Carol Shanahan
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Carol Ann Shanahan (born 27 December 1957) is an English businesswoman and club chairperson of
Port Vale Football Club Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...
.


Business career

Shanahan was born in December 1957 in
Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...
. She moved to
West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...
at the age of six to live with her mother, who was the secretary to the
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
club doctor; it was at
The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...
that Shanahan first became interested in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. She left school without any formal qualifications. At age 17, she became the first female main-frame computer operator at Hoskins Systems in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. She met Kevin Shanahan in 1979, a fellow IT worker. The pair would later marry and have four children – Kate, Rosie, Patrick and Francesca – before founding
fintech Financial technology (abbreviated as fintech) refers to the application of innovative technologies to products and services in the financial industry. This broad term encompasses a wide array of technological advancements in financial services, ...
company Synectics Solutions in February 1992. Synectics works to prevent fraud and has international clients, including governments, banks, building societies, and insurance companies. Originally based in
Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...
, the company moved to
Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...
in 2015, in a large building next to
Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...
. The company received one of the
Queen's Awards for Enterprise The King's Awards for Enterprise, previously known as The Queen's Award for Enterprise, is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation, sustainable development or promoting oppor ...
in 2019, leading her to state that "To win an award of this calibre is a fantastic achievement, contributed to by every one of our 360 employees. Of the many awards we have won over the past few years, this is the pinnacle of our work to date." This came two years after Shanahan was named as 'Director of the Year for Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility' at the Institute of Directors awards. The Shanahans set up hospitality firm Summit Hospitality after finding they had extra rooms in Synectics' new building. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by
Staffordshire University The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, and London. History In 1901, industrialist Alfred ...
in 2017 and also became chair of the Port Vale Foundation Trust. She founded the Hubb Foundation in February 2019, a charitable organisation to help underprivileged children in
Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...
. She sold her controlling interest in Synectics in 2024, though remained on the board of directors along with her daughter, Rosie.


Chair of Port Vale

Having first attempted to buy
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...
in 2015 and had a £1.25 million bid rejected in May 2017, she and Kevin finally bought out
Norman Smurthwaite Norman Smurthwaite (born 8 August 1960) is an English businessman and former football club chairman. He qualified as an engineer and built a business career and property portfolio before retiring at the age of 50. He took over as chairman of Por ...
for more than £5 million in May 2019 following months of negotiation. Initially she and Kevin were co-chairs of the club before Kevin stepped down to leave Carol as the sole chair in January 2020. The next month she was voted as the fourth best owner in English football in a poll carried out by the 'Against League 3' pressure group. Shanahan voted with the chairs of the other League Two clubs to end the 2019–20 season after 37 games due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...
, causing Vale to finish one place outside the
play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
; CEO Colin Garlick said that the club had voted for the proposal despite meaning they narrowly missed out on the play-offs as it would help to secure the financial future of all the clubs in the division. Shanahan said she "came away shaking" from the vote, but made her decision for "the greater good" of the game. A
BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
study predicted that Vale would have finished seventh and reached the play-offs if the season had played out. To help the local area during the crisis, Shanahan turned the club into a community hub, delivering food and care packages to the north of the city and working closely with the city council, schools and charities. Shanahan was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the
2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...
for services to the community of Stoke-on-Trent during the COVID-19 epidemic. She sacked club
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Truro City. Able to play as a winger or as a striker, Askey had pace and intelligence. A former youth team play ...
in January 2021, following a two-month losing run that saw the team drop from the play-off places to 17th in the table. The following month she appointed
David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry Flitcroft. A midfielder, Flitcroft began his career a ...
as the club's first ever
director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...
, working alongside new managerial appointment
Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...
– the club paid
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
a compensation fee to sign Clarke. She was given an honorary degree by
Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...
in May 2021 and named as a member on the EFL Trust Board three months later. She was named as Community Heroine of the Year at The Women of the Year Luncheon & Awards in April 2022. Clarke returned from a close family bereavement to lead Vale through the League Two play-off semi-finals at the end of the 2021–22 season.
Promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
was secured with a 3–0 victory over
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...
in the final. She initiated a shake-up in the club's boardroom in April 2023, whilst remaining a "hands on owner". Darrell Clarke was also sacked later that month and his assistant,
Andy Crosby Andrew Keith Crosby (born 3 March 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager at club Tranmere Rovers. A defender during his playing days, he began his career at Leeds United. Still, he made his de ...
, was appointed as the club's new manager. Crosby was sacked on 5 February 2024. With fan opinion turning hostile towards Flitcroft, Shanahan published a lengthy open letter on the club website defending Flitcroft and his achievements as Port Vale's director of football.
Darren Moore Darren Mark Moore (born 22 April 1974) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back. He is the manager of club Port Vale. Moore was born in Birmingham, though represented Jamaica at international level. He ...
was hired as the club's new manager on a five-and-a-half-year contract, which Moore said was "a testament to the long-term vision of the club". David Flitcroft was sacked. Port Vale was relegated at the end of the 2023–24 season. At this point, Shanahan apologised to the fans and stated her intent for the club to gain promotion again. She also decided to do less public speaking after she was filmed without her knowledge while giving an after-match speech in the Valiant Suite. The club secured an immediate promotion in the 2024–25 season and Shanahan stated that they were stronger than they had been the previous time they went up. Both Shanahan and the club itself were awarded Honorary Freedom of Stoke-on-Trent in recognition of eminent services to the city.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanahan, Carol 1957 births Living people People from Skegness 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesswomen 21st-century English businesspeople Businesspeople in information technology English company founders British hospitality businesspeople English nonprofit executives English football chairmen and investors Port Vale F.C. directors and chairmen Women association football executives Women sports owners Alumni of Staffordshire University Officers of the Order of the British Empire