25 September 2023 , 21:15
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Former AFC Wimbledon managing director Danny Macklin resigned after his alleged abusive rant about a female colleague was secretly caught on tape.
Macklin, who quit as boss of the League Two club earlier this month, allegedly called Rebecca Markham a "s**t" and a "s**g," and is said to have declared that he 'f***ing wanted to murder her'. A report from The Times claims that a recording device had been placed in Macklin's office at the Cherry Red Records Stadium - also known as Plough Lane - in South West London by a military veteran working for Wimbledon as a security officer who allegedly harboured concerns about Macklin's behaviour.
In one recording, while alleged to be in the presence of two other female colleagues, Macklin is claimed to have been heard saying: "I f***ing want to put her [Markham] through a f***ing window... I've never wanted to kill someone, but I'd like to kill her. F***ing s**t."
He is then alleged to have added: "Ah, s**t... f***ing b****, I'd like to put her through a f***ing window." Macklin is later alleged to have said: "I f***ing want to murder her... I f***ing hate her... f***ing s**g."
The vulgar comments are claimed to have been made two months after he and Markham publicly committed the club to tackling sexism in football, joining the increasingly popular Her Game Too campaign. Previously chief executive of fellow EFL side Leyton Orient, commercial director at Southend United and commercial director at Essex County Cricket Club, Macklin left his post at the start of September.
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Wimbledon, who at the time did not give a reason for Macklin's departure but praised him for his "hard work" throughout an 11-month tenure, now say that they moved to "promptly resolve" the incident. "The Club is aware of a report today in the national press about AFC Wimbledon and we therefore issue the following statement in response," a statement read.
Danny Macklin spent 11 months as Wimbledon's managing director (AFC Wimbledon)"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."
Macklin declined to discuss his behaviour and told the Times: "For legal reasons I make no comment." Markham, meanwhile, was ticketing manager at Wimbledon, having previously worked for Premier League clubs such as Tottenham, Chelsea, West Ham and Fulham.