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Former chief executive lifts lid on Premier League formation at Sports Business lecture
The Premier League’s first chief executive will be giving the inside story of its foundation at the University of Salford next week.
Rick Parry, who was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the FA Premier League as its first head in 1992, and was CEO at Liverpool FC from 1998-2009 during its most recent period of success, will explore the real reasons behind the formation of the Premier League in the first public lecture held by Salford Business School’s Centre for Sports Business.
Rick studied the feasibility of restructuring professional football in England prior to taking up the chief executive’s role at the Premier League and, during his time in charge, he negotiated what was then the biggest ever television deal in the history of British sport.
His talk will cover areas such as the football landscape in England in the early 1990s; concerns about the implementation of the post-Hillsborough Taylor Report and the loss of top English players to Italy; the role of The Football Association and the significance of the FA Premier League; and the renewal of the Football League TV deal in 1992 and TV deal negotiations. He will also take part in a question and answer session with the audience.
Since leaving Liverpool, Rick’s knowledge of sport, finance and business has also led to him being involved in a range of other initiatives, including chairing the Sports Betting Integrity Panel, and in 2011 acting as a special adviser to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on its inquiry into football governance.
Dr Ian McHale, Director of the Centre for Sports Business at Salford Business School, said: “Not only is sport the most exciting business there is, the Barclays Premier League is the biggest football league in the world, so Rick's talk about the creation of the Premier League will be of great interest. We’re all really looking forward to welcoming Rick and hearing his talk here at the University of Salford.”
Rick Parry’s public lecture – ‘How and why the Premier League was formed’ – will take place at the Chapman Building on the University of Salford’s Peel Park Campus on Thursday 21 March from 6.00-7.00pm. Admission is free, and to reserve a place please visit the registration page or contact the University’s Events team on 0161 295 2313 or events@salford.ac.uk.
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