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Maurice Lindsay (8 May 1941 – 17 May 2022) was the chairman of
Preston North End F.C. Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
and of Wigan Warriors R.L.F.C. and had two stints at the club after being one of the 'Gang of Four' directors that used to run the club when it dominated the league in the 1980s.


Career

Lindsay was the owner of a contractors plant hire company as well as a
bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...
when he came to Wigan in 1980 to join Jack Robinson, Tom Rathbone & Jack Hilton. This led to an upsurge in the fortunes of the club.
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
became one of the first teams to turn professional in the league and dominated the scene winning an eight League Championships, between 1987 and 1996, as well as nine
Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
wins including a record eight consecutive wins between 1988 and 1995 as well as five
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...
s and three World Club Championships. Lindsay was directly responsible for some of the recruitment in that time frame, bringing players to the club who later went on to become legends such as
Dean Bell Dean Bell, also known by the nicknames of "Mean Dean", and "Deano", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. A New Zealand international representative centre, he played his club football in England, Australia a ...
, Andrew Farrell,
Andy Goodway Andy I. Goodway (born 2 June 1961) is a former English professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played for Oldham (two spells), Wigan and Leeds in the Championship and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NSWRL competition. He played as ...
,
Andy Platt Andy Platt (born 9 October 1963) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward in the 1980s and 1990s. A Great Britain international representative , he played for English clubs St Helens, Wigan, Wid ...
,
Brett Kenny Brett "Bert" Edward Kenny (born 16 March 1961) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He was a and for the Australian national team and New South Wales Blues representative sides, and ...
,
Denis Betts Denis Charles Betts (born 14 September 1969) is an English rugby league coach and former player. He was assistant coach of the England national team. A , Betts played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s for the Wigan Warriors, with whom he won numer ...
,
Ellery Hanley Cuthwyn Ellery Hanley MBE (born 27 March 1961) is an English former rugby league player and coach. Over a nineteen-year professional career (1978–1997), he played for Bradford Northern, Wigan, Balmain, Western Suburbs and Leeds. He won 36 ...
,
Frano Botica Frano Michael Botica (born 3 August 1963) is a New Zealand-Croatian rugby union and rugby league coach and former player in both codes, who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the head coach of the Philippines sevens team. He represented New ...
, Joe Lydon, Jason Robinson,
Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted i ...
and Mick Cassidy. During his time at the club, Lindsay became team manager of the Great Britain RL team. He was manager when the team toured New Zealand in 1990 and Australia in 1992. He was also elected as President of the
Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...
in 1992. Lindsay left the club for a while and became the Chief Executive of the RFL in 1992, proposing the
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
which eventually replaced the First Division Championship as the sport's elite league competition in the UK from 1996 onwards. In 1996, he also became Chairman of the Rugby League International Board which at the time, was at odds with the
Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
. Lindsay left the RFL to become the Chief Executive of the newly formed
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
(Europe) Ltd. in February 2008. This followed an acrimonious period and in-fighting within the league divisions including an attempt to unseat the Chairman of the RFL, Sir Rodney Walker. Relations between Lindsay and Sir Rodney had deteriorated but the leading clubs wanted Lindsay to assume control of the newly formed Super League. Lindsay immediately secured a new lucrative TV contract exclusively for Super League. He remained at Super League until he voluntarily retired at the end of 1999. Lindsay re-joined the club when they moved from
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
to move to the home of
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...
, the
JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...
, after
Dave Whelan David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chai ...
saved them from liquidation. The club's dominance had come under threat now that the league had gone fully professional and the introduction of the
salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
and 20/20 ruling (now 20/25) which meant the club at the time had only won two Super League titles since 1996. With the return of Maurice Lindsay the club won one
Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...
, under the stewardship of
Stuart Raper Stuart may refer to: Names *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile * Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...
in 2002, reaching the finals of the Super League in 2000, 2001 and 2003, losing on each occasion. This was seen as unacceptable by the Wigan board, and Lindsay in particular who had in total seven coaches at the club after his return with
Andy Goodway Andy I. Goodway (born 2 June 1961) is a former English professional rugby league footballer and coach. He played for Oldham (two spells), Wigan and Leeds in the Championship and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the NSWRL competition. He played as ...
