Wael al-Qadi

Last updated

Wael Al-Qadi
وائل القاضي
Born
Wael Al-Qadi

(1969-11-25) 25 November 1969 (age 54)
Jordan
Citizenship Jordanian
Education Westminster School, Westminster, London
Alma mater Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation football executive
Known forPresident of Bristol Rovers
RelativesAl-Qadi family

Wael Abdulkader Al-Qadi (born 25 November 1969 in Jordan) [1] is a Jordanian football executive, best known as the current club president of English club Bristol Rovers [2] and a member of the Al-Qadi family.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

A member of the Al-Qadi family, who founded the Arab Jordan Investment Bank in Amman, Jordan, [1] Wael was educated at Westminster School in London. While at school in the UK capital in the early 1980s, he began regularly attending Chelsea matches. He earned a degree in Computer Science with Business Administration at Boston University, graduating in 1991. [3]

Involvement in football

Al-Qadi became vice-chairman of the Asian Football Development Project in 2011, [4] an executive board member of the Jordan Football Association in 2014, an executive board member of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Jordan 2016, and was a member of the campaign team behind Prince Ali bin Hussein's campaign for the presidency of FIFA at the FIFA Extraordinary Congress in February 2016. [5]

Bristol Rovers

He and his family purchased Bristol Rovers in February 2016. [6] The club were promoted for a second consecutive season in May 2016 with a last minute winner on the final day of the season. [7] In 2017, Dwane Sports group announced the acquisition of a 28-acre site in Almondsbury called The Colony which would become the new training ground for the club. [8] The site remained undeveloped until June 2020 when work began with the aim for the club to move in for the start of the 2020–21 season. [9]

In June 2020, following the death of his father Abdulkadir, Wael reached an agreement with the other members of his family to purchase their shares and gain full control of the club, ten percent remaining with his brother Samer. In addition to this, Wael capitalised the debt owed to Dwane Sports by the football club totalling £18.4 million and £16.4 million of debt owed to the club. [10]

In December 2021, a man was banned from matches for sixteen weeks after racially abusing al-Qadi from an anonymous Twitter account following a 1–1 draw with Barrow. [11] The 2021–22 season saw a second promotion since al-Qadi's involvement with the club, a remarkable 7–0 victory over Scunthorpe United on the final day of the season seeing Rovers move into the final automatic promotion spot ahead of Northampton Town on goals scored, immediately bouncing back from relegation the previous season. [12]

On 3 August 2023, Hussain AlSaeed purchased a controlling 55% share in Dwane Sports, becoming co-owner of Bristol Rovers and joining the club as chairman. The change in ownership structure saw al-Qadi remain on as club president and all debt owed to Dwane Sports being capitalised. [13]

Related Research Articles

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

Bristol Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club in Bristol, England. The first team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club's official nickname is "The Pirates", reflecting the maritime history of Bristol. The local nickname of the club is "The Gas", derived from the gasworks next to their former home, Eastville Stadium. Since 1996, the club has played home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Bond (English footballer)</span> English association football player and manager

Kevin John Bond is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a centre back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Stadium (Bristol)</span> Stadium in Bristol, England

The Memorial Stadium, also commonly known by its previous name of the Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol Rovers F.C. It opened in 1921, dedicated to the memory of local rugby union players killed during the First World War, and was the home of Bristol Rugby Club until they moved to Ashton Gate in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Brown (footballer)</span> English footballer

Junior Brown is an English professional footballer who plays as a left back for Hednesford Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UWE Stadium</span> Cancelled stadium in Cheswick, England

UWE Stadium was a proposed 21,700 all-seater stadium to be built in Cheswick, South Gloucestershire, as a new home for Bristol Rovers. The stadium was to replace their current home, the Memorial Stadium. Sainsbury's agreed to buy the Memorial Stadium in 2011 and lease it to the club while the new stadium was built to the north of the city.

The 2012–13 season was the 130th season in Bristol Rovers' history and their 86th in the Football League. Rovers once again competed in League Two, the lowest level of the Football League, after finishing 13th in the 2011–12 season.

The 2013–14 season was the 131st season in Bristol Rovers' history and their 87th in the Football League. For the third season in a row, Rovers competed in the basement division of the Football League, League Two, having finished 14th in the 2012–13 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Rossiter</span> English footballer who plays for Shrewsbury Town

Jordan Bernard Rossiter is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League One club Shrewsbury Town.

Aaron Graham John Collins is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for EFL League One club Bolton Wanderers.

The 2015–16 season was the 133rd season in Bristol Rovers' history and their 88th in the Football League. Rovers returned to the Football League after an absence of just one season following their promotion from the Conference Premier via the play-offs.

Ryan George Henson Loft is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL League One club Cambridge United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Anderton</span> English footballer

Nicholas Jack Wilmer Anderton is an English coach and former professional footballer who played as a left back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antony Evans (footballer)</span> English footballer

Antony Kenneth Evans is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for EFL League One club Huddersfield Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rollin Menayese</span> Welsh footballer (born 1997)

Rollin Menayese is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League club Aldershot Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Kelly (footballer, born 1997)</span> Scottish footballer

Michael Eamon James Kelly is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League North club Scunthorpe United.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Matthews</span> English footballer

Samuel Lloyd Matthews is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Havant & Waterlooville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Finley</span> English footballer (born 1992)

Samuel Joseph Finley is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League Two club Tranmere Rovers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Grant (footballer)</span> English footballer

Joshua William Grant is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender and defensive midfielder.

The 2021–22 season is Bristol Rovers' 139th year in their history and first season back in League Two since the 2015–16 season, following relegation the previous season. Along with the league, the club also competed in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. The season covers the period from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022.

Jed Macauley Ward is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for National League side Forest Green Rovers, on loan from EFL League One club Bristol Rovers.

References

  1. 1 2 Laith Abu-Ragheb (31 August 2016). "Buying into the Beautiful Game". Venture. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Company Overview of Bristol Rovers Football Club Ltd". Bloomberg. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  3. ↑ James McNamara (19 February 2016). "Bristol Rovers Takeover: Who are the Al-Qadi family?". Bristol Post. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Prince Ali Chairs Fourth Board Meeting of the AFDP". Jordan Football Association. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Ali Khaled (11 March 2016). "The sporting read: Wael Al Qadi – mapping out his plans to make Bristol Rovers a force". The National. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Bristol Rovers: Al-Qadi family complete takeover of League Two club". BBC Sport. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bristol Rovers 2–1 Dagenham & Redbridge". BBC Sport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "THE COLONY TRAINING GROUND". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Work To Begin at Training Ground Next Week". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Club President's Open Letter to Fans..." www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Man banned for racially abusing Bristol Rovers' owner". BBC News. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "Bristol Rovers 7–0 Scunthorpe United: Joey Barton's side promoted after seven-goal win". BBC Sport. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  13. ↑ "Club Statement: New Ownership Structure". www.bristolrovers.co.uk. 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
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.