Dave Whelan

Dave Whelan is a successful businessman and a former professional association footballer. He began his career playing in the English Football League from 1956 to 1966. Playing for Blackburn Rovers, then in the First Division, his career in the upper echelon came to an abrupt end at the 1960 FA Cup Final, when he broke his leg after a hefty tackle. After a year out of the game he reentered the Fourth Division, playing for Crewe Alexandra before finally retiring in 1966. Before finishing his career as an athlete he had already begun his successful foray into business, beginning as the owner of a chain of what would become supermarkets. In 1977 he acquired JJB Sports and built it into a successful chain of sports goods shops. JJB Sports was named for its original founder John J. Broughton. Later it would become DW Sports, named after Dave Whelan himself. In 1995 he was able to acquire the football team he supported from childhood, Wigan Athletic AFC, which club he still owns a controlling interest in, although he was recently forced to step down from the role of chairman due to bad publicity surrounding some controversial public statements. Under his aegis, Wigan entered the Premier League in 2004, and although they were relegated in 2013, in that year they won their first ever major domestic trophy, the FA Cup.