Ian Ayre is the CEO of

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and a former chief executive officer and main board director of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Career

Leaving school at age 16, he joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. After leaving the senior service, he then undertook various roles in business in Asia, eventually becoming chief executive of Pace Systems.

Liverpool FC

On 15 October 2010, NESV completed its £300m takeover of Liverpool, at which time the club's existing Managing Director

Christian Purslow Christian Purslow (born 14 December 1963) is a British businessman who is the chief executive officer of the Premier League club Aston Villa Football Club. He was the co-founder of private equity firm MidOcean Partners and was the former managing ...

stepped down. The club's owners,

Fenway Sports Group Fenway Sports Group Holdings, LLC (FSG), is an American multinational sports holding conglomerate who own Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox, Premier League club Liverpool F.C., and the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins. FSG wa ...

, led by

John W. Henry John William Henry II (born September 13, 1949) is an American businessman and investor and the founder of John W. Henry & Company, an investment management firm. He is the principal owner of Liverpool Football Club, the Boston Red Sox, ''The B ...

and the chairman

Tom Werner Thomas Charles Werner (born April 12, 1950) is an American television producer and businessman. Through his investment in Fenway Sports Group, he is currently chairman of both Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Red Sox. Werner first became ...

, announced Ayre as the new Managing Director on 22 March 2011. With the sacking of

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

Damien Comolli Damien Jacques Comolli (born 24 November 1971) is a French former association football, football coach and scout and the current director of football of Toulouse FC. He has previously worked with the clubs AS Monaco FC, Monaco, AS Saint-Étienne, ...

in April 2012, Ayre was given more responsibility and in May 2014 was officially promoted to

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. In March 2016, Liverpool announced Ayre would step down as CEO at the end of May 2017, when his current contract expired. In November 2016, Ayre was awarded the 'fcbusiness Premier League CEO of the Year' award at the ''Football Business Awards'' 2016.

Criticisms

In 2012, a transfer committee was established after Liverpool's failure to land several notable transfers and underwhelming incoming transfers were widely criticized by media and fans alike. In January 2016, Ayre was criticized for his role in a proposed increase in ticket prices despite boosts in commercial revenue, which led to a walkout of 10,000 fans led by fan group

Spirit of Shankly Spirit Of Shankly (SOS) is the official supporters' union and leader of the supporters board for fans of Liverpool F.C. Named after former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, the union was formed in early 2008 by disgruntled fans opposed to the fo ...

. The club owners later issued a formal apology and reversed their decision.

1860 Munich

Ayre left Liverpool at the end of February 2017 to take over as managing director of

TSV 1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members o ...

in Germany. He left this position in May 2017 shortly before 1860 Munich was relegated to the 3 Liga and later went down to the fourth division due to financial issues.

Nashville SC

On 21 May 2018, Ayre was named the CEO of the Nashville expansion franchise in

References

External links

Official Announcement of Ian Ayre as Managing Director at Liverpool FC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayre, Ian Living people Sailors from Liverpool Royal Navy sailors British sports executives and administrators Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. chairmen and investors Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff 1963 births