Mel Morris (businessman)

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Mel Morris

CBE
Born
Littleover, Derbyshire
OccupationBusinessman
Years active
  • 2003–2004
  • 2015–present

Melvyn Morris CBE is an English businessman, who recently owned Championship football club, Derby County F.C. He gained a large part of his fortune through his backing of King, the firm behind the mobile game Candy Crush Saga.

He was born and raised in the Littleover area of Derby. Out of school, he first worked as a tile and flooring manager at a company he helped to establish in Spain, before venturing into entrepreneurship. After leaving the flooring firm, he returned to the UK to develop a dating website called uDate, which he went on to sell for £100 million. He used the money secured from the sale to invest in Prevx, an internet security firm, which was later sold to Webroot. He then helped to set up King, which he chaired from 2003 onwards until stepping down in 2014. When King was sold to Activision Blizzard, Morris collected £450 million.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2020, Morris is said to have amassed a fortune of £515m, making him the joint 268th richest person in the UK, and the joint 11th richest in the East Midlands.[1][2]

Morris was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to business and charitable services.[3]

Derby County[]

Morris bought a 22% stake in Derby County in May 2014, shortly after the club's 2014 Football League Championship play-off Final defeat to the Queens Park Rangers.[4] He has been involved in a league-wide push to increase TV revenue for non-Premier League clubs.[5]

The following season he assumed ownership of the club, overseeing unprecedented levels of spending including breaking the club's transfer record four times in his first three years. He also oversaw an equally unprecedented managerial turnover: nine managers between June 2015 and May 2021. In this period the club endured three unsuccessful play-off campaigns, failing in the semi-finals twice and losing in the 2019 final to Aston Villa; in May 2021, the club, now managed by Wayne Rooney, narrowly avoided relegation to League One.[6] Earlier, in October 2020, it was announced that Morris was intending to sell the club and was actively seeking new owners.[7] A potential deal with a Middle Eastern-backed company was discontinued in March 2021, after which a sale to a Spanish businessman, Erik Alonso, was agreed in April 2021,[8] but in May 2021 it too was discontinued after doubts about Alonso's funding emerged,[9] alongside possible EFL sanctions regarding breaches of financial fair play regulations[10] (a deduction of nine points remained under consideration in mid-September 2021).[11] On 8 July 2021, the EFL imposed a transfer embargo on the club,[12] leaving Rooney with a squad of just nine contracted senior professionals;[13] however, the EFL later relaxed the embargo but said any deals will have strict wage limits.[14] On 17 September 2021, the club's board of directors announced that the club was to go into administration. The EFL confirmed Derby would face a 12-point deduction.[15] Morris apologised to fans and staff about the administration.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ Johnson, Robin (2016-04-22). "Find out how rich Derby County owner Mel Morris is now". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  2. ^ "Rams owner Mel Morris tops rich list as fortune is revealed". DerbyshireLive. 2020-05-16. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  3. ^ "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B9.
  4. ^ Press Association. "Derby chairman Mel Morris becomes club's sole owner after finalising takeover | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  5. ^ 23:15, 1 DEC 2016 (2016-12-01). "Derby owner Mel Morris leading rebellion against Football League in bid to increase TV cash - Mirror Online". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
  6. ^ "Derby County 3-3 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Derby County: Takeover talks between owner Mel Morris and Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Derby County: Owner Mel Morris agrees to sell club to No Limit Sports Limited". BBC Sport. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Erik Alonso: Derby County's proposed takeover by Spanish businessman called off". BBC Sport. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Derby County set to lose FFP case after EFL appeal". BBC Sport. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Derby County: EFL says no decision has been made on points deduction". BBC Sport. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Derby County, Reading & Hull City among eight clubs under EFL transfer embargoes". BBC Sport. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  13. ^ Stone, Simon (18 July 2021). "Derby County face starting season without a centre-back, says Wayne Rooney". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  14. ^ Stone, Simon (20 July 2021). "Derby County: EFL to allow Wayne Rooney's side to sign out-of-contract players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Derby County: Championship club file notice to appoint administrators". BBC Sport. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Mel Morris: Derby County owner apologises to fans and staff over administration". BBC Sport. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
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