Stephen Vaughan, Sr.

Stephen Vaughan (born c. 1962) is a convicted criminal, an English businessman from Liverpool. Through his ownership of Vaughan Promotions, originally a boxing promotion and management company, he has owned the Barrow and Chester City football clubs, serving as chairman of both. During his time as chairman of the two clubs, both clubs initially saw success on the pitch, but his tenure at both ended due to Vaughan's involvement in criminal investigations. Vaughan has also been involved with Droylsden F.C., and has been chairman of the Widnes Vikings rugby league team.

Vaughan contested 77 amateur boxing bouts. He formed Vaughan Promotions in 1990 to promote professional boxing promotions in the United Kingdom. His company purchased Barrow in 1995, and Vaughan invested heavily in the club, building a new 1200 seat grandstand. His investments led to Barrow winning the Unibond Premier League title in the 1997–98 season. However, during that season Vaughan resigned as chairman due to a money laundering investigation by HM Customs and Excise. Vaughan's links to gangster Curtis Warren also became public; in Warren's biography, he relates an incident where he flew over Barrow's Holker Street field and commented, "I own that". Nothing came of the Customs and Excise investigation, and Vaughan reinstated himself as chairman.

Vaughan had been using his own money to fund the club; when he left Barrow permanently in November 1998, his departure resulted in financial difficulties for the club. Furthermore, it was discovered that Vaughan had transferred Holker Street to his company, Vaughan Promotions, in return for his investment. Barrow were removed from the Football Conference for improper administration. A lengthy dispute over the ownership of Holker Street followed, during which time Barrow was readmitted to play in the Northern Premier League in September 1999. Vaughan remained the major shareholder in the old company, but day-to-day running of the club had been taken over by the newly formed Barrow AFC (1999). Eventually, it was ruled that the club legally owned Holker Street, and was allowed to sell the asset to pay off the first charge on the stadium to Cherrytree finance.

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