Further down the page is a revised board and shareholding timeline, while below are the pictures of City chairman from 1894 onwards that I've found online. I've managed to identify 17 chairmen so far, but can't find out who held the position between 1916 and 1923. There's no reference for this period in any of the histories I've read so far, so if anyone knows who the person or people might be please get in touch.
Staying on the history theme, I've been looking at the section of my site stats which tells me what search terms people have used, and it appears this site is helping educate United fans in historical matters. Earlier today someone typed 'what was the greatest achievement of Adolf Hitler?' into Google and my story about the bombing of Old Trafford was third on the list. Another visitor came through a Spanish search engine called Zymboo. If you type 'Old Trafford' into that site, the tale of how United became known as the 'Rags' is listed, while the story I published last year about electricans rearranging the lettering to form this message was ranked third.
City's chairmen: 1894 to the present
You'll notice that City had four chairmen in 1906, which was the result of an FA investigation into match fixing. I'm going to be writing about this in a few weeks time, and will also be publishing an extract from the upcoming book, Purely Man City: Writings, Reference & Miscellany, about a political and financial scandal that resulted in the club changing their name from Ardwick to Manchester City in 1894.
(click on a thumbnail for the full-size picture)
John Chapman (1894 to 1903)
Edward Hulton jnr (1903 to c1906)
John Allison (1906)
William Forrest (1906)
W A Wilkinson (1906 to c1916)
Lawrence Furniss (1916 & 1921 to 1928)
Albert Hughes (1929 to c1937)
Robert Smith (c1937 to 1940s)
Walter Smith (c1956 to c1960)
Alan Douglas (c1960 to 1965)
Albert Alexander jnr (1965 to 1971)
Eric Alexander (Dec 1971 to Oct 1972)
Peter Swales (Oct 1972 to Feb 1994)
Francis Lee (Feb 1994 to Mar 1998)
David Bernstein (Mar 1998 to Mar 2003)
John Wardle (Mar 2003 to Jul 2007)
Thaksin Shinawatra (Jul 2007 to present)
Directors and shareholding timeline
Following the death this week of former vice-chairman Freddie Pye, I thought it would be a good time to show his place in City's history.
A few more details have been added since I first published the timeline, but with financial information about City hard to come by, there are still plenty of gaps to be filled.
1894
April 13: Manchester City Football Club formed as limited company. 2,000 ordinary £1 shares are issued.
May 18: Chesters Brewery takes 100 shares (5%).
Publican John Edward Chapman becomes first chairman.
Founding shareholders include:
John Edward Chapman (publican) - one share
Samuel Barnett (schoolmaster) - one share
Robert Hayes (telegraphist) - one share
Frederick William Skinner (slate manufacturer) - one share
(pencil inventor)
John Robert Connelly? (schoolmaster) - one share
Alfred Jones (brewer) - one share
Edwin Hudson - one share
Charles McCouglan? (agent) - one share
William Raymond? (publican) - one share
Alexander (illegible) (signwriter & decorator) - one share
Robert Heath - one share
1902
Feb: 'Several’ directors resign.
Jun: New directorate elected at AGM. Chapman replaced as chairman by newspaper magnate Edward Hulton Jr.
1903
April board includes:
Chairman: Edward Hulton jnr
President: Alderman C H Waterhouse
Directors: John Chapman and John Allison.
1904
Allison resigns as director towards end of 1903-04 season.
May?: Molyneux and Jones appointed directors.
Oct: Directors Joshua Parlby, John Chapman and Lawrence Furniss banned for three years and finance director G Madders suspended for life.
1906
Feb:
Chairman: John Allison
Apr: W A Wilkinson replaces John Chapman as director.
William Forrest , former president of the Lancashire FA, becomes chairman.
May 31: All directors suspended except Wilkinson.
Directors John Allison and vice-chairman Davies suspended until Jan 1st 1907.
Directors Molyneux and Jones suspended.
Dec 31:
Chairman: W A Wilkinson
1908
Directors: S Anderson and J Royle
1910
May:
Chairman: W A Wilkinson.
1912
Aug 31:
Director: J Ayrton
1921-1928
Chairman: Lawrence Furniss (& also in 1916)
1929
Chairman: Albert Hughes
1933
Chairman: Albert Hughes
1937
Oct 26 board:
Chairman: Robert Smith
Vice-chairman: Albert EB Alexander (Snr)
Directors: Dr J Bowling Holmes, William Menzies Shaw, F R Jolly and H Wood.
