David Sheepshanks

Last updated

David Sheepshanks in 2014 David Sheepshanks, 2014.jpg
David Sheepshanks in 2014

David Richard Sheepshanks CBE DL is the founding and current Chairman of the St George's Park National Football Centre and former Chairman of Ipswich Town FC. He is also former chairman of UK Community Foundations (UKCF), the umbrella organisation for all community foundations in the UK, providing philanthropic advice to clients and delivering UK-wide grant-making programmes. Other business interests include non Executive roles with Coutts Bank, 21st Club and Onside Law. Past business interests included Starfish Ltd 1980–1990 and Suffolk Foods Ltd which he founded in 1990 with his brother Rick and where he was chairman and a majority shareholder before selling in 2004.

Contents

Career

Ipswich Town

Sheepshanks was elected to the Ipswich Town board in 1987 [1] and was appointed chairman in 1995. During his time at Ipswich he oversaw a complete reorganisation of the club, led by his famous 5-year plan. He oversaw the club's promotion back to the Premier League in 2000 and qualification for the UEFA Cup the following year under the management of George Burley, and invested heavily into the redevelopment of Portman Road. However, relegation followed in 2002 and a severe drop in income led to a period of administration between February and May 2003. The other two clubs relegated that season, Leicester City and Derby County, suffered a similar fate when the new August transfer window took effect and the League's broadcaster, ITV Digital, went bankrupt. With the club still some £32 million in debt and needing new income, Sheepshanks led the search for a buyer for the club and in October 2007, it was announced that the club had reached an agreement with businessman Marcus Evans for him to purchase a controlling stake in the club. The deal was completed in December 2007 with Evans becoming the club's owner, who purchased the club's outstanding debt and invested £12 million into the club, with Sheepshanks remaining chairman. On 1 July 2009, Sheepshanks stood down as chairman of the club after 14 years in the role and Evans took over full time.

Other ventures

In 1997, he was appointed chairman of the Football League for two years where he helped with the re-structuring of the league and appointed Richard Scudamore as CEO. He subsequently served the boards of the Football Association (FA) and FL for 12 years, as well as UEFA and the FIFA Marketing Committee 2002–2004. In February 2007 he was mooted as a possible leader of England's bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2018. [2]

Sheepshanks was the founder Chairman of the ITFC Education and Sports Trust, a founder trustee of the Community Foundation for Suffolk, Patron of the Ipswich and East Suffolk branch of the Samaritans and President of the Ipswich Citizens Advice Bureau and as Ambassador to Street League.

Like his predecessors, Patrick and John Cobbold, Peter Hill-Wood (Chairman of Arsenal), and Prince William (President of the Football Association), Sheepshanks is an Old Etonian.

On 16 May 2010, Sheepshanks was appointed joint acting chairman of the FA, along with Roger Burden, following the resignation of Lord Triesman. His term ended with David Bernstein's permanent appointment in January 2011.

Since 2008, Sheepshanks has led and overseen the development and opening of the FA National Football Centre at St George's Park. Opened in October 2012 by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, this is now the educational hub for English football, specialising in Coach Education, Leadership Development and High Performance. It is also the training home of all 24 England teams.

Honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipswich Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, that compete in the Championship, the second tier of English football, following promotion from League One during the 2022–23 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Needham Market</span> Human settlement in England

Needham Market is a town in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Nearby villages include Barking, Darmsden, Badley and Creeting St Mary. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market.

Joseph Royle is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team. Later, he managed Oldham Athletic, Everton, Manchester City, and Ipswich Town. He is currently a director at Oldham Athletic.

George Elder Burley is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came while at Ipswich Town making 394 senior appearances, and being part of the squad that won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 1978 and 1981 respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portman Road</span> Stadium for Ipswich Town Football Club

Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003. It staged several other sporting events, including athletics meetings and international hockey matches, musical concerts and Christian events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leiston F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Leiston Football Club is a football club based in Leiston, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division Central and play at Victory Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debenham LC F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Debenham Leisure Centre Football Club is a football club based in the village of Debenham, in Suffolk, England. The club are currently members of the Suffolk & Ipswich League Senior Division and play at Maitlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suffolk County Football Association</span>

The Suffolk County Football Association is the governing body for football in the county of Suffolk, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bernstein (executive)</span> British business executive (born 1943)

David Alan Bernstein CBE is a British business executive who is the chairman of the British Red Cross, member of the advisory board at Cogress Ltd and was the former chairman of French Connection.

Anthony Humes is an English football manager and former professional footballer who was recently director of football at English club Colchester United.

Neil Doncaster is an association football executive. He was appointed as chief executive of the Scottish Professional Football League in July 2013, having previously held the same position at the Scottish Premier League from 2009 to 2013 and at Norwich City F.C. from 2001 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Ipswich Town F.C.</span> History of Ipswich Town Football Club

Ipswich Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, which was formed in 1878. The side played amateur football until 1936 when the club turned professional and was elected to the Southern League. Ipswich Town were elected into the Third Division South of the Football League in place of Gillingham on 30 May 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Norwich City F.C.</span> History of the English football club

The history of Norwich City F.C. stretches back to 1902. After a brief period in amateur football, Norwich City F.C. spent 15 years as a semi-professional team in the Southern League before admission to English Football League in 1920. For most of the next 50 years, Norwich City F.C. played in Division Three (South), then the joint lowest tier of the football league, a period that was distinguished by "a thrilling giant-killing sequence which took them to the FA Cup semi-finals" in 1959. Shortly afterwards, the club won its first major trophy, the 1962 League Cup. Norwich finally reached the pinnacle of the league structure in 1972, with their first promotion to the top tier.

Marcus Paul Bruce Evans is an English businessman. He is originally from Walsham-le-Willows, near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, but grew up near Wimbledon, London. He founded his company, Marcus Evans, in 1983. The group organises live business, sports and entertainment events around the world. Its global regional head offices are in Dublin, Chicago, and APAC – Kuala Lumpur. Evans is best known for being the former chairman and owner of Ipswich Town F.C., which he bought in December 2007. He remained the owner for over 13 years before selling the club to a new U.S. consortium in April 2021 while retaining a 5% share in the club. Evans himself has maintained a low public profile throughout his professional career, with limited photos and interviews of him available online.

During the 1994–95 English football season, Ipswich Town competed in the FA Premier League.

Robin David Turner is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. An England youth international, he began his career at Ipswich Town. After being part of the FA Youth Cup winning squad of 1973, he made his first-team debut in October 1975. Despite failing to become a first-team regular, he remained at the club until 1985 when he signed for Swansea City. He scored twice on his home debut for his new club, equalling the number of league goals that he had scored in nine seasons at Ipswich, but left later in the year to return to East Anglia when he signed for Colchester United. At the end of the 1985–86 season he dropped into non-League football with Bury Town.

During the 1995–96 English football season, Ipswich Town competed in the Football League First Division.

References

  1. ↑ 'David Sheepshanks', Ipswich Town Football Club: The Official Site Archived 2006-10-01 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 19 February 2006.
  2. ↑ Owen Slot, 'Coe boasts all the canvassing skills to lure 2018 votes', The Times (13 February 2007)
  3. ↑ "Honorary Graduates University of East Anglia". The University of East Anglia. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Deputy Lieutenants". The Suffolk Lieutenancy. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.