20 Facts About Dave Whelan

1.

David Whelan was born on 24 November 1936 and is an English businessman and former footballer.

2.

Dave Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having been the chairman of the club for twenty years, before passing the position over to his grandson, David Sharpe, who eventually passed the ownership over to International Entertainment Corporation.

3.

Dave Whelan himself did not complete the game, a feisty challenge from Dave Whelan on Norman Deeley culminated in the Blackburn man being withdrawn before half time due to a broken leg.

4.

Dave Whelan then retired to concentrate on developing a retail grocery business.

5.

Dave Whelan started out a market stall on Wigan market after working with Howarth Brothers on their stall in Blackburn.

6.

Dave Whelan later progressed into a grocers, before visiting America where he studied the self-service supermarket.

7.

Dave Whelan returned to England and set about creating a supermarket chain.

8.

Dave Whelan acquired a Wigan based fishing and sports store JJ Bradburns in 1971.

9.

Dave Whelan continued to use the company name JJB Sports and continued the retail of sports goods.

10.

Dave Whelan gradually scaled down his interests in the company, and in 2005 stepped down as chairman.

11.

In March 2009, Dave Whelan acquired back troubled JJB's nationwide chain of fitness clubs and stores.

12.

Dave Whelan bought Wigan Athletic in February 1995, when they were a Division Three team.

13.

In 2005, Dave Whelan threatened to quit the club unless the price of policing games was reduced.

14.

Dave Whelan subsequently called for Premier League Chairman Dave Richards and chief executive Richard Scudamore to resign.

15.

On 3 March 2015, Dave Whelan stepped down as chairman, appointing his 23-year-old grandson, David Sharpe, as the new chairman.

16.

In November 2014, Dave Whelan was accused of making antisemitic statements, following an interview he gave The Guardian, defending his decision to hire Malky Mackay as manager of Wigan.

17.

Dave Whelan was accused of racist attitudes by defending Mackay's alleged referral to Chinese people as "chinks".

18.

Cardiff City owner, Vincent Tan, who is Malaysian Chinese, said of Dave Whelan, "I think he has insulted the dignity of the Chinese".

19.

Anti-racist organisation Kick It Out offered support to Dave Whelan, saying that they had a responsibility to ensure that people of his age would understand "modern expectations".

20.

Dave Whelan threatened to leave his position at Wigan if the FA found him guilty of racism.