Darren Eales
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Darren Eales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Chelmsford, England | 6 August 1972||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Brown University University of Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | CEO of Newcastle United | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Darren Eales (born 6 August 1972) is an English sports executive who is Chief Executive Officer of Premier League club Newcastle United.
He was previously a footballer who played both collegiately and professionally in the United States. He was a 1995 first team All American and earned his Cambridge Blue in 1998. In July 2010, he was appointed director of football administration at Tottenham Hotspur.[1] In 2014, he became Chief Executive Officer of Atlanta United in Major League Soccer.
Early life
[edit]Eales grew up in Cambridge, England. As he approached the end of his secondary education, he was faced with the decision of attending university or pursuing a football career. When approached by an American university scout offering him the opportunity to both play and attend university, he decided to move to the United States.[2]
Education and college football
[edit]Eales attended Brown University, a member of the Ivy League, playing on the school's NCAA Division I soccer team from 1991 to 1994. In his final season, he was the Ivy League Player of the Year and a first team All American. He received a first class bachelor's degree in economics.
Playing career
[edit]U.S. football
[edit]In 1995, Eales signed with the Hampton Roads Mariners of the USISL. He spent two seasons with the Mariners, scoring 24 goals in 19 games in 1995.[3] In 1997, he played five games for the Hershey Wildcats.
English football
[edit]Eales continued to play at the amateur level. In 2001, he joined the Newmarket Town Reserves in the Kershaw League.[4] He later moved to the Lancashire County Football Association where he played for Millhead Reserves from 2004 to 2006 and Higher Poynton from 2006 to 2007.
Professional career
[edit]In 1997, Eales returned to England, where he read law at Cambridge, and gained his Cambridge Blue in 1998. He became a member of the bar in 2000 and eventually joined 2 Temple Gardens.[5] On 6 May 2006, he was hired as an in-house legal counsel by West Brom.[6] and was subsequently made a Director and Company Secretary.
On 2 March 2010, Spurs announced that Eales was joining them as club secretary at the end of that season.[7] On 1 July 2010, he officially joined the club as Director of Football Administration.[1]
On 10 September 2014, Eales was named the president of Atlanta United, a new expansion team in Major League Soccer.[8]
On 15 July 2022, Eales became the CEO of Newcastle United.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Club Announcement Tottenham Hotspur, 1 July 2010
- ^ NCAA Division I Breakout Coaches and Student-Athletes in the Year 2000 Archived 29 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, 20 June 1995
- ^ The Year in American Soccer – 1995 Archived 5 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine American Soccer History Archives, 29 January 2006
- ^ Eales dives in to end the deadlock Archived 8 July 2012 at archive.today Cambridge News, 3 October 2002
- ^ Vicarious Liability for sport at work – from Scotland Thompsons Solicitors, Law Bulletin – October 2005
- ^ Trading Places Times Online (subscription required)
- ^ Club Announcement Tottenham Hotspur, 2 March 2010
- ^ "Tottenham Hotspur executive Darren Eales named president of MLS Atlanta expansion club". mlssoccer.com. 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ "Darren Eales named new Newcastle United CEO". Newcastle United F.C. 15 July 2022.