Exclusive: Premier League boss’s son won series of football deals

A marketing firm owned by Sir Dave’s son, David, secured deals with the Premier League, the Football Association’s (FA) 2018 World Cup bid and the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) – all organisations on which Sir Dave is or has been a senior figure.

Glue Creative Production Solutions (Glue), based in the Richards’ family home city of Sheffield, openly promotes its business with the football world on its website though there is no mention of the family link with one of football’s key movers and shakers – who was also a director of the company himself until a few months ago.

The revelations have sparked alarm within the Commons’ culture, media and sport committee which is currently running an inquiry into football’s governance.

Tory MP Damian Collins, who sits on the committee, said the business connections raised “serious questions” and he would be asking the inquiry to raise them directly with Sir Dave when it meets again next week.

Mr Collins said: “If football organisations he is a part of were doing business with a company he had interests in, that does raise serious questions.

“It’s about the general issue of transparency in football. If Dave Richards had commercial interests that does raise questions about how transparent those interests were.”

He added that had he been aware of Sir Dave’s outside business interests, he would have raised them when Sir Dave gave evidence to the inquiry in Parliament earlier in the month.

Mr Collins’s position was backed by committee colleague and fellow Tory MP Therese Coffey who added: “This is about the governance of the game and supporters having trust in the governance arrangements.

“If there are any vested interests at play, we need to help bring some sunshine into that and that is part of the role of the inquiry.”

Conflicts of business interests are regulated by company law which says directors should either avoid them or declare any interests they have to their company.

Sir Dave is chairman of the Premier League, vice chairman of the FA, chairman of the EPFL and was also on the board of England’s FA-backed bid to host the 2018 World Cup before resigning in November 2009.

According to company records, Sir Dave was a director of Glue for nearly a decade until resigning on December 31 last year and the company is wholly owned by his son.

Glue has provided a range of promotional materials and designed and built websites for the football bodies on which Sir Dave plays a key role.

The Yorkshire Post put a series of questions to Sir Dave, including whether he recognised a potential conflict of interest, whether he had informed the football organisations of his connections with Glue and whether he had any general comment on his outside interests given transparency and football governance are currently the subject of a Commons’ inquiry.

He declined to comment.

It is not known what interests in Glue Sir Dave declared to the bodies he works for.

The Premier League was also asked about a potential conflict of interest and whether it had been made aware of the family connection by Sir Dave.

In response, a spokesman said: “Glue does not have a contract with the Premier League. They have in the past provided us with an ad-hoc service for small-scale orders of Premier League branded corporate gifts as many other small suppliers have.” It is understood the Premier League was aware that Glue was run by and owned by its chairman’s son.

The EPFL, which is based in Switzerland, said: “We wish to make clear that we do not have any concerns surrounding any potential conflict of interest, because it has never existed.

“Our internal procedures are rigorous and fully transparent. Our Chairman’s conduct has always been correct and irreprehensible. Furthermore, Sir David Richards has never taken part in any decision related to the mentioned company.”

The FA declined to comment.

Sir Dave’s son, David Richards, declined to provide details of how the company won business bar citing a tender process for part of its work with the EPFL.