Education
Born in Liverpool on 6 July 1963, he was educated at Litherland High School.
Born in Liverpool on 6 July 1963, he was educated at Litherland High School.
Leaving school at age 16, he joined the Royal Navy. After leaving the senior service, he then undertook various roles in business in Asia, eventually becoming chief executive of Pace Systems. The business at the time was the world"s largest provider of streaming football content with over five million users.
He then moved to Malaysia, as chief operating officer of Total Sports Asia, a business selling sports media rights, managing live sports events and selling sports sponsorships.
Head hunted by a team working for then owners Tom Hicks and George North. Gillett, Junior., in 2007 Ayre was appointed Commercial Director at Liverpool. He used the Asian Liverbird book, a book showcasing the clubs international fan base, to secure a shirt sponsorship deal with Standard Chartered Bank - believed to be one of the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deals in football.
On 15 October 2010, NESV completed its £300m takeover of Liverpool, at which time the clubs existing Managing Director Christian Purslow stepped down. The club"s owners, Fenway Sports Group, led by John West. Henry and the chairman Tom Werner, announced Ayre as the new Managing Director on 22 March 2011.
With the sacking of sporting director Damien Comolli in April 2012, Ayre was given more responsibility and in May 2014 was officially promoted to chief executive officer
In March 2016, Liverpool announced Ayre would step down as Chief Executive Officer at the end of May 2017, when his current contract expired. Criticisms
In 2012, Ayre implemented a transfer committee, mainly during Brendan Rodgers" reign as manager, and Liverpool"s failure to land several notable transfers, and underwhelming incoming transfers were widely criticized by media and fans alike.
Returning to the United Kingdom, Ian was instrumental as a shareholder in the buyout of a United Kingdom professional football club, Huddersfield Town F.C., becoming Chief Executive and Chairman for three years, before spending three years as Founder Managing Director of sports content firm Premium television, an NTL subsidiary (now Virgin Media).
