Stewart Donald

Stewart Donald is an English businessman and football administrator. Based in Witney, Oxfordshire, he is CEO of Bridle Insurance[1] and owner of Sunderland A.F.C.

In February 2010, he bought Eastleigh F.C. in the Conference South. In May 2017, with the club now one division higher in the National League, he told the Southern Daily Echo that he would repeat his total investment of £10 million in the club in the aim of getting them into the English Football League.[2] He developed a reputation for being careful with money, saying that he "hit the roof" because the club were giving free bottles of water to players who would only drink half; he saved the team £500 by stopping this.[3]

In July 2015, Donald paid £500,000 to buy a 10% stake in Oxford United, the club he had supported his whole life and previously donated to. He did not become a member of the board due to conflict of interest relating to his role at Eastleigh.[4]

In April 2018, Donald was chosen to be the leader of a consortium offering to purchase Sunderland, who were put up for sale by billionaire owner Ellis Short after a second successive relegation to League One.[1] He agreed to sell Eastleigh so that he could own Sunderland.[5] On 21 May, he officially became owner of Sunderland, doing so without the consortium to speed the transition.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Mennear, Richard (29 April 2018). "Who is Stewart Donald? The Eastleigh chairman set to take control of Sunderland". i. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  2. ↑ "Eastleigh FC owner Stewart Donald has spent £100m .... and would do it all again!". Southern Daily Echo. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Kelner, Martha (30 April 2018). "Who is Stewart Donald, Sunderland's prospective new chairman?". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  4. ↑ Pritchard, David (2 July 2015). "Stewart Donald invests more than £500k to buy Oxford United stake". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  5. ↑ Stone, Simon (4 May 2018). "Sunderland: Prospective owner Stewart Donald agrees sale of Eastleigh". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "Sunderland: Stewart Donald completes takeover from Ellis Short". BBC Sport. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
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