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Katrien Meire

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Katrien Meire
CEO of Sheffield Wednesday
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2018
CEO of Charlton Athletic
In office
January 2014 – December 2017
Personal details
BornTongeren, Belgium[1]
Residence(s)Sheffield, United Kingdom
OccupationBusinesswoman, lawyer

Katrien Meire (born 7 July 1984)[2][3] is a Belgian lawyer who is the chief executive of Sheffield Wednesday. She was formerly was the chief executive of Charlton Athletic from 2014-2017, before being announced as Chief Executive of Sheffield Wednesday in January 2018, a role she currently presides. Her time at Charlton coincided with widespread supporter protests and dissatisfaction, along with a dramatic decline in the club's league position. Since her appointment at Sheffield Wednesday, she has been praised for providing stability and productivity to the club.[4]

Early career

Meire studied law at University of Leuven, completing her LLM in 2007. She continued her studies in Competition Law at University College London for a further year.[5][6] She has worked for law firms Olswang and Baker & McKenzie in the area of competition law, particularly mergers and acquisitions and cartels.[2][7] In 2016, Meire was awarded the Laureaten VRG-Alumniprijs.[8]

Football

In 2011, Meire provided legal advice to Roland Duchâtelet, involving TV rights issues with Sint-Truidense V.V.; Meire is a supporter of Sint-Truiden.[1][2] Meire's involvement in football continued when she worked as the "Legal and International Relations Manager" for Standard Liège, another club owned by Duchâtelet.[9][10]

Charlton Athletic

After Duchâtelet's purchase of Charlton Athletic in 2014, Meire was appointed as the Chief Executive of the club.[2][11] She was one of only a few female club executives at the time.[2][12] Meire commented on this saying that she didn't believe she was treated differently for being a female chief executive, adding that "people are quite receptive to the idea of a woman chief executive."[12]

In September 2016, season ticket sales had fallen to 6,297, from 10,278 at the same time the previous year.[13] In January 2015, Meire was confronted on a train about the appointment of manager Guy Luzon after Charlton lost 5–0 to Watford; Meire claimed that there were 20 applicants for the job, including former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley. After the incident, Meire said fans should "accept how we run the club".[14][15][16]

Meire was threatened with legal action in June 2016 after claiming a takeover bid brokered by a former chief executive of Charlton would lead to the club leaving its home, The Valley.[17]

That same year, Meire was appointed as one of four Football League representatives to the FA Council. She was subsequently re-elected the following summer, in August 2017.[18]

In May 2016, Meire claimed she had received "extreme abuse" from Charlton fans, particularly after the club's relegation to League One for the 2016–17 season; some fans turned up to Meire's parents' house in Belgium, and she also claimed some supporters had committed criminal offences against her.[19][20] A few days beforehand, there had been protests aimed at Meire during Charlton's last match of the 2015–16 season.[21]

During her time running Charlton, the club underwent eight managerial changes[22] and was relegated to League One, the third tier of English football.[23] The club were particularly successful in the transfer market during her tenure at the club. Nick Pope, a future England international, broke into the first team during the 2015-16 season before being sold to Burnley for £1 million.[24] Andrea Lookman was sold to Everton for a divisional record of £7.9 million during the 2016-17 season[25], having made a name for himself the previous season following a breakthrough from the club's academy. The sales were credited with Charlton announcing their first profit in thirteen years.[26]

Meire left her Charlton Chief Executive role at the end of December 2017.[27][28].

Sheffield Wednesday

On 1 January 2018, Meire was named Chief Executive of Sheffield Wednesday, with the club then in 16th position in The Championship. [29] She has been described as a 'steady influence' at the club'. Meire has credited this to the fact she is "away from the forefront of the club compared to my previous club".[30]

References

  1. ^ a b "KATRIEN MEIRE, LE BRAS DROIT DE CHARME DE ROLAND DUCHÂTELET, SE CONFIE: "J'AI DÛ LICENCIER DES GENS, ET CE N'EST PAS AGRÉABLE"". Sud Info (in French). 24 September 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Bill (10 September 2014). "Charlton boss Meire part of select female football club". BBC News. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Charlton concern after resignation of chief executive is falsely posted". The Guardian. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. ^ Cusick, Aiden (10 May 2018). "Sheffield Wednesday fans laud Katrien Meire after Atdhe Nuhiu signs new Hillsborough contract". Here Is The City. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Laureaten VRG-Alumniprijs" (in Dutch). VRG Alumni. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  6. ^ "Katrien Meire". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  7. ^ De Herdt, Jeroen; Kerremans, Johan (July 2013). Wet & Duiding Sport (in Dutch). Primento. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  8. ^ https://www.law.kuleuven.be/vrgalumni/alumniprijs
  9. ^ "Choisie par Duchâtelet pour gérer Charlton, Katrien Meire répond aux questions qui dérangent". RTL Group (in French). 24 September 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Takeover: CAFC Board All Change – Katrien Meire is latest Director". Charlton Athletic Supporters trust. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  11. ^ "Bogus documents announce Charlton chief's resignation". The Wharf. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  12. ^ a b Bose, Misir (25 March 2015). "Katrien Meire: I've had frightening abuse from Charlton fans… but I love leading role". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  13. ^ "Charlton aiming to rise again against backdrop of fury and boycotts". The Guardian. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Belgische CEO Charlton in pittige discussie met misnoegde fans op trein". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  15. ^ Newman, Benjamin (18 January 2015). "Charlton's CEO Katrien Meire confronted on the train by an Addicks fan over Guy Luzon appointment". 101 Great Goals. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  16. ^ Muro, Giuseppe (15 January 2015). "Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire: Fans must accept how we run club". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  17. ^ "Peter Varney considering legal action against Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire". News Shopper. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  18. ^ "Charlton chief executive re-elected to FA Council". News Shopper. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  19. ^ Rumsby, Ben (12 May 2016). "I have suffered extreme abuse, says Charlton executive Katrien Meire". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Charlton Athletic chief executive hits out at fans who 'cross line' in protests". The Guardian. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  21. ^ "Charlton fans make their point with inventive banner aimed at owners". Eurosport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  22. ^ "Charlton Athletic appoint Russell Slade as manager after Championship relegation". BBC Sport. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  23. ^ "Charlton Athletic relegated to League One after draw at Bolton". The Guardian. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  24. ^ "Where are they now? The players Charlton sold: Part 1". News Shopper. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  25. ^ "Where are they now? The players Charlton sold: Part 1". News Shopper. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  26. ^ ITRM. "Charlton Athletic accounts filed for year ending June 2017". www.cafc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  27. ^ "Charlton owner in takeover talks as CEO Katrien Meire steps down". The Guardian. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  28. ^ "Charlton Athletic: Katrien Meire to stand down as chief executive". BBC Sport. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  29. ^ "Owls announce Chief Executive Officer". swfc.co.uk. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  30. ^ Field, Pippa (26 January 2019). "Katrien Meire on the abuse that forced her to leave Charlton: 'Fans knew where I took the train - it only takes one crazy person'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
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