1951
Director: Walter Smith
1953
Oct board:
President: Albert Alexander (Snr) JP
Chairman: Robert Smith
Directors: Alan Douglas, E Gill, F R Jolly, Walter Smith
1956
Apr:
Chairman: Walter Smith
1959
Jul 9:
Vice-chairman: Alan Douglas
1960
Mar:
Chairman: Alan Douglas
Director: Doug Hamer
1963
May:
Chairman: Alan Douglas
1965
Apr: Albert Alexander (jnr) becomes chairman.
1968
Summer: Eric Alexander, son of the chairman, joins board
1969
Chris Muir leaves board.
1970
List of shareholders:
Albert Alexander (chairman) - 560 shares (28%)
Frank Johnson (vice chairman) - 521 shares (26.05%)
Eric Alexander (director) 27 shares (1.35%)
John J Humphries (director)
Sidney Rose (director)
Chris Muir - 103 shares (5.15%)
Total shares in issue: 2,000 (including 300 ‘missing’ shares)
1971
Apr: Peter Swales joins board after being given 10 shares (0.5%)
Aug 14: Double glazing tycoon Joe Smith and Simon Cussons, a member of the soap manufacturing family, become directors.
Early Dec: Albert Alexander given title of President. His son Eric Alexander becomes chairman. Joe Smith named vice-chairman.
1972
Feb: Ian Niven joins board.
Mar: Swales becomes vice-chairman.
Oct 5: Eric Alexander stands down. Swales appointed chairman.
Smith becomes president and Cussons vice-chairman. Chris Muir returns to board.
1975-79
Greenalls acquire a stake in the club in the second half of the decade.
1979
Feb: Director John Humphries, a member of the family that created and owned Umbro, dies.
1982
Freddie Pye, a colleague of Swales at Altrincham in the 1960s, joins board as vice-president.
1984-85
Kitchens tycoon Stephen Boler buys a stake in City from Peter Swales.
1988
Freddie Pye appointed vice-chairman.
Late 1980s
Share issue raises £750,000 and leaves Swales and Boler with a joint holding of 64%.
1993
Freddie Pye steps down as vice-chairman.
Aug 21: Former Sunday people journalist John Maddock appointed general manager. Maddock had joined City as a PR at the start of the season.
1994
Feb 05: Francis Lee appointed chairman after paying £3million for 112,337 shares from both Swales and Boler at £13.35 per share. Colin Barlow (the new chief executive), John Dunkerley and David Holt become directors that month. Ashley Lewis also joins board, representing Boler's stake. Andrew Thomas (the Greenalls nominee) remains on board.
Nov: David Bernstein appointed to board after being recommended to Lee by Sir Howard Davies as a City fan background and a name in the City of London who could assist in preparing the club for a flotation on the Stock Exchange.
Oct 2: Company floated on OFEX.
List of shareholders:
Francis Lee - 3,882,660 shares (21.6%)
Other consortium members - 3,713,196 shares (20.66%)
Greenalls PLC - 2,498,477 shares (13.9%)
Stephen Boler - 1,648,356 shares (9.17%)
PJ Swales Ltd & exors of PJ Swales - 1,255,704 shares (6.99%)
Total shares in issue: 17,971,806
1996
Jul: David Bernstein appointed vice-chairman.
Seven of the old directors are phased out over the following twelve months, including Freddie Pye and Ian Niven.
1997
Jan 1: Michael Turner, formerly commercial manager at Liverpool FC, appointed chief executive with effect from 3rd March. Colin Barlow continues on the board with responsibility for special project development.
Feb 17: Rights issue raises £11.8m before expenses. Stephen Boler and "John Wardle & his associate" each pay £5m for 6,250,000 shares. 1,998,343 shares are sold to other subscribers.
New list of shareholders:
Stephen Boler - 7,898,356 shares (24.12%)
Trustees connected with
John Wardle & his associate - 6,250,000 shares (19.09%)
Francis Lee - 3,882,660 shares (11.8%)
Other consortium members - 3,713,196 shares (11.34%)
Greenalls Plc - 2,498,476 shares (7.63%)
PJ Swales Ltd & exors of PJ Swales - 1,255,704 shares (3.84%)
Total shares in issue: 32,470,149
Dec 12: Colin Barlow, John Dunkerley and David Holt all resign from board. Dennis Tueart appointed director.
