Peter Kenyon
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Peter Kenyon (born 1954 in Stalybridge, Cheshire) is a British businessman who has served as the chief executive of English Premier League clubs Manchester United Football Club and Chelsea Football Club, where he has been involved in contentious transfer dealings.[1]
Early life
Kenyon was educated in Tameside at West Hill School and The King's School, Macclesfield.
Career
Kenyon was a director and chief executive of sportswear firm Umbro.[2]
Manchester United
Kenyon took up the role of deputy chief executive at his boyhood team Manchester United in 1997, where he sat on the Board of Directors. He was promoted to chief executive in August 2000 following the departure of Martin Edwards. Kenyon was influential in persuading long-serving manager Alex Ferguson to remain at the club despite Ferguson's original intention to retire in 2002. One of the other notable aspects of Kenyon's time in charge was the fact that the club dismissed their rigid wage structure and spent large sums of money on players such as Juan Sebastian Veron and Rio Ferdinand.[citation needed] During his time in his role, the club actually became one of the most financially stable, while simultaneously expanding their global appeal.
Chelsea
Kenyon's move to Chelsea was seen as controversial as he had previously proclaimed himself as a lifelong Manchester United supporter.[3]
Since joining Chelsea, Kenyon has been involved in high-profile controversies including an attempt to persuade the manager of the England national team Sven-Göran Eriksson to become manager of Chelsea, and the tapping-up of former Arsenal and England left-back Ashley Cole.[4]
On 16 September 2009, Chelsea announced that Kenyon would be leaving his chief executive role at Chelsea at the end of October.[5]
Third party ownership
On 22 September 2014, an investigation by The Guardian implicated Kenyon alongside Portuguese superagent Jorge Mendes in breaching FIFA regulations regarding third party ownership and conflict of interest in player representation, buying player rights through companies based in Jersey and Ireland.[6] The Guardian also published a detailed report showing Kenyon's ex-club Chelsea have invested in third party ownership via Mendes and Kenyon, a practice banned by the Premier League. Chelsea declined to comment on the accusations.[6][7]
References
- ^ McCarra, Kevin (10 June 2005). "The Guardian profile: Peter Kenyon". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ McKenzie, Andrew (8 September 2003). "Profile: Peter Kenyon". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
- ^ url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/3091316.stm
- ^ "Chelsea's Peter Kenyon: Profile". The Guardian. London. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
- ^ "Chelsea chief Kenyon leaves role". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2009.
- ^ a b http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/22/-sp-jorge-mendes-agent-third-party-ownership-players
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/30/chelsea-links-third-party-ownership