AFC Wimbledon chief who campaigned against sexism resigned after ‘secret recording caught him calling a female employee a f***ing s**g and saying he wanted to kill her’
- Danny Macklin was involved in the club joining the Her Game Too movement
A former AFC Wimbledon managing director who campaigned about sexism resigned from his role after a hidden recording device allegedly revealed he had made violent and sexist remarks against a female member of staff at the club.
Danny Macklin, who joined Wimbledon in November last year, allegedly made shocking comments about Wimbledon head of supporter services and ticketing Rebecca Markham.
He stated in one exchange that he would like to ‘murder’ her and labelled the club executive as a ‘f***ing s**g’ and a ‘s***’, the Times reported.
The vile language used by the ex-Wimbledon chief came despite Macklin, alongside Markham, being involved in the club joining the Her Game Too movement in an effort to encourage more women and girls to get into football.
Macklin stated at the time: ‘We welcome initiatives that encourage more girls and women to attend our games, or take part in activities.’
He had also urged supporters not to sing sexist songs saying use of chants which were not family friendly would prevent them from gaining new fans.
Former Wimbledon director Danny Macklin, pictured, reportedly resigned after making abusive and sexist comments about a colleague
Rebecca Markham, pictured, now head of supporter services and ticketing, was the alleged subject of abusive and threatening comments made by Macklin
Wimbledon have released a statement in response to the allegations
However, just two months later he resigned from his position and it has now been discovered he had made a host of derogatory and abusive comments about Markham to other colleagues.
Macklin’s comments were reportedly recorded by an individual who placed the device inside Macklin’s office at Cherry Red Records stadium in London.
One exchange reportedly recorded Macklin stating: ‘I f***ing want to put her [Markham] through a f****** window… I’ve never wanted to kill someone, but I’d like to kill her. F***ing s**t.’
The 42-year-old described the Wimbledon ticketing officer in another conversation as a ‘f***ing b****’ and explained how he wanted to ‘murder her’.
Wimbledon later published a statement following the report in The Times. The club said: ‘AFC Wimbledon strives to be a responsible, inclusive and modern fan-owned club. As such, it takes its obligation to act properly and set an example, as well as its duty of care towards employees and fans, extremely seriously.
‘Behaviour such as that being alleged was and is not tolerated, nor is it representative of the culture at AFC Wimbledon.
‘Once we became aware of the matter we acted appropriately in accordance with our responsibilities and values to promptly resolve it. For legal reasons we are not able to say more.’
Markham previously worked at Premier League clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, West Ham and Fulham and became Wimbledon’s head of supporter services and ticketing in June this year.
Macklin departed his position at the club in September but Wimbledon didn’t reveal the circumstances surrounding his exit at the time. They announced he had left in a statement claiming they ‘appreciated’ the former executive’s hard work.
Macklin was reportedly recorded stating he wanted to ‘murder’ head of supporter services and ticketing officer Markham (right)
Markham (pictured) was the alleged subject of abusive and threatening comments made by Macklin
Macklin was appointed Wimbledon’s managing director in November last year
Responding to the reported recordings, Macklin told the Times: ‘For legal reasons I make no comment.’
At the time of his resignation he released a lengthy departure message thanking supporters and colleagues.
Part of the statement read: ‘I played a leading role in driving resilience across the club in us individually, and most importantly collectively, realising potentials and have truly enjoyed working alongside my hard-working colleagues in both the footballing and non-footballing departments.’
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