Shaun Harvey
Born
Shaun Antony Harvey

(1970-02-25) 25 February 1970
NationalityBritish
Known forFormer Chief Executive of The Football League, Former CEO of Leeds United F.C. & MD of Bradford City A.F.C.

Shaun Antony Harvey (born 25 February 1970) is an English former football executive. Harvey was the chief executive of the English Football League having formerly been the CEO of Leeds United, as well as a club director. Prior to joining Leeds, Harvey was managing director at Bradford City. In June 2011, Harvey was elected to the Football League board of Directors[1] and on 29 July 2013 became its chief executive.[2] On 18 February 2019, he announced his resignation, effective at the end of the 2018-2019 season.[3]

Background

After leaving school, he took up a job at the Guardian Royal Exchange Insurance Company. He then took up an administration job at Farsley Celtic F.C. which led to a chance meeting with Geoffrey Richmond the then chairman of Scarborough. In February 1992, Harvey took up a job at Scarborough after having been personally invited by Richmond to the club. When Richmond became chairman of Bradford City, Harvey followed him where he eventually became managing director and the club rose to the Premier League for the first time in its history.

Career in football

Leeds United (2004-2013)

In June 2004, after ten years at Bradford City, Harvey joined Leeds United as chief executive officer.[4] The new management at Leeds included Richmond who joined the club as a board advisor.

Harvey remained at Leeds United for nine years before stepping down as chief executive officer on 1 July 2013.[5] It remains unknown who he resigned to as he testified in court he didn’t know who owned Leeds United. He was replaced by David Haigh, deputy chief executive of new owner GFH Capital, who took up the role of managing director.

English Football League (2011-2019)

In June 2011 Shaun Harvey was elected to the Football League board of directors by Championship clubs.[1] and on 29 July 2013 he was appointed the organisation's chief executive.[2] As chief executive, he took responsibility for the day to day administration and management of the largest single body of professional clubs in European football which includes the fourth most watched league competition, the EFL Championship, as well as Leagues One and Two, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.

During his time at the EFL, Shaun Harvey has implemented a number of controversial changes to the League and its competitions. In the summer of 2016, The Football League was renamed the ‘English Football League’ as part of a comprehensive corporate and competition re-branding to give the League’s competitions a new and distinct identity, while simultaneously retaining their unique heritage.

More recent changes included a controversial change in format for the Football League Trophy. He claimed this was to give young players a chance to develop, to reinvigorate the competition and to increase prize money.[6] This led to record low crowds and a drastic decrease in the average number of fans attending games.[7]

He oversaw a commercial programme that generates more than £100m of revenue every season from broadcasting and sponsorship. This includes the recently launched iFollow service – a digital streaming over-the-top platform that allows the estimated 270,000 overseas fans of EFL clubs to watch their team play live.[8]

Harvey spoke out in 2018 in favour of safe standing in principle,[9] but against a mid-season break in EFL leagues as impractical (although he was in favour of its implementation for the Premier League).[10]

In 2018, Shaun Harvey agreed to a live domestic broadcasting rights deal with Sky Sports worth £595 million running until 2024, the biggest in the League’s history. A majority of Championship clubs in the Football League, however, felt the deal undervalued their broadcast rights,[11] and that it cut their revenues by removing their streaming rights to many matches. Pressure and resistance from these clubs led Harvey to announce his resignation from the position of chief executive in 2019.[12]

Wrexham (2021-present)

Shaun Harvey joined Wrexham in February 2021 as an advisor to the Board after American actor Rob McElhenney and Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds announced their intention to buy the club.[13] At the time of the purchase, Wrexham played in the National League, the fifth tier of English football, below the Premier League and the three tiers of the English Football League system. On 22 April 2023, Wrexham secured promotion from the National League to EFL League Two, the fourth tier of English football, after a 3–1 league win over Boreham Wood.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Leeds United | News | News | News | CEO JOINS FOOTBALL LEAGUE BOARD". Archived from the original on 2011-06-27. Retrieved 2011-07-10.
  2. 1 2 "Football League appoints Shaun Harvey as new chief executive". The Guardian. 29 Jul 2013. Retrieved 28 Aug 2013.
  3. ↑ "Shaun Harvey calls time after surviving Football League breakaway threat". TheGuardian.com. 18 February 2019.
  4. ↑ "Leeds United News - June 2004". leeds-fans.org.uk. 2004-06-30. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
  5. ↑ "Championship: Shaun Harvey steps down at Leeds as Salah Nooruddin named chairman". Sky Sports.
  6. ↑ "EFL chief Harvey defends Trophy revamp". BBC Sport.
  7. ↑ "Young Guns II: Going Down in a Blaze of Harvey – Checkatrade Trophy attendances, young English stars and Half Man Half Biscuit". Theuglygame.wordpress.com. 16 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Welcome to the English Football League revolution". Goal.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "EFL fans overwhelmingly vote in favour of safe standing". Independent.co.uk. June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Winter break brought in from 2019-20 season". Swindonadvertiser.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "'Some pretty powerful people are upset'". BBC Sport.
  12. ↑ "CEO Harvey to leave EFL at end of season". BBC Sport.
  13. ↑ "One Year On: Key events from the last year as Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds mark one year as co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC". Wrexham A.F.C. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Grey, Jack (23 April 2023). "In Pictures: Elation in Wrexham as star-owned club win title". BBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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