Stephen Vaughan (born )Rossington, Ben; 11 January 2008
Soccer chief Stephen Vaughan on fraud charges
''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liverp ...

''; Accessed 21 February 2008 is a convicted criminal and English businessman from

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 ...

. Through his ownership of Vaughan Promotions, originally a

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

promotion and management company, he has owned the Barrow and Chester City football clubs, serving as chairman of both.Conn.D (2001
David Conn: Barrow's case exposes hole in ownership rule
''The Independent'', 23 November 2001. Retrieved 2011-05-01. During his time as chairman of the two clubs, both clubs initially saw success on the pitch, but his tenure at both ended due to Vaughan's involvement in criminal investigations. Vaughan has also been involved with Droyslden, and has been chairman of the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

team.

Barrow

Vaughan contested 77 amateur boxing bouts. He formed Vaughan Promotions in 1990 to promote professional boxing promotions in the United Kingdom. His company purchased Barrow in 1995, and Vaughan invested heavily in the club, building a new 1200 seat grandstand. His investments led to Barrow winning the Unibond Premier League title in the 1997–98 season. However, during that season Vaughan resigned as chairman due to a

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

investigation by

HM Customs and Excise HM Customs and Excise (properly known as Her Majesty's Customs and Excise at the time of its dissolution) was a department of the British Government formed in 1909 by the merger of HM Customs and HM Excise; its primary responsibility was the ...

.Murphy, Graham
''The Road to Obilivion''
Accessed 23 February 2008 Vaughan's links to gangster

Curtis Warren Curtis Francis WarrenBarnes, Tony; Richard Elias; Peter Walsh. 2003 ''Cocky: the rise and fall of Curtis Warren, Britain's biggest drug baron'' (also known as Cocky; born 31 May 1963) is an English gangster and drugs trafficker who was formerly I ...

also became public; in Warren's biography, he relates an incident where he flew over Barrow's

Holker Street Holker Street ( known as the SO Legal Stadium for sponsorship purposes), is a sports stadium in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. As well as being a football ground, it has also been used for motorcycle speedway. Barrow were removed from the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

for improper administration. A lengthy dispute over the ownership of Holker Street followed, during which time Barrow were readmitted to play in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

in September 1999. Vaughan remained the major shareholder in the old company, but day-to-day running of the club had been taken over by the newly formed ''Barrow AFC (1999)''. Eventually, it was ruled that the club legally owned Holker Street, and was allowed to sell the asset to pay off the first charge on the stadium to Cherrytree Finance.Chester City’s Administration & Stephen Vaughan
''Twohundredpercent''. 18 May 2009. Accessed 25 February 2010

Chester City

In the ensuing years, Vaughan was linked with attempts to buy a number of clubs, finally purchasing a majority share of Chester City in 2001. However, shortly after Vaughan's purchase, Chester were drawn to play Barrow in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Under

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

(FA) rules, Vaughan could not own shares in both teams. Using a loophole in those rules, a few days prior to the match he transferred his Barrow shares to a local painter and decorator for a nominal sum. After the game, the shares were transferred back. A few days later, new Barrow chairman Brian Keen completed the purchase of Vaughan's shares. At Chester, Vaughan again invested heavily, improving the club's facilities (

Deva Stadium Deva Stadium is an association football stadium which is the home of Chester F.C., the effective successor club to the liquidated Chester City. The stadium straddles the England-Wales border at Sealand, on the outskirts of Chester. The stad ...

), and during his tenure, the team won the Football Conference in 2004. In February 2002, Vaughan also bought shares in a rugby league club, the

, eventually owning enough shares to have a majority control by 2006. Difficulties in securing a ground in Chester led to discussions about moving the football club to Widnes, but nothing came of this and Vaughan quit as the Widnes Vikings chairman in April 2007. A few months later, he also stood down as chairman of Chester, following a controversy in which he arranged for the club to hold a

minute's silence A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of r ...

following the death of Colin Smith, a murdered Liverpool gangster, and associate of Curtis Warren. Vaughan remained the majority shareholder in the club, which began to run into financial problems. A sale was announced to Gary Metcalf, a Liverpool-based businessman, which came to nothing , so ownership of the club was eventually transferred to Stephen Vaughan Jr., Vaughan's son, in April 2009. Chester went into voluntary administration, and were bought by Chester City Ltd., a company entirely owned by members of the Vaughan family, including the senior Vaughan.

