Dave Whelan

For the professional golfer, see David Whelan (golfer).

For the professional opera singer, see David Whelan (opera singer).

Dave Whelan
Whelan watching a Wigan Athletic match from the owner's box, May 2010.
Born	David Whelan 24 November 1936 (1936-11-24) (age 74) Bradford, England
Nationality	English
Occupation	Football club owner
Known for	Wigan Athletic F.C. JJB Sports

Personal information
Playing position	Full back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1956–1960	Blackburn Rovers[1]	78	(3)
1962–1966	Crewe Alexandra[2]	115	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David "Dave" Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is a former professional football player with Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra who now owns Wigan Athletic. He is the former owner of JJB Sports and the DW Stadium where Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors RLFC play. He is a prominent supporter of the Conservative Party and in 2008 donated £250,000 to the Party.

Biography

Whelan was born in Bradford and raised in Wigan.

Football career

Whelan was a member of Blackburn Rovers' 1960 FA Cup Final team, which lost 3-0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Whelan himself did not complete the game, breaking a leg during the first half. Whelan's injury is one of many serious injuries suffered by players in the 1950-60 era and was known as the Wembley hoodoo.^[3] Following his leg break, Whelan was sold to Crewe Alexandra F.C. where he played for several years before retiring to concentrate fully on his chain of supermarkets, Whelan's Discount Stores, which were sold to Ken Morrison for over a million pounds.

JJB

Whelan acquired Wigan fishing and sports store JJ Bradburns (even though JJB are the initials of previous owner John Jarvis Broughton) in 1977. He renamed the company JJB Sports and soon focused purely on sports goods. By 1980, JJB had become a chain of 7 stores, and went on to expand throughout the 1980s and 1990s. It is presently the UK's second biggest sports retailer.

In 2005 JJB Sports were fined £5.5 million by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for fixing the price of the English National Team and Manchester United shirts in 2000 and 2001.^[4] Which Consumer magazine issued proceedings against JJB Sports to sue the high street retailer for damages on behalf of consumers who were affected by the price fixing.^[5]

Whelan gradually scaled down his interests in the company and in 2005 he stepped down as chairman.^[6] However, in October 2006 he personally intervened to overturn the settlement of a pay dispute at JJB's Wigan warehouse negotiated by new chairman Tom Knight, branding it "the equivalent of Communism", prompting a two-day strike.^[7]

In January 2007 he sold £50m of shares in JJB,^[8] before selling his remaining 29% stake in June 2007. This action was in contradiction of a statement that Whelan made to the stock exchange on 26 January 2007 whereby he undertook to make no further disposals for the following 12 months.^[9] This action may now lead to an investigation by the Financial Services Authority.^[10]

DW Sports Fitness

In March 2009, Whelan confirmed his acquisition of JJB Fitness clubs and the stores attached to them. Instead of Wigan Athletics JJB sponsorship "the club's new stadium sponsor will be DW Sports-Fitness.Com, the 74-year-old's latest sports retail venture, and the JJB Stadium has now become the DW Stadium, taking the name of its owner and his new company."

Wigan Athletic Football Club

Whelan bought Wigan Athletic in February 1995, when they were a Division Three team.^[11]

When Dave Whelan took over the reins he announced that he would get Wigan Athletic into the Premier League, a promise he fulfilled in 2005. This began with the Division Three title in 1997-98, the Division Two title in 2002-03 and promotion to the Premiership as Championship runners-up in 2004-05.

He funded the £30million construction of the club's new JJB Stadium which opened in 1999 and on its completion was one of the largest football stadiums outside the Premier League.^[12]

Thanks to Whelan's resources, Wigan, who were tipped to be relegated from the Premier League in their first season, not only managed to stay up (and have stayed in the top flight ever since), but claimed a 10th place league position^[13] and also reached the final of the Football League Cup.^[14]

In 2005, Whelan threatened to quit the club unless the price of policing games was reduced.^[15] In 2007, he called for the relegation of West Ham United as punishment for their incorrect registration of Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano.^[16] He subsequently called for Premier League Chairman Dave Richards and chief executive Richard Scudamore to resign.^[17] An arbitration committee met to consider the affair. It ruled in favour of the Premier League. Wigan managed an end of season victory at Stoke, a 1 - 0 win with the goal being scored by Hugo Rodallega in the 78th minute managed an amazing last game Premiership survival, the result meant Birmingham suffered relegation to the Championship.

Wigan Warriors Rugby League Football Club

After the announcement of Maurice Lindsay's intention to retire immediately from the club after the Warriors' loss at the hands of Catalans Dragons on 29 July 2007, Whelan managed to persuade him to stay on until the end of the season. After the announcement of Linday's retirement however, Whelan said he would be willing to sell the club after a proposed takeover from a "genuine Wigan fan" earlier in the year.^[18]

On 24 October 2007, it was announced that Ian Lenagan, former owner of Harlequins RL, had completed his takeover of Wigan Warriors, buying out Whelan's 89% stake in the club with the deal taking effect from 1 December 2007.^[19]

References

1. ^ http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/blackburn/blackburn.htm
2. ^ http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/crewe/crewe.htm
3. ^ Wembley Hoodoo Guardian Online
4. ^ Bowers, Simon (20 May 2005). "JJB fights on despite cut in replica kit fine". The Guardian (London). http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,3604,1488193,00.html. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
5. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Julia Finch. "JJB chief steps down to spend more time with Wigan". Business.guardian.co.uk. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1522887,00.html. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
7. '^ Communist' jibe by JJB founder incites strike, Susie Mesure, The Independent, Thursday, 26 October 2006 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/communist-jibe-by-jjb-founder-incites-strike-421659.html
8. ^ Katie Allen. "Wigan's gain JJB chief sells shares". Business.guardian.co.uk. http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1999898,00.html. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
9. ^ "Whelan sells stake in JJB Sports". BBC News. 8 June 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/6736421.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
10. ^ Hall, James (10 June 2007). "Whelen faces Financial Services Authority investigation". Telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/06/10/cnfsa110.xml. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
11. ^ "Wigan Athletic | Club | History | History | 1995-98 - THE WHELAN ERA BEGINS". Wiganlatics.co.uk. http://www.wiganlatics.co.uk/page/History/0,,10429~1313385,00.html. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
12. ^ "JJB Stadium". The Stadium Guide. 4 August 1999. http://www.stadiumguide.com/jjb.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
13. ^ "Official Site of the Premier League | Premier League | History | 2005/06 Season | Season 2005/06". Premier League. http://www.premierleague.com/page/2005/06Season. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
14. ^ "BBC SPORT | Football | League Cup | Man Utd ease to Carling Cup glory". BBC News. 26 February 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/4727118.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
15. ^ "Whelan quit threat over policing". Football.guardian.co.uk. http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,,1432187,00.html. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
16. ^ "Whelan calls for new Tevez charge". BBC News. 14 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6652931.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
17. ^ "Whelan demands league chiefs quit". BBC News. 17 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/6664529.stm. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
18. ^ "Maurice Lindsay Announces His Intention to Step Down at the End of this Season". Wigan Warriors Official Website. 2007-07-30. http://www.wiganwarriors.com/news_full.asp?newsid=3116. Retrieved 2007-01-30. ^{[dead link]}
19. ^ "Lenagan seals takeover of Wigan". BBC Sport. 2007-10-24. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/7059459.stm. Retrieved 2007-01-30. 

External links

• Brief bio at ManchesterOnline

Persondata
Name	Whelan, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	24 November 1936
Place of birth	Bradford, England
Date of death
Place of death