John Williams (born 1939 or 1940) is an English football chairman. Who was most recently Chairman of West Bromwich Albion F.C. Williams previously served as chairman and chief executive of

Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. ...

, having been appointed to the board in 1997 and then promoted to chairman/chief executive in 1998 by the club's then owner

Jack Walker Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Blackb ...

. With Williams at the helm Rovers enjoyed notable success; winning promotion back to the Premier League in the 2000/01 season. Followed by 10 consecutive seasons in the Premier League (many of which resulted in top 10 finishes), qualification to the UEFA Cup 3 times in 5 years. There was relative success in the cup competitions also, with League Cup victory in 2001/02 and 2 FA Cup semi finals in 2004/05 and 2006/07. Williams resigned his position as chairman in February 2011, after becoming dissatisfied with the club's new owners Venky's London Ltd., especially after they made the decision to sack manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English association football, football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent most ...

in November 2010. Allardyce had only just concluded a successful season at Rovers, with the club having reached the semi finals of the League Cup and had ended the 2009/10 season in the top 10 of the division. Shortly after Williams's departure, Blackburn Rovers were relegated to the Championship, in May 2012, where they remain. Following his resignation of his post at Blackburn Rovers, Williams became Chairman of

Professional Game Match Officials Limited {{Use dmy dates, date=January 201.He is a Everton fan. (PGMOL) is the body responsible for match officials in English professional football. Formerly known as the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOB), it was formed when English refere ...

, and served in this position for 3 years before becoming Chairman of West Bromwich Albion F.C. in 2016.

West Bromwich Albion

Following the announcement of the planned takeover of West Bromwich Albion F.C. by Chinese investors in July 2016, Williams effectively began his term in office, assuming the respective powers of chairman and replacing outgoing Owner and Chairman

Jeremy Peace Jeremy Roland Peace (born 13 August 1956) is a British businessman, and the former chairman and owner of West Bromwich Albion F.C, a professional football club in the West Midlands, England. Biography Jeremy Peace was born 13 August 1956 in Wes ...

. Upon completion of his takeover on 15 September 2016, incoming owner

Guochuan Lai Lai Guochuan (; born 1974) is a Chinese businessman and investor, and the majority shareholder and chairman of Championship football club West Bromwich Albion. Lai is the controlling shareholder and director of private investment firm Yunyi Guo ...

officially appointed Williams chairman of the club.Club's official website http://www.wba.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/club-statement-west-brom-albion-takeover-guochuan-lai-3308509.aspx After a string of poor results in the 2017/18 season, Williams was responsible for the sacking of Head Coach

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

. Williams was later also responsible for the appointment of

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final th ...

as the new head coach of the club. Following a disastrous run of results under Head Coach Alan Pardew, Williams was sacked by owner

along with CEO Martin Goodman and later technical director

Nick Hammond Nicholas David Hammond (born 7 September 1967 in Hornchurch, England) is an English former football goalkeeper. Playing career Hammond was an Arsenal apprentice, making his league début whilst on loan at Bristol Rovers in 1986, followed by ...

were all sacked for their part in the decision to appoint Pardew and the decisions towards transfers in the time leading up to the 2017/18 season. Goodman was replaced by returning CEO Mark Jenkins and Williams was replaced as chairman by Li Piyue, an associate of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John (football executive) English football chairmen and investors Alumni of the University of London West Bromwich Albion F.C. 20th-century births Year of birth uncertain Living people