Dave Allen (football executive)
Dave Allen is a Sheffield based businessman and ex-chair of the football team Sheffield Wednesday. Allen owns a 99.9% share of the A & S Leisure Group which runs Napoleons Casinos across England, as well as the greyhound racing track at Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield. Allen is currently chairman and majority shareholder at Chesterfield F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday
Allen joined the Sheffield Wednesday board in 2000 and eventually became chair in June 2003.
Allen came under severe criticism from some supporters throughout the tenure of manager Paul Sturrock, especially for what was perceived as forcing fan favourites such as Steve MacLean and Jon-Paul McGovern out of the club. The ill-feeling towards Allen hit a new high in October 2006 after the sacking of popular manager Sturrock, with fans attributing a slump in form to the chairman's relationship with the manager and Allen's transfer policy rather than the performance of the manager; this then led to a series of protests by supporters aimed directly at the chairperson and board of directors. However, the appointment of caretaker manager Sean McAuley and his eventual successor Brian Laws did see an improvement in results. Allen was sometimes the basis of much criticism from Wednesday fans, who he referred to as "scum", "yobs" and "cretins", also labelling one female fan a "venomous bitch" after she voiced her frustration at Allen as he sat in the directors box at Hillsborough Stadium.[1]
Allen resigned as Chair and a Director of Sheffield Wednesday on 23 November 2007.[2] Dave Allen continued to own 10% of Sheffield Wednesday FC, until December 2010 when he sold his shares to new Owls owner Milan Mandaric.
Chesterfield
In April 2009 it was reported that Allen would invest about £4m in Chesterfield F.C., while still keeping most of his shares in Sheffield Wednesday.[3] During his time at Chesterfield F.C, the club built a new stadium for the club named the Proact Stadium. During his time as chairman of the club the Spireites have enjoyed winning the Football League Two championship in 2011 and 2014 as well as winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2012.
