John Williams was appointed to the board as Blackburn's first Chief Executive Officer in 1997, before becoming appointed as Chairman in July 2005 when Robert Coar stood down.

Prior to joining Blackburn Rovers John Williams was Managing Director of Granada Entertainments, which included theme parks in Lancashire and Derbyshire, 25 bowling centres, a dozen nightclubs and six hotels. John Williams was also involved in Granada’s 1996 take over of the Forte Group, that included Travel Lodge and Little Chef.

Born in Totton, near Southampton, Hampshire, in March 1949, John Williams supported Southampton, as a boy, attending his first game at the Dell, as a fifth birthday present, in 1953 when Southampton were beat 1-0 by Gillingham in Division Three South.

After leaving School John Williams went to the University of London and studied Science, before joining the Levy Board and becoming General Manager of Sandown Park.

John Williams left the Levy Board to join the Granada Television and leisure group, where he held the positions of managing director of the companiy’s business development, head of films, studio operations manager and controller of Little Chef.