John Sleightholme

John Sleightholme was the chairman of Derby County Football Club. He is a barrister and deputy coroner, and bought two-thirds of Derby County in October 2003. There were also two other directors, Jeremy Keith, who owned one-third of the club, and Steve Harding. Sleightholme soon involved his friend, Murdo Mackay, in the club, and he was promoted to director of football.

In early 2006, the club was facing a boardroom battle between Sleightholme and Keith. Following protests by the Rams Protest Group and RamsTrust, it didn't seem that Sleightholme and Keith would be chairman and chief executive respectively for much longer and, indeed, in April 2006, Sleightholme resigned, stating "My position has been made untenable. Recently it has come to my attention that meetings have been held, important decisions taken and documents signed without my knowledge. Important information has been withheld from me." Keith himself departed later in the month, to be replaced by a new board led by Peter Gadsby.