JJB Sports and owns the JJB Stadium where Wigan Athletic play.
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[edit] Football career
Whelan was a member of Blackburn Rovers' 1960 FA Cup Final team, which lost 0-3 to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Whelan himself did not complete the game, breaking a leg during the first half. Whelan's injury is one of many serious injuries suffered by players in the 1950-60 era and was known as the Wembley hoodoo.[1]
[edit] JJB
Whelan acquired Wigan fishing and sports store JJ Bradburns (even though JJB is the initials of previous owner John Jarvis Broughton) in 1977. He renamed the company JJB Sports and soon focused purely on sports goods. By 1980, JJB had become a chain of 7 stores, and went on to expand throughout the eighties and nineties. It is presently the UK's biggest sports retailer.
In 2003 JJB Sports were fined £5.5 million by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for fixing the price of the English National Team and Manchester United shirts in 2000 and 2001.[1] Which Consumer magazine issued proceedings against JJB Sports to sue the high street retailer for damages on behalf of consumers who were affected by the price fixing. [2]
Whelan gradually scaled down his interests in the company - in 2005 he stepped down as chairman.[2] In January 2007 he sold £50m of shares in JJB,[3] before selling his remaining 29% stake in June 2007.This action was in contradiction of a statement that Whelan made to the stock exchange on 26 January 2007 whereby he undertook to make no further disposals for the following 12 months.[4] This action may now lead to an investigation by the Financial Services Authority. [5]
[edit] Wigan Athletic Football Club
Whelan bought Wigan Athletic in 1995 when they were a Division Three team. Since then the club has made progress. This began with the Division Three title in 1997-98, the Division Two title in 2002-03 and promotion to the Premiership as Championship runners-up in 2004-05. Thanks to Whelan's resources, Wigan, who were tipped to be relegated from the Premier League in their first season, not only managed to stay up, but claimed a high league position and also reached the League Cup Final.
During his time in charge, Whelan has courted controversy. In 2005 he threatened to quit the club unless the price of policing games was reduced.[6] In 2007, he called for the relegation of West Ham United as punishment for their incorrect registration of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. [7] He subsequently called for Premier League Chairman Dave Richards and chief executive Richard Scudamore to resign.[8]An arbitration committee met to consider the affair. It ruled in favor of the Premier League. On November 5 2007, Wigan manager Chris Hutchings was fired by Whelan, only six months into the job, after the club had slipped into the Premier League relegation zone.
[edit] Wigan Rugby League Football Club
In 2005 Whelan's Rugby League Football club, Wigan Warriors, were docked two points for breaching the 2005 Super League salary cap, also with a £50,000 fine. [3]
Again, in 2007, Whelan's Rugby League club, Wigan Warriors faced an enquiry for breaching the Super League salary cap. The result was a deduction of 4 league points.[4]
After the announcement of Maurice Lindsay's intention to retire immediately from the club after the Warriors' loss at the hands of Catalan Dragons on the 29 July 2007 Whelan managed to persuade him to stay on until the end of the season. After the announcement of Linday's retirement however, Dave Whelan has also questioned his own position at the club and may be willing to sell the club after a proposed takeover from a 'genuine Wigan fan' earlier in the year.[9]
On 24th October 2007, it was announced that Ian Lenagan, former owner of Harlequins RL, had completed his takover of Wigan Warriors buying out Whelan's 89% stake in the club. The deal will take effect from the 1st December 2007.[10]
[edit] Orrell Rugby Union Club
In 2005 Dave Whelan bought Edge Hall Road, ground of Orrell Rugby Union Club. Whelan sold off all their training fields to developers and then rented their clubhouse over to Wigan Warriors to use as a training complex. Shorty after the clubhouse was destroyed in a fire. Whelan then sold the club and left Orrell without a clubhouse or training grounds. They played their last game there in 2007. Orrell now play at St. John Rigby College [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Wembley Hoodoo Guardian Online
- ^ JJB chief steps down to spend more time with Wigan
- ^ Wigan's gain JJB chief sells shares
- ^ Whelan sells stake in JJB Sports
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/06/10/cnfsa110.xml Whelen faces Financial Services Authority investigation.
- ^ Whelan quit threat over policing
- ^ Whelan calls for new Tevez charge
- ^ Whelan demands league chiefs quit
- ^ "Maurice Lindsay Announces His Intention to Step Down at the End of this Season", Wigan Warriors Official Website, 2007-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
- ^ "Lenagan seals takeover of Wigan", BBC Sport, 2007-10-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-30.
