John Steven Wharton (born October 1943) and widely known as Steve Wharton, is the former chairman and a previous majority shareholder of Scunthorpe United.

Football chairman

Wharton became chairman of Scunthorpe United at the start of the 2001–02 season replacing his father Jack in the role. However, he later announced his resignation after stating that he would resign if the club were not promoted to the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. He returned as chairman in 2004 after a boardroom battle with his then replacement Chris Holland. He immediately re-appointed then manager

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

following his sacking three weeks earlier. Along with Holland, three other board members resigned from the

Glanford Park Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, and is the current home of team Scunthorpe United. Opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, it was the first new purpose-built Football League stadi ...

club. He re-instated Laws again in 2012, but stood down as chairman and withdrew from the board at the end of the 2012–13 season due to health reasons. He was replaced by former

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

chairman

Peter Swann Peter Swann (born 29 October 1965) is United Kingdom, British businessman and the former chairman of football clubs Gainsborough Trinity F.C., Gainsborough Trinity and Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United, having taken over at the latter f ...

. In a statement, Wharton said that he was leaving Scunthorpe on "a very low note" as the club had been relegated to

. During his time with Scunthorpe, the club twice won promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. Under his tenure, the club had a reputation for punching above their weight, as well as developing young players and selling them on for big fees including

Billy Sharp Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and captains club Sheffield United. He has also played for Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Readin ...

Andy Keogh Andrew Declan Keogh (born 16 May 1986) is a former Irish professional footballer who last played as a striker for A-League club Perth Glory. Born in Dublin, Keogh played the first several years of his professional career playing for a number ...

and

Gary Hooper Gary Hooper (born 26 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot club Omonia. Hooper started his career at League Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, as wel ...

. Wharton was praised by former Scunthorpe manager

Nigel Adkins Nigel Howard Adkins (born 11 March 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player and physiotherapist. Adkins played as a goalkeeper for Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic. He finished his playing career and began his man ...

for the way he ran the club. In an interview with

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

, Adkins said: “When I was manager, the chairman was great — Mr Wharton, you’ve got to give him credit. I was pushing like mad to spend a bit more to get in a couple of better players to keep us up. He said ‘Nigel, you reap what you sow’ and he was right, you have to live within your means. I had a great relationship with Mr Wharton. There was stability and that helps. We live in a world where everyone wants to live now but we had a football club that was for the community." In the same piece, Adkins and several others criticised Wharton's successor Peter Swann as the club went into disarray under Swann's tenure.

Business

He was the previous head of the Wharton shipping complex at nearby

Gunness Gunness (or Gunhouse) is a village and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated west from Scunthorpe, and on the east bank of the River Trent. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,462. On the Doncaster ...

. This family business of shipping and freight transport was founded by his grandfather Joseph but its sale was announced in 2005. Wharton joined the business in 1961, and was instrumental in the continuing growth and success of the company. His personal fortune has been estimated at £33 million. He also owns substantial farming land in Lincolnshire.

Personal life

In 2012, Wharton spoke of how his son had suffered ME for the past 13 years, and despite being a fanatic shareholder in Scunthorpe United, he would not be able to take over ownership of the club. On 17 March 2008, he suffered a suspected

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

and was admitted to hospital. He was released from hospital on 26 March and spent time at home recovering. He returned to club duties in July. He suffered a second heart attack in 2010 and cited his 2013 retirement as being necessary due to his health.http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/scunthorpe-united-statement-steve-wharton-s/story-18857364-detail/story.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, J. Steven English football chairmen and investors Living people 1943 births