From New York catwalks to the EFL! Fashionista Julie Anne Quay made the ありそうもない leap to become 少数,小数派 owner at Barnsley and is 的ing a run for the 首相 League after 主要な wide-範囲ing makeover

  • Businesswoman Julie Anne Quay chose to 行為/法令/行動する after Barnsley's relegation agony
  • It has been a bumpy ride but she is 的ing two 昇進/宣伝s 同様に as 安定?
  • Jurgen Klopp has the 注目する,もくろむ of the tiger! He hasn't seemed this 確信して since 2019 - Listen to the It's All Kicking Off podcast?

Every six weeks New York fashionista Julie Anne Quay leaves her home in Manhattan and her company ? which has worked with the likes of Khloe Kardashian and Justin Bieber ? to 長,率いる to a 首相 Inn in South Yorkshire.

The Australia-raised businesswoman 設立するd 全世界の music, pop culture and fashion brand VFILES and is a 主要な 指名する in the catwalk world. She is also director and 少数,小数派 owner of Barnsley Football Club.

'I love it at the 首相 Inn!' she tells Mail Sport?from a 法人組織の/企業の box at Oakwell before waxing lyrical about the northern town that has become her second home.?


'I walk in and I 株 a big 抱擁する with the staff. And Barnsley itself is a 広大な/多数の/重要な place. There's a Covid 記念の here ? I've not seen one of those in New York. There's history, we laid a 花冠 recently at the monument for the 40th 周年記念日 of the 鉱夫s' strike. Important stuff, you know? There's so much going on.?

'New York is New York and I love it, but there's plenty going on here let me tell you! I was in Starbucks this morning and there were kids dressed in 十分な goth. I was like: "whoa, guys, you look amazing". And they're like: "Who is this weirdo talking to me?" 信用 me ? it's not so different!'

American fashionista?Julie Anne Quay is a director and minority owner at Barnsley

American fashionista?Julie Anne Quay is a director and 少数,小数派 owner at Barnsley

Quay is determined to restore stability at the club and secure Championship promotion

Quay is 決定するd to 回復する 安定 at the club and 安全な・保証する 選手権 昇進/宣伝

Quay and her husband made the ありそうもない leap, joining a small group of 投資家s in the club in 2017. Both 初めは from Melbourne, they 株d a love of football (their daughter 代表するd Australia at 青年 level).?

'We're 大規模な fans of the game. We did all the 研究. We love brands. When I became a director I 研究d Barnsley その上の and 設立する this incredible history. It's an unscripted 演劇 of 137 years and that show is still running. Barnsley won the FA Cup in 1912 ? I think only 44 clubs can say that. It's a 抱擁する 業績/成就'

最初, the pair took a 支援する seat, watching games 経由で subscriptions from across the 大西洋. But when Barnsley finished 底(に届く) of the 選手権 in 2022, just 12 months after losing a play-off final that would have propelled them to the 首相 League, they decided to 行為/法令/行動する.

'We had no 役割,' Quay says. '無. We'd make phone calls and ask what was going on to be told "everything is 罰金". We were like: "No, it's not!" At the beginning you take a 少数,小数派 投資 and you let the club run and you enjoy it. But all of a sudden it was going to 絶対の s*** and you just can't sit 支援する anymore.'

What has been 述べるd as a 'boardroom クーデター' followed, with 深く,強烈に 人気がない chairmen Paul Conway and Chien 物陰/風下 保持するing a 火刑/賭ける but leaving the scene of the 罪,犯罪. Quay remains 制限するd in what she can say 合法的に, but she was 追加するd to a new board along with fellow 投資家 and chairman Neerav Parekh.

Barnsley finished rock bottom of the second tier in 2022, spurring Quay on to step in

Barnsley finished 激しく揺する 底(に届く) of the second tier in 2022, spurring Quay on to step in

Quay and the board opted for a makeover after Barnsley were booted out of the FA Cup

Quay and the board 選ぶd for a makeover after Barnsley were booted out of the FA Cup

It has been a bumpy ride. While last season they made the League One play-off final, only to 苦しむ a heartbreaking loss to 隣人s Sheffield Wednesday, in November Barnsley were booted out of the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player. Quay and the board decided it was time for a makeover.

