 |
David Easton Dey Allen (born April 1942) is a Sheffield based businessman and ex-chair of the football team Sheffield Wednesday and former owner of Chesterfield F.C. Allen owns a 99.9% share of the A & S Leisure Group which runs Napoleons Casinos across England, as well as the greyhound racing track at Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield.
Allen joined the Sheffield Wednesday board in 2000 and eventually became chair in June 2003.
Allen came under severe criticism from some supporters throughout the tenure of manager Paul Sturrock, especially for what was perceived as forcing fan favourites such as Steve MacLean and Jon-Paul McGovern out of the club. The ill-feeling towards Allen hit a new high in October 2006 after the sacking of popular manager Sturrock, with fans attributing a slump in form to the chairman's relationship with the manager and Allen's transfer policy rather than the performance of the manager; this then led to a series of protests by supporters aimed directly at the chairperson and board of directors. However, the appointment of caretaker manager Sean McAuley and his eventual successor Brian Laws did see an improvement in results. Allen was sometimes the basis of much criticism from Wednesday fans, whom he referred to as "scum", "yobs" and "cretins", also labelling one female fan a "venomous bitch" after she voiced her frustration at Allen as he sat in the directors' box at Hillsborough Stadium. [1]
Allen resigned as chair and a director of Sheffield Wednesday on 23 November 2007. [2] Dave Allen continued to own 10% of Sheffield Wednesday FC until December 2010, when he sold his shares to new Owls owner Milan Mandaric.
In April 2009 it was reported that Allen would invest about £4 million in Chesterfield F.C., while still keeping most of his shares in Sheffield Wednesday, [3] and in 2012 he took over as chairman. [4] The club won the League Two championship in 2014, [5] as well as winning the Football League Trophy in 2012, but in November 2016 he resigned as chairman and director of Chesterfield F.C after two fellow shareholders refused his request to indefinitely write-off interest on their loans. [6] At the end of that season Chesterfield were relegated from League One after finishing in 24th spot. [7] This demotion resulted in a 'push' for promotion back to league one in the following season; Chesterfield were viewed as the favourites, but instead were relegated to the national league after finishing last. [8] [9] This sparked outrage in the club but once again Allen assured fans of a promotion with the appointment of national league specialist Martin Allen, who was sacked a few months from the end of the season with Chesterfield once again in the relegation spots. [10] Allen then recruited former manager John Sheridan, who saved the club from a third relegation in three years, but the following season saw the club battling relegation again. [11]
In 2017 he placed the club up for sale, and in late 2019 he agreed to sell the club to a fans' consortium called the Chesterfield F.C. Community Trust. [12] Shortly after this he was named the U.K.'s worst club owner in a fans' poll. [13]
On 6 August 2020 he formally handed over ownership of the club to the Chesterfield FC Community Trust. It was discovered afterwards that he had removed the £150,000 payment from Leeds in respect to a contract clause prior to doing so.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football, following relegation from the Premier League in 2023–24. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at Bramall Lane since their formation. For most of the club's history, United have played in red and white striped shirts with black shorts. Their main rivals are Sheffield Wednesday, with whom they contest the Steel City derby.
Paul Whitehead Sturrock is a Scottish former football coach and former player.
Chesterfield Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system, after winning the 2023-24 National League title.
The 2003/04 football season saw Plymouth Argyle regain a place in the second tier of English football for the first time in twelve seasons, Along the way to capturing the Division Two championship they accumulated 90 league points, 21 clean sheets and a club record of seven straight clean sheets whilst also losing arguably the most successful manager in recent history in Paul Sturrock to Southampton F.C.
Christopher Robert Turner is an English former footballer and former director of football at Wakefield. He made 589 league and cup appearances in a 19-year career as a professional in the English Football League, and then took charge of a further 469 matches as a manager.
Daniel Joseph Wilson is a former footballer and manager. He has previously coached Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City, Milton Keynes Dons, Hartlepool United, Swindon Town, Sheffield United, Barnsley and Chesterfield.
Thomas Edward Lee is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career with Manchester United, but was unable to break into the first team and was loaned to Macclesfield Town in 2006. He joined Macclesfield permanently later that year, spending two years there before first joining Rochdale on loan and then Chesterfield on a permanent basis. He played for Chesterfield for nine seasons, appearing in more than 350 matches before his retirement due to a shoulder injury in 2017.
Andrew Talbot is an English former professional footballer. A versatile player, Talbot predominantly played at right back or on the right wing. He occasionally played at left back and as a left winger, and could also be utilised as a striker.
Darren Mark Moore is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the manager of EFL League Two club Port Vale. He has performed extensive charity work for the Professional Footballers' Association, Show Racism the Red Card, and the Free Methodist Church.
Ritchie John Humphreys is an English former professional footballer. He is a former chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and holds a UEFA A Licence coaching qualification.
Jack William Lester is an English football coach and former professional footballer, who is a first team coach at Premier League club Sheffield United, and assistant coach of the Wales national football team.
Wade Kristopher Small is an English professional footballer. His last known club was Kingstonian. Mainly a right winger, Small can also play on the left side and as a forward.
Carl David Muggleton is an English professional football goalkeeper who made over 550 appearances in the Football League and Scottish Premier League for a number of clubs, most notably Leicester City, Stoke City, Celtic, Chesterfield and Mansfield Town.
Daniel Jeffrey Jones is an English former footballer. He played as a left-back or on the left side of midfield.
Mark Craig Smith is an English former professional football player and coach, and current loans manager at Sheffield United and a first-team coach at Ossett United.
The history of Rotherham United F.C. traces its roots back to 1870. The club originated as Thornhill Football Club in 1870. Rotherham United was eventually formed 55 years later, in 1925.
Charlie George Wakefield is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Northern Premier League Division One Midlands club Shepshed Dynamo.
Jordan Geoffrey Cropper is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Barnet.