Michael Wynn-Jones
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Michael Wynn-Jones (born September 1941) is a Welsh writer, editor and publisher. He is the joint majority shareholder of
Norwich City Football Club Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
, with his wife, the former television cook
Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers t ...
.


Early life

Wynn-Jones studied at
Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...
and the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, and is a writer, editor and publisher. His father was a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
vicar in Tivetshall and
Redenhall with Harleston Redenhall with Harleston is a civil parish in the South Norfolk, South Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk, comprising the town of Harleston, Norfolk, Harleston and the neighbouring village of Redenhall. It covers an area of , and h ...
, and his mother was a teacher at Diss Grammar School. Wynn-Jones married
Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers t ...
in 1971 in
Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 road (Great Britain), A14 trunk ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. Wynn-Jones established New Crane Publishing, which produced some of Smith's books as well as the
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
magazine, which Wynn-Jones edited. In 2005, New Crane Publishing was sold to Seven Publishing for around £7 million; Smith had been working as a consultant for the publishing company. Wynn-Jones was the former deputy editor of the ''
Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
s midweek colour supplement ''Mirror Magazine'', during which time in 1969 it hired Delia Smith in her first role as a cookery writer. In 1972,
George Gale George Gale may refer to: Politicians *George Gale (MP) (1490–1556), member of parliament for City of York *George Gale (congressman) (1756–1815), American politician Law *George Alexander Gale (1906–1997), Canadian jurist * George Gale (Wi ...
appointed Wynn-Jones as deputy editor of ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'', and he has also worked for the ''Twentieth Century'' and ''
Nova A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
'' magazines. Wynn-Jones has also written many books, including ''The Cartoon History of Britain'', ''George Cruikshank: His Life and London'' about
George Cruikshank George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached ...
, and ''100 Years on the Road: A Social History of the Car''. In her autobiography,
Brigid Keenan Brigid Ann Keenan (born 1939) is an author and journalist. She was born in Ambala, India, where her father was an officer in the British Indian Army during the Raj. Her family repatriated to the United Kingdom after India's independence in 19 ...
thanked Wynn-Jones for asking her to write a column on
expats An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
for him in the Sainsbury's magazine.


Norwich City

Wynn-Jones attended his first
Norwich City F.C. Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the ...
match in 1953. In 1997 he became the current joint majority shareholder of Norwich City F.C. with his wife
Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a no-nonsense style. One of the best known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers t ...
. In ''Tales From The City'', a series of books about the history of Norwich City F.C. published in 2015, Wynn-Jones says that in 1996 former majority shareholder
Geoffrey Watling Geoffrey Watling (2 April 1913 – 16 November 2004) was a president and chairman of Norwich City (1957–1973 and 1996). Life Watling was born in Norwich on 2 April 1913, and educated locally at the King Edward VI School and the Paston ...
invited them to make a loan to the club, in exchange for
board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
positions at the club. They later purchased Watling's shares in the club, making them majority shareholders, and in 1998, Wynn-Jones and Smith owned 63% of the club's shares. By 2006, their share in the club had reduced to 57%, and in 2015 their share had reduced again to 53%. In 2013, the pair wrote off £2.1 million of debt that the club owed them, as part of a £23 million reduction in the club's deficit; it has been estimated that Wynn-Jones and Smith have invested around £12 million into the club since 1996. In the 2015–16 season, Wynn-Jones and Smith's estimated worth was reportedly £23 million, the least of any Premier League club owners.
Roy Waller Roy Waller (17 September 1940 – 6 July 2010) was a regular radio presenter on BBC Radio Norfolk and was the main football match commentator for the station until 2007. He died in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on 6 July 2010, afte ...
wrote of Wynn-Jones and Smith that they are "crucial to the club's success", as they invested a lot with "very little return"; Waller noted that Wynn-Jones attends every Norwich match, both home and away, and often chose to sit with the fans during matches, rather than being in the directors' box.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynn-Jones, Michael Living people British publishers (people) Norwich City F.C. People from Stowmarket 1941 births Alumni of the University of Oxford