Paul Stapleton was the chairman of

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

from August 2001 to July 2009, and was a director of the club between 1998 and 2010. He is a senior partner at accountancy firm Parkhurst-Hill based in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

Early life and education

Stapleton attended Victoria Road Primary School and then

Devonport High School for Boys Devonport High School for Boys is a grammar school and academy, for boys aged 11 to 18, in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has around 1,135 pupils. Its catchment area includes southwest Devon and southeast Cornwall as well as Plymouth. Pupils are ...

. He then studied Accountancy at

Plymouth University The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

Career

In August 2001, Stapleton succeeded

Dan McCauley Dan McCauley (16 January 1936 – 28 March 2020) was a major shareholder of Sutton Harbour Holdings plc, in which he held a 30% stake. Ranked at 723 on The Times "Rich List 2004" for the UK, his main source of wealth was the company Rotolok ...

as chairman of Plymouth Argyle, heading a consortium of local businessmen each with an equal share in the club. Stapleton's tenure saw Argyle win two championships, in 2001/02 and 2003/04, which took them from the

fourth division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of English football to the second. Stapleton also presided over the Board's purchase of the freehold of Argyle's ground,

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.Plymouth City Council Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives. The council is currently in a state of no overall control, with the Conservatives governing as a minority a ...

in early 2007. During Stapleton's 11 years as Director then Chairman Plymouth Argyle had five managers, two caretaker managers, and broke the transfer record four times, rebuilt three-quarters of Home Park and purchased the freehold of the stadium. In July 2009, Stapleton stepped down as the club's chairman following the completion of a takeover by a consortium led by

Sir Roy Gardner Sir Roy Alan Gardner (born 20 August 1945) is an English businessman and former director of Manchester United and most recently Plymouth Argyle. Gardner is notable for his involvement in the sale of Manchester United to American businessman Malc ...

. In July 2020 he took over as chairman at

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of ...

. However in June 2022, Stapleton stepped down as

chairman.

References

English football chairmen and investors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{England-footy-bio-stub