What was Burnley FC owner Alan Pace doing before he joined the Clarets? | OneFootball

How did the American businessman make his millions before taking the reigns at Turf Moor?

‘Could you describe Burnley in three words for me please?’ asks one Sky TV reporter, interviewing the Claret’s chairman and majority shareholder Alan Pace. After some thought, the American replies ‘Rainy… Sunny… and… full of happiness’.

After a great start to life in charge of Burnley FC, Pace has recently become a polarizing figure at Turf Moor, but just how did an investor from America’s south-west end up fronting the Lancashire club, and where did he make his millions?

Who is Alan Pace?

Alan Pace is an American businessman from Utah with a professional background in Wall Street trading. He attended the University of California in Los Angeles before studying at the prestigious IESE Business School in Madrid.

AP is the head of American sports investment firm ALK Capital, and has a reported net worth in the vicinity of £190 million

He attributes his relationship to the North West of England to his father, who, like Pace and the rest of his ALK board members is a practising Mormon, and lived there briefly in the 1960s during a missionary retreat.

Does Alan Pace have a footballing background?

It is during his time studying in Spain that he claims to have fallen in love with football (or most likely soccer at the time), being lucky enough to attend El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. ‘I have to say, all you need to do is go once, and you really understand what football is all about’ swoons Pace, recalling his footballing initiation.

Between 2006 and 2008, Pace acted as interim President of Real Salt Lake in the MLS, a club that had been established just two years prior in 2004.

Despite a clear interest in the game, by his own admission Pace has a footballing knowledge that many would consider poor. On former manager Vincent Kompany: ‘I didn’t know his playing career, I had to be told to think about him as our manager because I didn’t know who he was’

Where did Alan Pace work before ALK?

AP joined the now defunct global financial services firm Lehman Brothers in 1994, directly following his graduation from IESE. Serving as a managing director for twelve years, he left the company just two years before the infamous Crash of ‘08, preserving his reputation.

After the aforementioned Presidency at Real Salt Lake, he worked extensively with Wall Street investment bank Citigroup. While his main role was to be CEO of Citicorp Securities Services, he assumed a number of other positions within Citigroup concurrently, including Head of Americas Prime Finance, Global Head of Client Experience and Global head of Investor Services Sales.

After an extremely successful twelve years and accrued fortune, Pace left Citigroup in order to found and become managing partner of ALK Capital. Earlier this year, ALK expanded their portfolio by announcing a strategic partnership with Scottish team Dundee FC.

Is Alan Pace a ‘good chairman’?

It appears from various soundbites that Alan Pace thinks of himself as an innovator within sports ownership.

A proposed ‘Moneyball’ ideology similar to that of Brighton or Brentford means that recruitment will be predominantly data driven. He claims to be a big fan of technology to help level the playing field, using information to track talent wherever they are in the world.

He cuts an earnest and engaged figure in interviews, though it is difficult to tell whether this is genuine care for the club, or finely tuned media nous. Despite a strong start to the campaign, many Burnley fans question his ability to make footballing decisions.