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Katrien Meire

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Katrien Meire
CEO of Sheffield Wednesday
In office
January 2018 – February 2019
CEO of Charlton Athletic
In office
January 2014 – December 2017
Personal details
BornTongeren, Belgium[1]
Residence(s)Sheffield, United Kingdom
OccupationBusinesswoman, lawyer

Katrien Meire (born 7 July 1984)[2][3] is a Belgian lawyer. She was formerly the chief executive of Sheffield Wednesday from 2018–2019, and the chief executive of Charlton Athletic from 2014–2017. Her time at Charlton coincided with widespread supporter protests and dissatisfaction and relegation to EFL League One.

Early career

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Meire studied law at University of Leuven, completing her LLM in 2007. She continued her studies in Competition Law at University College London for a further year.[4][5] She has worked for law firms Olswang and Baker & McKenzie in the area of competition law, particularly mergers and acquisitions and cartels.[2][6] In 2016, Meire was awarded the VRG-Alumniprijs.[7]

Football

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In 2011, Meire provided legal advice to Roland Duchâtelet, involving TV rights issues with Sint-Truidense V.V.; Meire is a supporter of Sint-Truiden.[1][2] Meire's involvement in football continued when she worked as the "Legal and International Relations Manager" for Standard Liège, another club owned by Duchâtelet.[8][9]

Charlton Athletic

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After Duchâtelet's purchase of Charlton Athletic in 2014, Meire was appointed as the Chief Executive of the club.[2][10] She was one of only a few female club executives at the time.[2][11] Meire commented on this saying that she didn't believe she was treated differently for being a female chief executive, adding that "people are quite receptive to the idea of a woman chief executive."[11]

In September 2016, season ticket sales had fallen to 6,297, from 10,278 at the same time the previous year.[12] In January 2015, Meire was confronted on a train about the appointment of manager Guy Luzon after Charlton lost 5–0 to Watford; Meire claimed that there were 20 applicants for the job, including former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley. After the incident, Meire said fans should "accept how we run the club".[13][14][15]

That same year, Meire was appointed as one of four Football League representatives to the FA Council. She was subsequently re-elected the following summer, in August 2017.[16]

In May 2016, Meire claimed she had received "extreme abuse" from Charlton fans, particularly after the club's relegation to League One for the 2016–17 season; some fans turned up to Meire's parents' house in Belgium, and she also claimed some supporters had committed criminal offences against her.[17][18] A few days beforehand, there had been protests aimed at Meire during Charlton's last match of the 2015–16 season when she was branded a 'liar' by the club's supporters for a series of unfortunate statements which were all subsequently proven to be false.[19]

During her time running Charlton, the club underwent eight managerial changes[20] and was relegated to League One, the third tier of English football.[21] The club were particularly unsuccessful in the transfer market during her tenure in the club. Underselling a whole host of talented English players, without sell on fees negotiated, and over paying for failed foreign players. Nick Pope broke into the first team during the 2015–16 season before being sold to Burnley for £1 million, and then becoming an England international within two years.[22] Ademola Lookman was sold to Everton for a divisional record of £7.9 million during the 2016–17 season,[22] having made a name for himself the previous season following a breakthrough from the club's academy. The sales were credited with Charlton announcing their first profit in thirteen years, after the two previous seasons having increased losses.[23]

Meire left her Charlton Chief Executive role at the end of December 2017.[24][25]

Sheffield Wednesday

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On 1 January 2018, Meire was named Chief Executive of Sheffield Wednesday, with the club then in 16th position in the Championship.[26] She has been described as a 'steady influence' at the club'. Meire has credited this to the fact she is "away from the forefront of the club compared to my previous club".[27] On 11 February 2019, Meire and the club announced in a statement that she had vacated her role as Chief Executive Officer. Meire praised the "fantastic support" of the club's fanbase, and told the club's website that she "felt a warm welcome from everyone at the club and the fans at games and around the city".[28] In December 2019, Meire and chairman Dejphon Chansiri were charged by the EFL with misconduct relating to the sale of Hillsborough during her spell as CEO to Chansiri for £60m. The move enabled Wednesday to post a small operating profit and avoid possible penalties for exceeding FFP regulations.[29] In March 2020 the EFL dropped the charges against the individuals, but the case against the football club is still ongoing.[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b "KATRIEN MEIRE, LE BRAS DROIT DE CHARME DE ROLAND DUCHÂTELET, SE CONFIE: "J'AI DÛ LICENCIER DES GENS, ET CE N'EST PAS AGRÉABLE"". Sud Info (in French). 24 September 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e Wilson, Bill (10 September 2014). "Charlton boss Meire part of select female football club". BBC News. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Charlton concern after resignation of chief executive is falsely posted". The Guardian. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Laureaten VRG-Alumniprijs" (in Dutch). VRG Alumni. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Katrien Meire". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  6. ^ De Herdt, Jeroen; Kerremans, Johan (July 2013). Wet & Duiding Sport (in Dutch). Primento. ISBN 9782804459758. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Laureaten VRG-Alumniprijs".
  8. ^ "Choisie par Duchâtelet pour gérer Charlton, Katrien Meire répond aux questions qui dérangent". RTL Group (in French). 24 September 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Takeover: CAFC Board All Change – Katrien Meire is latest Director". Charlton Athletic Supporters trust. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Bogus documents announce Charlton chief's resignation". The Wharf. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  11. ^ a b Bose, Misir (25 March 2015). "Katrien Meire: I've had frightening abuse from Charlton fans… but I love leading role". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Charlton aiming to rise again against backdrop of fury and boycotts". The Guardian. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Belgische CEO Charlton in pittige discussie met misnoegde fans op trein". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 18 January 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  14. ^ Newman, Benjamin (18 January 2015). "Charlton's CEO Katrien Meire confronted on the train by an Addicks fan over Guy Luzon appointment". 101 Great Goals. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  15. ^ Muro, Giuseppe (15 January 2015). "Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire: Fans must accept how we run club". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Charlton chief executive re-elected to FA Council". News Shopper. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  17. ^ Rumsby, Ben (12 May 2016). "I have suffered extreme abuse, says Charlton executive Katrien Meire". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Charlton Athletic chief executive hits out at fans who 'cross line' in protests". The Guardian. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  19. ^ "Charlton fans make their point with inventive banner aimed at owners". Eurosport. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  20. ^ "Charlton Athletic appoint Russell Slade as manager after Championship relegation". BBC Sport. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  21. ^ "Charlton Athletic relegated to League One after draw at Bolton". The Guardian. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  22. ^ a b "Where are they now? The players Charlton sold: Part 1". News Shopper. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  23. ^ ITRM. "Charlton Athletic accounts filed for year ending June 2017". www.cafc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  24. ^ "Charlton owner in takeover talks as CEO Katrien Meire steps down". The Guardian. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  25. ^ "Charlton Athletic: Katrien Meire to stand down as chief executive". BBC Sport. 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  26. ^ "Owls announce Chief Executive Officer". swfc.co.uk. 1 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  27. ^ Field, Pippa (26 January 2019). "Katrien Meire on the abuse that forced her to leave Charlton: 'Fans knew where I took the train – it only takes one crazy person'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  28. ^ "Katrien Meire quits as Sheffield Wednesday chief executive". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  29. ^ Percy, John (2 December 2019). "Exclusive: Sheffield Wednesday chairman could be banned from football over stadium deal". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  30. ^ "Dejphon Chansiri sees charges dropped by EFL". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
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