Steve Morgan is officially the new owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers, his arrival at Molineux bringing to an end the 17-year tenure of Sir Jack Hayward.
The Cheshire-based businessman takes charge today, having finally completed the protracted legal work necessary for the £10 'sale' of the club.
In keeping the promise he made to supporters four years ago to step aside for the right person, Sir Jack has taken the unprecedented step of gifting the shares of Wolverhampton Wanderers (1990) Ltd, the club's holding company, to Mr Morgan's Carden Leisure, for £10 in return for a £30 million investment into the business. All of the £30m will be used for the benefit of Wolves. None will go to the Hayward family.
It is intended that the new capital, over a period of time, will be used to help re-establish Wolves as a Premiership club.
Team manager Mick McCarthy will remain, as will chief executive Jez Moxey.
Steve says: "It is my great privilege and pleasure to succeed Sir Jack as the new owner of this famous old club and I thank him sincerely for his trust in me.I will work tirelessly alongside Jez and the Board, the backroom team and Mick and the players to do my very best for Wolves.
"We will continue to build on the current strategy of steadily and progressively developing a team of young, hungry and talented players, that has seen the acquisition of players such as Matt Jarvis, Stephen Elliott and Freddy Eastwood during the summer.
"Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to play my part in re-establishing Wolves as one of the top teams in the land. The loyal fans of this great club deserve nothing less."
Sir Jack purchased Wolves in 1990 for £2m and has since invested £50m of his personal wealth into the club. He announced his intention to step aside in September 2003. A number of parties subsequently expressed interest but, in Steve Morgan, Sir Jack feels he has finally found someone who not only has the best interests of the club at heart but also has the resources necessary to take over the responsibility for returning the club to its former greatness.
Sir Jack says: "We didn't want to go the way of so many clubs in Great Britain and hand over to foreign investors. This is an English club in an English city with great English traditions. We wanted someone that would fully appreciate what Wolves means to the club's fans.
"Now, I am very happy to be handing over to Steve Morgan, a football fanatic who is ready to invest £30 million into the club and has made it plain that his ambition is to see Wolves into the Premier League, become a permanent fixture in that League and regain their original place with the other great clubs in this country."
In recognition of his unique commitment to Wolves and to ensure his experience is not lost, Sir Jack will remain Life President and be available to the club to provide whatever support they require. Sir Jack's grandson Rupert Hayward, a lifelong Wolves fan, has joined the board, which now consists of Steve Morgan (Chairman); Jez Moxey (Chief Executive); and local businessmen and Wolves fans John Bowater; John Gough and Kevin Threlfall.
Steve Morgan was the founder and former Chairman of UK house builder Redrow plc before selling a majority shareholding in 2000. He is now Chairman of the privately owned Bridgemere Group of Companies, Harrow Estates plc, one of the UK's leading contaminated land specialists and Salamanca Finance plc, one of Eastern Europe's leading development finance companies.
A massive football fan, Steve was born and grew up in Liverpool and has followed Liverpool F.C. since childhood. In 2004, he came close to buying a controlling interest in the Club.
