100 of the Most Influential Women in Sport: Karren Brady

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  • Karren Brady

    100 of the Most Influential Women in Sport >> Boardroom & Administration

    Karren Brady, UK

    Vice-chairman of Premier League club West Ham United

    So backwards were attitudes when Karren Brady was appointed managing director of Birmingham F.C., women were barred from the boardroom. She soon saw to that. Brady has been smashing down barriers in the world of English football ever since those days in the early 1990s, in hindsight all the more remarkable given she had only just turned 23 years of age. A teenage Brady had first impressed the multi-millionaire businessman David Sullivan while working as an advertising executive and her rise through the ranks was dramatic – as well as justified. Under her stewardship the club had been transformed from perennially on the brink of receivership to an £81.5million asset by the time it was sold in 2009. Brady moved on to Premier League club West Ham United as vice-chairman when Sullivan, alongside David Gold, took ownership a year later. Despite her long-time involvement in the industry, however, British football is still sorely lacking in female leaders.

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  • – Overcame a life-threatening brain aneurysm in 2006. Doctors estimated she had a 30 percent chance of dying from the condition upon diagnosis.

    – Engineered West Ham’s move to the Olympic Stadium in 2012 following the conclusion of the London Games.

    – Became a Baroness in 2014, serving as a member of the House of Lords – the upper house of the UK parliament.

    Did you know…

    Brady’s partner is former Canada striker Paul Peschisolido, who spent most of his club career in England and most notably played for Fulham and Sheffield United at the turn of the century. Their relationship started soon after Brady was appointed managing director of Birmingham F.C. – where Peschisolido was playing at the time – and they married two years later in 1995. They have two children: Sophia, 22, and Paolo, 20.

    “I’ve been from a very young age in a very male dominated industry where I’ve met some very difficult people and I’ve held my own. Part of life is accepting that not everyone will like you.” – Karren Brady (Source: Daily Star)

    Twitter: @karren_brady

    Instagram: karren_brady_official

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