Reverend And The Makers frontman Jon McClure has been announced as the new club chairman of Sheffield FC.
McClure and performing arts firm IAV Holdings Limited have bought a stake in the club, whose men’s side currently play in the ninth tier of English football, with hopes of climbing the non-league football system.
Sheffield FC is the world’s oldest football club after having been founded in 1857.
McClure said: “Sheffield is where modern football was born. This club carries the origin story of the world’s greatest game, and with that comes a fair amount of responsibility.
What am I doing at the world’s oldest football club, you ask? Well, meet the new chairman of Sheffield FC💪
Our vision is that we honour the club’s roots and pay homage to its incredible history, whilst restoring it to its former glory. There’s a lot to be done but we’re ready… pic.twitter.com/z4YAVCuGvK
— Reverend&TheMakers (@Reverend_Makers) March 9, 2026
“We are stepping forward not just to run a football club, but to take charge of a global cultural institution rooted in South Yorkshire.”
He added: “Our ambition is to breathe life into this club in a way that respects its heritage. But at the same time, we’d like to build something future-facing and inclusive. We want to create something that everyone in this region, and football fans everywhere, can get behind.
Jon McClure (right) has become the new chairman of Sheffield FC CREDIT: Press
“Sheffield FC belongs to its community, but it also belongs to the story of world football. It’s time that story was told properly.”
McClure said he had originally tried to buy Sheffield FC in 2018, alongside his manager David Bianchi, co-founder of Various Artists Management, who helped launch the careers of Charli XCX and La Roux.
Sheffield FC have played their games outside of their home city, in Dronfield in North East Derbyshire, since 2001.
The club has made several attempts to return to Sheffield over the past two decades, with the latest plans unveiled in November 2023 as a joint venture with Sheffield Eagles Rugby League Club.
Jon McClure said he wants to “breathe new life into the club” CREDIT: Press
McClure said they were looking at “a bunch of places” for a new stadium, with a move to the former Sheffield Transport Sports Club site at Meadowhead remaining a possibility.
He added: “Everybody has an ambition to return the club to the city, inside the city limits, because obviously the game of football, loved by billions around the world, is effectively being played from a B&Q car park. We would like to return it to the city.”
Elsewhere, Reverend And The Makers recently performed at Leeds’ Brudenell Social Club as part of this year’s Independent Venue Week.
The event celebrates and helps support the live music spaces across the UK, and has been running since 2013. For this year’s edition, 236 independently-owned venues participated – a 10 per cent increase on 2025 – and over 700 events took place.
Meanwhile, McClure previously revealed to NME that he had been diagnosed with ADHD.
He said at the time: “I understand myself better. When I was 24, I thought I knew everything and I’d gob off to NME about everything. I knew fuck all. Looking back, to when I was kicking off at people, I was probably quite poorly for most of my career. I wasn’t well mentally. If you add drugs into that, plus my best mate [Alex Turner] being in the biggest band in the world and feeling jealous of him, it was a bad mix.”
He added: “Now I understand myself, ADHD is like a special power I’ve not known how to harness before. I’m 42 and it’s like I was infantilised until now. In my case, before being diagnosed, ADHD left me taking a lot longer to grow up and be responsible. Now I have, I feel I can do anything.”
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