'I can't even put into wo rds how upset we were about that,' she says. 'So avoidable. Like, just silly errors. I was like "this cannot happen". This is the FA Cup, the most prestigious football tournament in the world. Enough.'

A wide-範囲ing 再編成 took place. Jon Flatman, who worked on the rugby league world cup, was 任命する/導入するd as 長,指導者 (n)役員/(a)執行力のある. Ann Hough arrived as 長,率いる of football 操作/手術s and club 長官 に引き続いて more than 30 years at nearby Huddersfield Town. Fresh 任命s have 支えるd the PR and HR departments.?

'Let's put some adults in the building,' Quay 追加するs. 'You can't lead without leaders, smart people who are connected by the 権利 意向.'

So what is the 意向 for a club that in 1997-98 had one, memorable dance in the 首相 League and which 現在/一般に looks 始める,決める for another 発射 at the League One play-offs??

Barnsley had one memorable Premier League dance but is set for another play-off shot

Barnsley had one memorable 首相 League dance but is 始める,決める for another play-off 発射

Quay believes that a unified club from top to bottom will guarantee success on the pitch

Quay believes that a 統一するd club from 最高の,を越す to 底(に届く) will 保証(人) success on the pitch

'This has always been a club of 可能性s and 適切な時期,' Quay says. 'Let's take those. It's little things like this tablecloth (she points to the (米)棚上げする/(英)提議する) - you know it has been 圧力(をかける)d and the room is 始める,決める up, it's ready to go. It wasn't always like that here. If everyone's pulling in the same direction, the team will be successful on the pitch.

'We have got to get 支援する to the 選手権 and make a run for the 首相 League every now and then but we also have to be solid and stable.'

To get there may 井戸/弁護士席 be expensive. The board have already 注入するd around £10m in a 比較して short space of time. Quay and her husband, who 持つ/拘留する a 火刑/賭ける of around 10 per cent, are 明確に not in this for a 早い return on 投資.?

'There's two ways you can look at it, 権利?' she says. 'One is I'll 投資する, I'll sit tight and then I'll sell. But the other is where you 投資する in 事業/計画(する)s that give 支援する to you 本人自身で and professionally. The club gives you gives 支援する so much more.?

'It's something you can't put a price on. 存在 an 投資家 in Barnsley Football Club is very much 存在 part of a community. And so that has 巨大な personal and emotional value to our family.'

Quay aims to cast the net wider and attract supporters from beyond Barnsley's boundaries

Quay 目的(とする)s to cast the 逮捕する wider and attract 支持者s from beyond Barnsley's 境界s

In her 'other' life Quay 供給するs a 壇・綱領・公約 for fashion designers to showcase their 技術s and tell their stories. They appear to be 技術s she will need here.

'Football cannot just be 見解(をとる)d as buying and selling players,' she says. 'It needs to be more than just that. You see the Wrexham content, 抱擁する 歳入 drivers that in football are 非,不,無-伝統的な, 権利? It's your storytelling, your content, your 小売, your 商品/売買するing.'

It is a contested marketplace. Barnsley are surrounded by the two Sheffield clubs to the south and 物陰/風下d 部隊d to the north, with Rotherham and Doncaster around the corner. Manchester is の近くに enough to 衝撃.?

Quay says the 目的(とする) is to cast the 逮捕する wider. To attract 支持者s from beyond the Barnsley 境界s. 'You want people to follow your club because of what you stand for,' she explains. 'Not just because you're born in the 地元の hospital.?

'We 借りがある it to those people to be successful but we also have to build an audience around the world. You do that through your storytelling and we have 広大な/多数の/重要な stories to tell here.'?From 首相 Inn to 首相 League would make a 広大な/多数の/重要な 肩書を与える.