Football is in his blood.

David Dein has spent decades at the top of the beautiful game — as a former vice-chairman of both Arsenal FC and the Football Association.

He has also served as chairman of the
powerful G-14 group of European football clubs between October, 2006, and May, 2007. In 2010, he was president of the England World Cup bid for the 2018 finals.

Now David is set to fulfil a fixture as keynote speaker at tomorrow’s Examiner Business Awards — in the sporting surroundings of the John Smith’s Stadium.

A talk encompassing football and business is eagerly anticipated by the sell-out audience.

At Arsenal, David was responsible for football matters — taking an active role in the transfer of players and contract negotiations where he was able to use his extensive network of football contacts.

He was behind the appointment of the then little known Arsène Wenger to the manager’s job in 1996.

Under Wenger, Arsenal went on to win the FA Premier League three times and the FA Cup four times — with David backing his transfer decisions throughout.

In 1986, David was voted on to the board of the Football League Management Committee and later achieved a place on the FA Council.

He was also a major force in the creation of the FA Premier League in 1992 — eventually rising to the position of vice-chairman of the FA in 2000, a post he held until 2004 when it was scrapped after restructuring.

He was subsequently re-elected to the FA Board as a FA Premier League representative.

Dein also helped obtain Arsenal’s entry into the G-14 group of major European football clubs in 2002 and became chairman of the G-14 in October 2006.

A keen promoter of women’s football, he was also president of Arsenal Ladies FC — the most successful English women’s football team — while he was Arsenal vice-chairman.

While he’s still a devoted Arsenal fan, David also travels around the world to watch matches and is a much in-demand motivational speaker — addressing audiences at business conferences, schools and prisons — and in his capacity as ambassador for the Premier League.

The Examiner Business Awards will also welcome back BBC Look North presenter Harry Gration as host for the evening.

Harry has anchored the awards since they were launched and rates the event highly.