Shaun Harvey

Shaun Antony Harvey (born 25 February 1970) is a British businessman and football executive. Harvey is the chief executive of the English Football League having formerly been the CEO of Leeds United, as well as a club director. Prior to joining Leeds, Harvey was managing director at Bradford City. In June 2011 Harvey was elected to the Football League board of Directors^[1] and on 29 July 2013 became its Chief Executive.^[2]

Background

Harvey studied for his O Levels and A Levels at Hough Side High School in Bramley. After leaving school, he took up a job at the Guardian Royal Exchange Insurance Company. He then took up an administration job at Farsley Celtic F.C. which led to a chance meeting with Geoffrey Richmond, the then chairman of Scarborough. In February 1992, Harvey took up at job at Scarborough after having been personally invited by Richmond to the club. When Richmond became chairman of Bradford City, Harvey followed him where he eventually became Managing Director and the club rose to the Premier League for the first time in its history.

Leeds United

In June 2004, after ten years at Bradford City, Harvey joined Leeds United as chief executive officer.^[3] The new management of Leeds included Richmond who joined the club as a board advisor.

Harvey remained at Leeds for nine years before stepping down as chief executive officer on 1 July 2013. He was replaced by David Haigh, deputy chief executive of new owners GFH Capital, who took up the role of managing director.

English Football League

In June 2011 Shaun Harvey was elected to the Football League Board of Directors by Championship clubs.^[1] and on 29 July 2013 he was appointed the organisation's Chief Executive.^[2] As Chief Executive, he took responsibility for the day to day administration and management of the largest single body of professional clubs in European football which includes the fourth most watched league competition, the Sky Bet Championship, as well as Sky Bet League One and Two, the Carabao Cup and the Checkatrade Trophy.

During his time at the EFL, Shaun Harvey has implemented a number of controversial changes to the League and its competitions. In the summer of 2016, The Football League was renamed the ‘English Football League’ as part of a comprehensive corporate and competition re-branding to give the League’s competitions a new and distinct identity, while simultaneously retaining its unique heritage.

More recent changes included a controversial change in format to the Football League Trophy. He claimed this was to allow a young players a chance to develop, to reinvigorate the competition and to increase prize money^[4]. This led to record low crowds and a drastic decrease in the average number of fans attending games^[5].

He oversees a commercial programme that generates more than £100m of revenue every season from broadcasting and sponsorship. This includes the recently launched iFollow service – a digital streaming over-the-top platform that allows the estimated 270,000 overseas fans of EFL clubs to watch their team play live.^[6]

Most recently, Shaun Harvey agreed a live domestic broadcasting rights deal with Sky Sports worth £600million running until 2024, the biggest in the League’s history.

Harvey spoke out in 2018 in favour of safe standing in principle,^[7] but against a mid-season break in EFL leagues as impractical (although he was in favour of its implementation for the Premier League).^[8]

References