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David Dein, former vice-chairman, Arsenal Footbal Club and the Football Association
David Dein is a football entrepreneur and successful businessman.
He is the former vice-chairman of both Arsenal Football Club and the Football Association. He was also the chairman of the G-14 group of European football clubs between October 2006 and May 2007 and in 2010 he was the president of the England World Cup bid for the 2018 finals.
At Arsenal, he was responsible for football matters taking an active role in the transfer of players and contract negotiations where he was able to use his extensive network of football contacts. Dein was behind the appointment of the then little known Arsène Wenger to the manager's job in 1996; under Wenger Arsenal have won the FA Premier League three times and the FA Cup four times, and Dein strongly backed him and his transfer wishes throughout.
In 1986 Dein was voted onto the board of the Football League Management Committee and subsequently achieved a place on the FA Council. He was also a major force in the inception of the FA Premier League in 1992. He eventually rose to the position of vice-chairman of the FA in 2000, a post he held until 2004 when it was scrapped after restructuring. He was subsequently re-elected to the FA Board as a FA Premier League representative.
Dein also helped obtain Arsenal's entry into the G-14 group of major European football clubs in 2002, and became chairman of the G-14 in October 2006. A keen promoter of women's football, he was also President of Arsenal Ladies Football Club, the most successful English women's football team, while Arsenal vice-chairman.
