Graham Bean (born 1961) was the first Compliance Officer of the English Football Association.
Born in Barnsley, [1] he served with the South Yorkshire Police for 20 years before joining the Football Association in January 1999. He had previously served as chairman of the Football Supporters Association (FSA) from 1996 until his appointment at the FA. Whilst chairman of the FSA, he served on the Football Task Force, which was chaired by former Conservative MP David Mellor. [2]
Whilst at the FA, Bean investigated many high-profile disciplinary incidents and led investigations into financial irregularities at Chesterfield and Boston United [3] On leaving the FA in 2003 Bean set up his own football disciplinary consultancy service, Football Factors. Bean has also worked as an adviser to Sir Alex Ferguson. [4]
In 2012, TwoHundredPercent.net referred to Bean as a cybersquatter after he began buying up internet addresses relating to the Northwich Victoria Supporters Trust's new football club the day after a vote on the name. When interviewed by the Northwich Guardian Bean argued that he engages in "sharp business practice". [5] [6]
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United, or simply United, is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, they were founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, but changed their name to Manchester United in 1902. After a spell playing in Clayton, Manchester, the club moved to their current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910.
Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time and has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of football. Ferguson is often credited for valuing youth during his time with Manchester United, particularly in the 1990s with the "Class of '92", who contributed to making the club one of the richest and most successful in the world.
Ian Edward Wright is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer.
Duncan Cowan Ferguson is a Scottish football coach and former player who is the manager of Scottish League One club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Shaun Teale is an English football manager and former professional footballer.
David Whelan is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chairman of the club for twenty years, before passing the position over to his grandson, David Sharpe, who eventually passed the ownership over to International Entertainment Corporation.
The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) was an organisation representing football fans in England and Wales. It campaigned across a range of issues and supports fan representation on clubs' boards, lower ticket prices, and the introduction of safe standing areas at grounds in the top two tiers of English football. The organisation was free to join and acted as a singular voice for football fans.
Witton Albion F.C. are a football club based in Northwich, England. They were founded in 1887. They have won the Cheshire Senior Cup 11 times since 1902. Their most recent success in this competition was in 2006, when they defeated Stalybridge Celtic in the final. They have also reached the FA Cup Second Round on at least three occasions. The club will play in the Northern Premier League Division One North in the 2015–16 season.
John Shelton Fenty is an English politician, businessman and former football chairman. He was the Conservative councillor for the Humberston and New Waltham ward of North East Lincolnshire Council until 2021. He is the former chairman of Grimsby Town, a position he held from 2004 until 2011, but then again in de facto terms from 2011 until 2020. He remained the clubs majority shareholder until being bought out in May 2021 and thus departing the club.
The Victoria Stadium was a football stadium in Wincham, Northwich in the county of Cheshire, England, and was home to Northwich Victoria.
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.
The Liverpool F.C.–Manchester United F.C. rivalry, sometimes referred to as the Northwest derby, is a high-profile inter-city rivalry between English professional football clubs Liverpool and Manchester United. It is considered one of the biggest fixtures in English football and one of the biggest and fiercest rivalries in world football. Players, fans and the media consider the fixture between the two clubs to be their biggest rivalry, above even their own local derbies, with Everton and Manchester City respectively.
"Game 39" or the international round was a proposed extra round of matches in the Premier League to be played at neutral venues outside England. The top football league in England, the Premier League, is played on a double round robin basis, where each of the 20 teams in the league plays each of the other 19 teams home and away, giving a total of 380 games, 38 for each team. The international round was proposed at a meeting of the 20 Premier League clubs on 7 February 2008, with a view to being introduced for the 2010–11 season, when a new television broadcasting rights contract would be in place. The proposed start date was later put back to 2013–14. The proposal was reportedly endorsed by the chairmen of a number of Premier League clubs.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Northwich, Cheshire, which compete in the Midland League Premier Division. They play home games at Barton Stadium, in a groundshare agreement with nearby rivals Winsford United. They had played at the same Drill Field ground between 1875 and 2002, which was at the time of its demolition was believed to be the oldest ground in the world on which football had been continuously played. They played at the short-lived Victoria Stadium between 2005 and 2011, and have since been forced to share grounds with nearby clubs.
The 1993 Football Association Charity Shield was the 71st FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. It was held at Wembley Stadium on 7 August 1993. The match was played between Arsenal, who beat Sheffield Wednesday to win the 1993 FA Cup Final, and Manchester United, champions of the inaugural Premier League competition. Watched by a crowd of 66,519, Manchester United won the Shield 5–4 on penalties, after the match had finished at 1–1 after 90 minutes. This was the second edition to have penalties to decide the winners. The first being 1974 when Liverpool beat Leeds United on penalties.
The foundation of the Premier League in English football occurred in the early 1990s. A proposal for the establishment of a new league was tabled at the end of the 1990–91 season. It received the support of representatives of all eighteen First Division clubs, as well as The Football Association (FA) through its "Blueprint for the Future of Football" publication. The Premier League was actualised in stages: the signing of the Founder Members Agreement on 17 July 1991, clubs handing a joint notice of resignation from the Football League, and the final go-ahead from the FA who administered affairs.
Although Arsenal and Manchester United have frequently been in the same division in English football since 1919, the rivalry between the two clubs only became a fierce one in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the teams regularly competed against each other for the Premier League title and FA Cup. There was also an enmity between the managers, Arsenal's Arsène Wenger (1996–2018) and United's Sir Alex Ferguson (1986–2013), as well as club captains Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane. Their contests often involved on-field trouble – seven red cards were shown in matches from February 1997 to February 2005. The league fixture in September 2003, known as the "Battle of Old Trafford", was marred by a mêlée instigated by Arsenal players, who felt striker Ruud van Nistelrooy had cheated to get Vieira sent off. A season later, Manchester United ended Arsenal's unbeaten run in controversial circumstances, which led to more disorder, this time in the tunnel.
The first match between Manchester United and Manchester City in the 2009–10 Premier League football season was played on 20 September 2009 at Old Trafford, Trafford. It was the 153rd Manchester derby between the two clubs. Heading into the game, both teams were level on points having both won four matches in the opening weeks of the season, and big-spending City were seen as a new threat to United, who had been the dominant force in English football for over 15 years.
1874 Northwich Football Club is a football club based in Northwich, Cheshire, England. Established in 2012 by supporters of Northwich Victoria, they are currently members of the Midland League Premier Division. Home matches are played at Barnton's Townfield ground. The club is fully owned by its supporters, and is run by a democratically elected board.
The Football Supporters' Association is the national, democratic, representative body for football supporters in England and Wales. They are the leading advocates for supporter ownership, better fan engagement, cheaper ticket prices, the choice to stand at the match, protecting fan rights, good governance, diversity, and all types of supporter empowerment across both the men's and women's game.