Martin Bain

Martin Edward Bain (born c. 1968) will become the new chief executive of the football club, Sunderland A.F.C. from July 1, 2016. He worked in a similar position with Scottish club Rangers and Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C.

Life and career

Bain modelled part-time and worked in a Glasgow city-centre bar before focusing on a career in marketing and public relations.^[1]

He worked for Scottish football club Rangers from 1996 and was appointed to the board of directors in September 2001. During this time, he undertook roles as Commercial Director and Director of Football Business. Bain was appointed chief executive by chairman Sir David Murray on 11 February 2005.^[2] On 15 July 2008, Bain was elected to the Scottish Premier League's board of directors for a second term.^[3]

On 6 May 2011, Rangers F.C. was sold by David Murray, the majority shareholder, to Craig Whyte. As part of an independent panel set up to represent 27,000 minority shareholders in the sales transaction, Bain refused to agree to the sale and was subsequently suspended by the new owner. Bain resigned in June 2011 and raised an action in the Court of Session in relation to a breach of his employment contract but abandoned his damages claim in March 2012.^[4] It transpired in an SFA tribunal in May 2012 that he presented diligence at the time of the sale to Sir David Murray that proved his stance at the time of the takeover to be the correct one.

Bain was appointed chief executive of Israeli club Maccabi Tel-Aviv in September 2014.^[5] In 2016, Bain will join Sunderland A.F.C. replacing Margaret Byrne who had been forced to resign in disgrace.^[6]

References