Board Members

Ian Bennett - Chair

Ian is currently MD of a SME and has owned the company for the last 20 years.

Ian has been a Wednesday fan since his father first took him in 1964 and he has held a season ticket since 1969. Ian travels home and away and last missed a match (COVID excepting) in 2015.

Ian says that, apart from his family, it is fair to say that Wednesday is engrained into him.

Ian joined the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust as he felt that the Trust was the only legitimate group that were democratic and run for the supporters to voice their true opinion. Ian is proud to have been elected as Chair and hopes to carry out his duties to the best of his ability.

James Silverwood - Vice chair

James was an original founder member of the Trust and was Chair for the first three years of its existence until the summer of 2022 when he stepped away from the board after the birth of his son and the sad passing of his mother after her battle with cancer. Since early 2024, James has been Chair of the Emergency Financial Planning Group, a sub-group of the full Trust board conducting research and investigations into the finances at SWFC. His first game was a home 2-2 draw against Oldham in November 1990, a game in which John Sheridan scored two late penalties to rescue a draw. His dad must have been eager to make sure he was a Wednesday fan as he was only three and he fell asleep in the second half! 

Outside of the Trust, James joined Leeds Beckett University as Senior Lecturer in Politics in December 2023. His research specialism in British political economy, publishing work on British economic, environmental and educational policy, as well as the sustainability and governance of English football

Steve Chu - Secretary

Steve has been a freelance consultant since April 2023, working mainly with distressed organisations in Interim Chief Executive roles or carrying out rapid reviews, often for mergers/acquisition processes. In one Interim CEO role, he closed down an organisation, working with liquidators to operationally deliver 65 redundancies and the asset disposal process. He is currently completing the operational merger of Cavendish Cancer Care with Weston Park Cancer Charity. Over the past two years, he has carried out 12 merger/acquisition due diligence reviews.

Previously he was Chief Executive of Age UK Sheffield from 2015-23, turning round a loss-making organisation which was close to its minimum reserves into a profitable charity with over £1 million cash in the bank. In this role he delivered the £1 million restoration of a derelict building in Hillsborough Park, supported by National Lottery Heritage Funding.

Steve was Sheffield Wednesday’s Communications Manager from 2000-07.

Martin Cade - Treasurer

Martin is a Director at EY whose career has been spent predominantly in the provision of financial risk and regulatory services to the banking sector in the UK. His primary specialism today is regulatory reporting, but he has undertaken a wide variety of work during the last 20 years in professional services, which includes time with Deloitte and KPMG prior to EY. This work includes experience in both buy-side and sell-side due diligence, internal audit and risk management. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and member of the ICAEW. He is also a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Martin became involved in the Trust during the Spring of 2025 and undertook the analysis of Sheffield Wednesday’s financial statements over the last ten years which was presented to a Trust Fans’ Forum. Since then, he has been an active member of the Investment sub-committee and was co-opted onto the Board as Treasurer in August.

Tom Scott – Communications Officer

Tom Scott is a Sheffield-based marketing consultant and a founding member of the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust. He is the founder of Little Mesters, an outsourced marketing and communications agency, and currently serves as Marketing Director for HomeCo and ComSol Energy, as well as Interim Head of Marketing for ZOO Digital — a London Stock Exchange-listed media localisation company that works with major international studios including Netflix and Disney.

Tom has over 15 years of experience in growth and brand strategy, social media, and wider marketing disciplines. His work spans multiple sectors including technology, renewables, and heritage manufacturing. He has also worked extensively with Sheffield FC, supporting the club’s membership scheme, brand positioning, and marketing strategy.

Within the Trust, Tom leads communications strategy and campaign activity. His work has focused on public messaging, media engagement, and member communications, helping to maintain a clear, professional, and effective voice throughout the Trust’s campaign for change.

Robert Brookes – Research Officer

Robert Brookes holds a PhD in Political Economy from the University of Leeds and brings extensive experience in research, organisational governance, and complex stakeholder collaboration.

He began his career as a Research Associate in the University of Sheffield’s Law Department before progressing to Senior Research Co-ordinator and later Project Manager for multinational digital service initiatives in the intellectual property sector. He subsequently worked as a freelance consultant for the UK Intellectual Property Office, the European Patent Office, and several national offices across Europe — developing strong expertise in cross-border project delivery, stakeholder engagement, and strategic implementation.

Robert has a long-standing commitment to fan ownership and democratic governance in football. A key member of the WTID organisation in 2010, he helped develop a detailed fan-led buyout plan for Sheffield Wednesday FC, an experience that deepened his understanding of supporter ownership models and the challenges of community-led acquisitions.

He returned to active involvement in 2023, helping to establish and coordinate the Sheffield Wednesday Fans’ Umbrella Group. He later joined the Trust’s research sub-committee, where he led investigations into the club’s ownership and governance structures, before being elected to the Trust Board in July 2025.

Now retired from full-time professional practice, Robert continues to apply his research and governance experience in advisory roles, supporting the Trust’s strategic work on fan ownership and sustainable football governance.

Mark Johnson – Trust Campaigns Officer

Mark joined the board in March 2025, first as a co-optee working to reboot the Trust board and then as a permanent board member after the elections in June 2025. Mark has also represented the board as a member of the Safety Advisory Group.

Mark is an experienced executive director of operations and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management (MCIM). For seven years mark ran one of the biggest UK’s direct labour organisations with a staff of over 500 and a turnover of over £100m pa. In 2013 Mark set up his own successful consultancy business working in property asset management and specialising in cost reduction and business restructures. During this time Mark has worked within several regulatory and inspection regimes and is an acknowledged specialist on risk management within the housing sector.

Mark is also an experienced Non-Executive Director with several Board roles under his belt including an extended term as Chair of Efficiency East Midlands procurement consortium. Mark is currently Vice Chair of Berneslai Homes.

Paul Taylor - Community Officer

Paul is probably best known amongst the Wednesday fanbase as Editor of the War of the Monster Trucks fanzine, and for twelve years being the voice of the Wednesday Fanscene column in the the late lamented Green ‘Un. Paul came to Sheffield as a student, and in late 1980 decided to catch a bus to Hillsborough and ended up watching a 4-1 win against Bristol Rovers. He quickly became a season ticket holder and a passionate Wednesdayite.

Work-wise Paul had a varied career as a senior manager in both the public and voluntary sectors. His last post before retiring in March 2025 was spending eight years as Head of Customer Services with Sheffield City Council. Paul has extensive experience in media work (both in his work and in respect of Wednesday), in involvement in fundraising initiatives, and in ensuring effective communication.

As the Trust’s Community Director Paul is passionate about working to help further embed and develop Sheffield Wednesday’s - and the Supporters Trust’s - important place in the local and wider community.