,
Frank Endacott Frank Morris Endacott , also known by the nickname of "Happy Frank", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, and coach. Background His son, Shane, also played rugby league. Playing career Endacott played for Addington and ...
,
Stuart Raper Stuart may refer to: Names *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile * Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...
,
Denis Betts Denis Charles Betts (born 14 September 1969) is an English rugby league coach and former player. He was assistant coach of the England national team. A , Betts played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s for the Wigan Warriors, with whom he won numer ...
&
Ian Millward Ian "Basil"/"Minibus" Millward (born 22 August 1960) is an Australian rugby league coach, occasional pundit and former player. Millward is now the assistant coach of St George Illawarra in the NRL Millward is the former head coach of Wigan, S ...
all losing their jobs due to poor performances. (
Mike Gregory Michael Keith Gregory (20 May 1964 – 19 November 2007) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1990s and 2000s. He played for Warrington from 1982 to 1994, and won 20 caps fo ...
was given leave due to an illness from which he later died). The club had a stark fall in its league position, with 2005 seeing the club fail to reach the top six for the first time in Super League and the 2006 season seeing the club rooted to the bottom of the league for most of the season before the sacking of Ian Millward and the acquisition of Brian Noble from
Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
. Due to increasing pressure on Lindsay to step down, he resigned, releasing a statement on 30 July 2007 which cited a disappointment of missing out on reaching the new Wembley for the Challenge Cup and ill health as the reasons for stepping down. It was also said that
Dave Whelan David Whelan (born 24 November 1936) is an English businessman and former footballer. During his football career, he played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra. Whelan is the former owner of club Wigan Athletic, having also been the chai ...
, the club's owner persuaded Lindsay to remain until the end of the season but may be looking to sell the club himself. During the weekend of the 2007 Challenge Cup final, Lindsay was taken to hospital after the club's doctor told him he needed urgent medical attention due to a perforated
gall bladder In vertebrates, the gallbladder, also known as the cholecyst, is a small hollow organ where bile is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. In humans, the pear-shaped gallbladder lies beneath the liver, althoug ...
which needed operating on. Lindsay was ordered by his doctor not to attend his final ever match at the
JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...
as chairman of Wigan, a match which saw Wigan defeat their closest rivals St. Helens 20-12 in order to grab the last available place in the 2007 engage Super League play-offs. New owner & chairman
Ian Lenagan Ian Lenagan (born 1946, Scholes, Wigan) is a business entrepreneur, theatre producer and shareholder of London Broncos, chairman and owner of Wigan Warriors, and former owner of Oxford United F.C. In 2016 he was appointed Chairman of the Footbal ...
took official control on 1 December 2007. When Lindsay returned for his second stint at Wigan in 2000, he was subsequently put on to the Wigan Athletic F.C. board by Dave Whelan. This did not sit well with the Wigan Athletic fans who remembered his attitude, and several comments he had made during the 1980s belittling the club. They also saw him as obstructive during a time of financial trouble when he could easily have helped. The Latics fans reasoned his sudden warming to the club was due to the fact they were now an established premier league team. Whelan placed 2 Wigan Athletic directors on the Wigan R.L.F.C. board. Maurice remained on the Wigan Athletic board and represented the shareholders committee of the FA
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 ...
. In 2008 the FA Premier League elected Lindsay onto the FA Council. In February 2009, Lindsay became Chairman of Racecourse Data Technologies Ltd (RDT), where he remained. RDT have contracts to supply and support computerised betting systems to every racecourse in the UK and Ireland. The company holds contracts with Satellite Information Services Ltd (SiS) and Turf TV to supply data. RDT have subsequently secured an important contract with the British Horseracing Authority to act as contractors in support of their race day computer operations. It was announced on 21 June 2010 that Lindsay replaced Derek Shaw as chairman of
Preston North End F.C. Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
Lindsay resigned as Chairman of
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
in December 2011 after battling septicaemia following knee surgery. He died on 17 May 2022.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Maurice 1941 births 2022 deaths Wigan Warriors British rugby league administrators Rugby league people in England People from Horwich