1998
Mar 16: John Wardle appointed to board.
Mar 17: Francis Lee resigns as chairman. Bernstein replaces him.
Jun 25: Non-executive directors Andrew Thomas (his alternate director Norman Summers) and Ashley Lewis are appointed to the newly formed audit and remuneration committees of the Board.
Oct 30: Stephen Boler dies. Boler’s shareholding to be managed by Walbrook Trustees, representing the Boler family.
Nov 23: Chief executive Mike Turner resigns. Chairman David Bernstein assumes a number of Turner’s responsibilities. Chris Bird becomes chairman's assistant.
1999
Jun 1: John Wardle appointed deputy chairman. Chris Bird promoted to chief operating officer. Alistair Mackintosh becomes finance director.
Dec 6: BSkyB buys 9.95% of club for £5.5m. £4.8m of loans from Wardle & Makin converted into shares. Wardle, Makin and Boler family awarded 5,390,538 bonus shares following triggering of clause in Dec 1996 rights issue. Total of 13,468,683 new shares issued.
New list of shareholders:
John Wardle - 13.99%
David Makin - 11.01%
Walbrook Trustees - 18.89%
BSkyB - 9.95%
Francis Lee - 7.24%
The Greenalls Group Plc - 4.84%
Total shares in issue: 53,672,693
2000
Jul 27: Thomas resigns as director. Bryan Bodek appointed to the board and replaces Thomas on both the audit and remuneration committees.
2001
Feb 7: De Vere Group PLC (formerly The Greenalls Group Plc) sells ‘substantially all’ of its stake to Makin and Wardle.
New list of shareholders:
JC Wardle - 16.1%
David Makin - 13.85%
Walbrook Trustees - 18.75%
BSkyB - 9.88%
Francis Lee - 7.13%
Total shares in issue: 54,089,353
2002
Sep 05: Sara Billington appointed assistant to chief operating officer Chris Bird.
The 31-year-old from Baguley joined the Blues in 1996 as secretary to then managing director Colin Barlow. She is a former pupil of Wellington Road School in Timperley.
"My job will be to assist the chief operating officer in day-to-day business, head up the communications department, assist the chairman and be front of house on match days."
Dec 24: Chris Bird appointed managing director - development. Alistair Mackintosh appointed managing director – finance
2003
Feb 27: Chris Bird tenders resignation.
Mar 5: David Bernstein resigns.
Mar 7: Chris Bird leaves
May 19: John Wardle becomes chairman. Bryan Bodek appointed deputy chairman. Alistair Mackintosh becomes managing director.
2005
May 25: Ashley Lewis leaves board.
2006
Jan 25: Mark Boler becomes director.
2007
Jul 6: Dr Thaksin Shinawatra becomes chairman following the complete takeover of the club.
Jul 6: Panthongtae Shinawatra, Thaksin’s son, appointed non-executive director. Panthongtae ‘founded How Come Group, an events organising company in Thailand and is a major shareholder in seven other companies in Thailand covering various fields including photography, television programme production and beverages.
Jul 6: Pintongta Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter, appointed non-executive director. Pintongta is ‘a major shareholder in 12 companies in Thailand ranging from real estate and car-leasing to technology.
Jul 6: Sasin Monvoisin, a fashion company director, appointed director.
Jul 6: John Wardle become non-executive Deputy Chairman.
Jul 6: Dennis Tueart resigns from the board.
Jul 6: Mark Boler resigns from the board.
Aug 9: Taweesuk Jack Srisumrid appointed Executive Director. Taweesuk is managing director of The Empire Asia Group Co Ltd, a leading financial advisory and private investment group based in Thailand.
And back to the present day
Is it just me who's got a really good feeling about the Chelsea game? With City players allegedly read the riot act and Chelsea having to face Fenerbahce next Tuesday, I'm getting confident about a win. And fact that beating Chelsea would probably secure the title for United is for me the final clincher.
~ I decided to hold over the story about Micah Richards' dealings with the News of The World as I'm not quite happy with it yet, but I will definitely be running it next week.
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