Dave Whelan Net Worth in 2023 (Biography, Net Worth, Career, Personal Life, Age, etc.)

David Whelan is a former footballer and businessman from England. He played for Blackburn Rovers and Crewe Alexandra during his football career. Dave Whelan Net Worth is estimated to be approximately $210 Million.

Dave Whelan Net worth and profile in one glance

Biography of Dave Whelan

Early life

Whelan grew up in Wigan after being born in Bradford. His ancestors were from the Irish county of Tipperary.

Stepping stone into Dave Whelan Net Worth (Career)

After working with Howarth Brothers on their station in Blackburn, Whelan opened a market stall in Wigan. Later, he worked for a grocer before travelling to America to study self-service supermarkets.

When he returned to England, he set out to build a grocery empire. By the late 1960s, the company had grown to ten locations across Lancashire. Whelan sold the company to Morrisons for £1.5 million in 1978.

Primary source of Dave Whelan Net worth (Football)

Whelan was a part of Blackburn Rovers’ 1960 FA Cup Final team, which lost 3–0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played 78 times as a left-back for the club, scoring three goals.

Whelan did not finish the game; a furious challenge by Whelan on Norman Deeley resulted in the Blackburn midfielder being pulled before halftime with a broken leg.

Whelan’s injury was part of the Wembley hoodoo, which saw numerous players suffer devastating injuries between the 1950s and 1960s.

Following his leg break, Whelan was moved to Crewe Alexandra, where he made his League Cup debut on February 23, 1963, in a 4–0 loss to Port Vale in the first round, and went on to make 115 appearances until April 1966. He subsequently went into retirement to focus on growing a retail grocery store.

DW Sports Fitness

Whelan repurchased JJB’s nationwide chain of fitness clubs and stores in March 2009. Wigan Athletic’s stadium was renamed DW Stadium, and their new sponsor, DW Sports Fitness, was named after the club’s owner and his new business.

Orrell Rugby Union Club

Chairman Maurice Lindsay of the Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club and business mogul Dave Whelan, the owner of the JJB Sports empire at the time, had already made noises about starting a rugby union team.

Whelan’s Finance Director Simon Moorehead made the initial contact, and on an exciting night, the members guaranteed a £10,000,000 investment over five years, with Mr Whelan stating his desire to be drinking red wine away in the European Cup in the not-too-distant future.

Members reluctantly sold their shares in the club for £1,000 apiece to the new proprietors, with Lindsay becoming the club’s new Chairman, wide-eyed and with these promises of future success.

Politics

Whelan, a Conservative Party supporter, has given the party a total of £1.5 million since 2007, with his most recent donation of £100,000 in August 2014. David Cameron, he declared, had his complete backing.

To commemorate Margaret Thatcher’s death, he asked for a required minute of silence at all football games in 2013. The suggestion was turned down by the Football Association.

Controversies

Following an interview with The Guardian in November 2014 in which he defended his choice to recruit Malky Mackay as Wigan manager, Whelan was accused of uttering anti-semitic remarks. The Football Association was investigating Mackay for alleged racism and antisemitism in e-mails and texts he wrote while managing Cardiff City.

“Jewish people chase money more than everyone else,” Whelan was quoted as saying during the interview. West Ham United co-chairman David Gold and former FA and Premier League executive Simon Johnson, both of whom are Jewish, strongly criticised the statements.

Whelan was also accused of racism for defending Mackay’s reported usage of the term “chinks” to describe Chinese people. “I believe he has disrespected the dignity of the Chinese,” Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan, who is Malaysian Chinese, said of Whelan.

Later, Whelan apologised for his remarks. Kick It Out, an anti-racist organisation, offered Whelan support, saying that it was their obligation to ensure that people his age understood “contemporary expectations.”

Conclusion

In the world of football, Dave Whelan is a very talented and well-known athlete and Businessman. Dave Whelan Net Worth is a source of motivation and inspiration. You should also check out – David Beckham’s Net Worth.