David Barry Dein MBE (born 7 September 1943) is a British businessman, known for being a former co-owner and vice-chairman of Arsenal, as well as founding the Premier League.

[7][10] Dein believed that Wenger would change Arsenal's style of play, which was seen as dogmatic and one-dimensional, to one based on technique and speed more attuned with the approach adopted by teams from the continent.

Dein was behind the introduction of a bond scheme, unpopular with fans, to finance the redevelopment of Highbury's North Bank and Clock End terraces into all-seater stands.

[14] Arsène Wenger stated: "It is a huge disappointment because we worked very closely together, David has contributed highly to the success of the club in the last 10 years and even before that as well.

[16] In August 2007, David Dein sold his 9,072 shares (14.58%) in the club for £75 million to Red & White Holdings, an investment vehicle of Russian metal billionaire Alisher Usmanov and his business partner Farhad Moshiri.

[17] Dein was appointed as chairman of Red & White, which was at the time the largest shareholder in the club outside of members of the board of directors.

[18] In 1986, Dein was voted onto the board of the Football League Management Committee, and subsequently achieved a place on the FA Council.

[19] Five years later, in 2006, he was one of four members of an FA panel (the others being Brian Barwick, Noel White and Dave Richards) tasked with identifying Eriksson's replacement.

Dein's preferred choice, Luiz Felipe Scolari, was offered the job and looked set to take it,[20] but later changed his mind;[21] the FA eventually chose Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren.

[22] This removal came one day after a news story broke on the BBC's Newsnight programme regarding possible infringements of FIFA rules regarding player transfers with, and loans to, Belgian club Beveren.

[24][25] Dein was the representative of the Premier League on UEFA's committee for club competitions, and a former member of the FA Council, having to step down from his position when he left Arsenal.

[citation needed] Dein's dual roles as director of Arsenal and a senior member of the Football Association's executive led to accusations of conflicts of interest.

At the time, several legal disputes between clubs and FIFA and national associations relating to the release of players for international matches were on-going.

[35][36] In February 2010, Dein was appointed International President of England's unsuccessful 2018 World Cup bid, responsible for lobbying members of FIFA's Executive Committee who picked the country which would stage the tournament.

The scheme will help clubs deliver coaching, refereeing courses and other sporting qualifications to provide routes to paid employment for prisoners.

In November 2021, Dein and Arsene Wenger raised £150,000 for the Twinning Project at a sell-out event at the London Palladium, hosted by footballers Ian Wright and Alex Scott.

[39][40] and his second son Gavin Dein, is the founder and CEO of Reward Insight who, in November 2020, sold a minority stake in his business in a deal worth over £100m.

[42] On 29 December 2018, Dein was awarded an MBE in the 2019 Queen's New Year honours list for his services to football and for voluntary work in school and prisons.