Wigan Athletic Appoint Dr Tom Markham As Chief Operating Officer
Wigan Athletic appoint Dr Tom Markham as Chief Operating Officer who moves from being a part-time Non-Executive Director to a full-time Executive Director, whilst remaining on the Board of the football club.
Dr Markham is a football finance and strategy specialist with over 15 years of practical experience across the sporting, financial, entertainment and academic spheres. A qualified accountant and former foreign exchange trader, he has collaborated on a plethora of football projects with governments, federations, confederations, national associations, clubs, agencies and sports consultancies.
Markham has previously advised football club acquisitions across Europe, most recently Phoenix 2021 Limited’s purchase of Latics. He was formerly responsible for Football Clients at PwC in EMEA and wrote several high profile Financial Fair Play reports for UEFA in its inaugural year.
He holds an MBA in Football Industries from the University of Liverpool and a PhD in Football Finance from Henley Business School, where he lectured for three years. As part of his doctoral research, he developed his football club valuation model, the Markham Multivariate Model, which is regularly used to value clubs during takeovers.
He joined Wigan Athletic from Sports Interactive, the makers of Football Manager, where he was part of the Senior Leadership Team and Head of Strategic Business Development. As well as developing Football Manager’s partnership, commercial and e-sports strategy, Tom oversaw the company’s professional football data offering.
Wigan Athletic CEO Mal Brannigan, added: “I am really happy that Tom has joined Wigan Athletic on a full-time basis as COO. I’ve known Tom for over a decade and I believe his unique skillset will be integral to the organisation as we continue to grow and develop.”
Wigan Athletic Chairman Talal Al Hammad, added: “Tom has been a fundamental part of the Phoenix 2021 team since the start and I am thrilled he has joined the club in a full-time capacity, which illustrates our continued commitment to the development of Wigan Athletic.”
Image: Dr Tom Markham – Wigan Athletic (Photo by Bernard Platt)
