Every Monday we profile one of our Members. This week in we are joined by Proprietor 186, John Blain. As announced by the President last week, John has been appointed General Manager of the Club on an interim basis.
Who are you?
I am John Blain, I am a lifelong Evertonian, Chairman of the Everton Football Club Shareholders’ Association and a Patron of the charity Health Through Sport.
I am married with three terrific grown up boys and the most beautiful granddaughter in this universe and I have been a proprietor of The Athenaeum for a few years.
What is your greatest achievement?
This is a really difficult question to answer with candour and with an appropriate amount of humility. I have settled on something that cannot really be measured but was undoubtably true, because they told me so, before they each passed away at what I consider a ridiculously young age.
I made my mum, dad, and younger sister proud of me.
Can you give one interesting fact about yourself?
I am a qualified SCUBA Dive Master and have had the good fortune to have only dived in warm waters. My personal favourite being the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia although I have also dived in the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Andaman and Mediterranean Seas and the Pacific.
What brought you to The Athenaeum?
I was at a private lunch in the Board Room at Goodison Park when (what I now know was a Proprietor) mentioned a club that I had never heard of called The Athenaeum. His brief overview stimulated my interest and I was delighted when he invited me to visit as his guest and subsequently sponsored me to become a Proprietor in my own right.
Is there anything you would like to change about the Athenaeum?
Historically the Club has sat at the centre of the society in Liverpool, the key influencers of the day have convened in the Club to share ideas and ambitions for our great City, It is vital that the Club maintains those traditions, protects our assets for future generations to enjoy and finds a way to embrace the changes that the 21st will continue to bring.
Do you have any Athenaeum memories or stories that you would wish to share?
My best memories of the Club to date have been my interactions with its greatest asset, the membership. It is frankly extraordinary how many interesting people the Club has the good fortune to host. Perhaps I should have said the change I would advocate would be to encourage each of us to engage with as many of our peers as possible as there is lots to learn and enjoy!
What would you say to anyone considering joining the Club?
Spend some time at the Club with a member and you will be smitten by the grandeur of the setting, the wonderful library and the tranquillity of a traditional club in the centre of one of the world’s most vibrant cities.