Drumaville Consortium

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The Drumaville Consortium is a group of seven Irish businessmen and one English businessman led by former footballer Niall Quinn, involved in the takeover of English football league club Sunderland A.F.C.. The consortium is named after the village of Drumaville in Donegal.

[edit] Members

The consortium consists of Niall Quinn and seven other businessmen: [1]:

  • Niall Quinn - The former Irish international striker was a fan's favourite during his spell at Sunderland. In 2002 he donated the proceeds of his testimonial match to charities in both Sunderland and Ireland. Quinn often expressed his affinity for the club, and in 2006 reports began to circulate that Quinn had spoken to Sunderland chairman Bob Murray with regards to buying out Murray's shares in the club. On July 3 a successful offer for the club was announced, with Quinn becoming club chairman immediately, pending the successful purchase of 90% of the club's shares.
  • Charlie Chawke - Publican, and owner of the Charlie Chawke Group of pubs. In October 2003 Chawke was shot in the leg during an armed robbery of one of his pubs. [2].
  • Louis Fitzgerald - Owner of the Louis Fitzgerald Group of 24 pubs with an estimated wealth of £580m [3].
  • Jack Tierney - Property developer and owner of Faxhill Homes.
  • Paddy Kelly - Property developer and owner of Kelland Homes, Rockbriar and Markland Holdings with an estimated wealth of £190m [4].
  • Pat Beirne - Property developer.
  • John Hays - Owner of Sunderland-based travel company 'Nobody offers you more' Hays Travel. Hays is the only Sunderland-born member of (and indeed the only Englishman in) the consortium.
  • Patsy Byrne - Property developer.

While Sean Mulryan had been rumoured to have been part of the initial consortium, his name was absent from the list of consortium members revealed on July 3, 2006. While Mulryan was never confirmed as being part of the consortium, it has since been speculated that Mulryan may have pulled out during some stage of the takeover process.

[edit] Takeover

  • On April 19, 2006, Quinn confirmed he was in the process of gathering a consortium for the purpose of launching a takeover bid for Sunderland. This followed a month of rumour and speculation [5].
  • Nine days later, on April 28, Sunderland confirmed they were in talks with a group led by Quinn, although they stated that no firm offer for the club had been made [6].
  • On June 14, Bob Murray announced his resignation as Sunderland chairman as of June 30, but announced that he would remain on the board of directors of the club.
  • On July 3, Sunderland announced that they had accepted an offer from the consortium valuing the club at around £10m, with Niall Quinn becoming club chairman.
  • On July 27, 2006, Drumaville Ltd took full control of Sunderland Football Club after securing 89.13% of the shares in Sunderland Ltd.
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