Draft:Alan pace

Alan Pace (born 11 August 1968) is an American businessman who is the owner and chairman of Burnley Football Club. He is 6 foot 6 tall.

Career[edit]
In 2020, Pace became the owner and chairman of English Premier League side Burnley.

It has been a hugely successful season for Burnley as the club won promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

The Clarets secured the Championship title and accumulated 101 points in an excellent first season under the guidance of Vincent Kompany.

The Belgian built a team that plays attractive, attacking football, while instilling the same winning mentality in his squad that saw him win multiple titles as a player at Manchester City.

Kompany has committed his future to the club by signing a new five-year contract at Turf Moor amid reported interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea and they will now begin preparations for life back in the top flight.

Chairman Alan Pace has been key to their success this campaign, significantly backing Kompany in the transfer market and here, we look at how Pace made his money prior to his acquisition of Burnley.

How has Alan Pace's ownership of Burnley gone so far?
Pace became involved with Burnley when his company ALK Capital bought a controlling 84% stake in the club in December 2020, with Pace taking over as chairman.

The Clarets finished 17th in the Premier League in the 2020-21 season, but the following season was a struggle and the club were relegated from the top flight.

After spending much of the season in the bottom three, Pace controversially opted to sack long-serving manager Sean Dyche after almost 10 years in charge last April with just eight games remaining.

U23s caretaker Mike Jackson was appointed as caretaker, but after a positive start under Jackson, their form declined, and they were relegated on the final day of the campaign.

Pace appointed Kompany as manager in June and he supported the 37-year-old in the market, with big-money additions such as Scott Twine, Josh Cullen, Aro Muric, Manuel Benson, Darko Churlinov, Anass Zaroury, and Lyle Foster, while he also recruited the likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Ian Maatsen, Nathan Tella and Jordan Beyer on loan.

He deserves huge credit for handing Kompany an opportunity and for his financial backing, playing a significant role in helping the club return to the Premier League.

About
Alan Pace is the Chairman of Burnley Football Club and Managing Partner of ALK Capital.

An accomplished leader in sports and financial services, Alan has more than 20 years’ experience on Wall Street overseeing multibillion-dollar divisions and 10 years in sports management.

The dual British-American citizen has long held an affinity for football, beginning with stories from his father who lived in northern England as a young adult before falling in love with the beautiful game while attaining a Master’s degree in International Finance at IESE Business School in Barcelona.

During the 1992 El Clasico at the Camp Nou Alan watched Hristo Stoichkov score an 87th-minute winner for a team managed by Johan Cruyff that went on to win La Liga, lighting a long-term ambition to be at the cutting edge of the sport.

Alan began his financial career at Lehman Brothers where he became a Managing Director before being headhunted by sports and entertainment entrepreneur and Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts, who installed him as CEO & President of the Major League Soccer team.

There, he oversaw a remarkable turnaround in the club’s fortunes, rebuilding from the ground up to take a consistently last-place team onto becoming the 2009 MLS champions in just two seasons.

Alan continued as a sought-after sports business advisor for team owners and leagues as part of SCP Worldwide LLC where he was responsible for oversight of football assets and assistance with investments in other sports and entertainment properties.

But with the industry facing major crisis, Alan returned to financial services in 2008, taking up a key role as Head of Americas Prime Finance at leading bank Citi, where he helped guide the bank through one of the most challenging periods in its history. He later served as Managing Director and the Global Head of Sales Securities Services, overseeing a multibillion-dollar division.

Alan left Citi to found ALK Capital in 2019 with the ambition to acquire a football club with fellow investors and apply the best-practice learnings in business and sports management to this field.

Alan splits his time between New York and London with his wife Kristen and, having grown up in Southern California, enjoys surfing and snowboarding. He has three daughters whose initials make up the ALK in ALK Capital.