Financial difficulties VAT fraud

These financial difficulties coincided with on-the-pitch struggles. Chester were relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

at the end of the 2008–09 season. They were initially barred from competing in the 2009–10 season due to

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg , logocaption = , badge = , badgecaption = , flag = , flagcaption = , image_size = , co ...

revoking the proposed CVA (company voluntary arrangement), but the club was eventually given FA affiliation. This came, however, with a 25-point penalty at the start of the 2009–10 season. This left the club struggling in the Football Conference. Chester continued to experience financial difficulties. In November 2009, Vaughan was disqualified from acting as a director of any company for a period of 11 years, following his involvement in a £500,000 VAT fraud whilst a director of the Widnes Vikings. As a result, he became the first owner of a professional football club to fail the FA's

fit and proper person test The fit-and-proper-person test or director's test is a test aiming to prevent corrupt or untrustworthy people from serving on the board of certain organizations. First introduced in 2004 for owners and directors of major British football clubs, sin ...

, and was forced to reduce his shareholding in Chester City. Control of the club passed back to Stephen Vaughan Jr., with Vaughan Sr. continuing to inject loans into the club, as fans stayed away.Chester City: The Death Rattle – Part 13
''Twohundredpercent''. 23 February 2010. Accessed 25 February 2010 By February 2010 Vaughan had stopped any injection of capital into the club so they were unable to fulfill their financial obligations, and the club was suspended from the Football Conference, pending a vote on their ejection to be held on 26 February. The decision was made to expel Chester City from the Football Conference and, following a court order on 10 March, it was confirmed that the club were to be wound up.

Move to Malta

On 4 April 2010, Vaughan Sr. and his son, along with a 29-year-old man from Neston, were arrested on suspicion of affray and the serious assault of a police officer. Both were convicted, with Vaughan Sr. sentenced to fifteen months in jail, and his son given community service. Vaughan remained in jail until his release in September 2011, by which time Vaughan Jr. had begun to rebuild the Vaughan Boxing promotion business. Vaughan attempted a return to football in 2012, when he tried to launch a new club in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, but failed due to being refused permission to use

Halton Stadium The DCBL Stadium (historically known as Lowerhouse Lane and Naughton Park) is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Halto ...

. In April 2012, Vaughan purchased

Floriana FC Floriana Football Club is a Maltese professional football club in the town of Floriana that currently plays in the Maltese Premier League. In all, Floriana F.C. has won 26 national leagues and 21 FA Trophies (present and longest surviving main k ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Stephen Vaughan Jr. was subsequently appointed Chairman/ President of the club in January 2013. With this move, the Vaughan Boxing Promotions company also shifted toward boxing promotion in Malta. In February 2014, the Vaughan family sold their investment in Floriana FC to Riccardo Gaucci, joining

Mosta FC Mosta Football Club is a Maltese football club from the town of Mosta. The team played four seasons in Malta's highest league 1974–75, 1987–88, 2002–03 and 2005–06. They achieved promotion to the Maltese Premier League again in 2010–11 ...

as main shirt sponsors, and then in the summer of 2014 signed a 2-year sponsorship with

Hibernians FC Hibernians Football Club is a Maltese professional football club based in the town of Paola. History The club played one season in 1922 as Constitutionals FC, representing the pro-British Constitutional Party. They started up again in the 1 ...

Return to the UK

In 2016, Vaughan helped create a company called VSM ('Vaughan Sports Management), which became the main shirt sponsors of

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

when new organizers purchased the club. Although Vaughan Sr was present at the launch of the new ownership, the new chairman Ivor Jenkins insisted that Vaughan who has been banned since 2010 from being a company director in UK – was not involved with running the club. Stephen Vaughan Jr. was later appointed as Director of Football and a coach at the club.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughan, Stephen Sr. 1960s births Living people Chester City F.C. non-playing staff English football chairmen and investors Businesspeople from Liverpool Rugby league chairmen and investors Place of birth missing (living people) English people convicted of assault