With his band Reverend and the Makers, Jon McClure has played all over the world, from small, intimate venues to huge festivals and supported some of the biggest names in music. But now he’s facing his toughest gig yet.

In a headline-grabbing press conference that gained national attention, it was announced that Jon will be the new chairman of Sheffield FC – the oldest football club in the world. 

But before you think that this is maybe his ego running away with him, we can categorically say that this couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Jon is a proud Sheffielder and alongside his 20-plus years in the music industry, he has long used his ideas and influence to promote the great and good in the city, whether that’s through his role in helping to start the Tramlines music festival or through the Dayfever daytime disco (amongst many, many other things). This new role is just a further step to shout about the city – but he’s not doing it alone.

“There’s a foolishness in trying to do things in your own,” he said, as we sat in the sunshine at Sheffield FC’s Coach & Horses stadium. “I don’t want to be the man, I want to be part of the team.”

Looking back through Jon’s involvements in previous projects, it’s always been as part of a team and this latest venture is no exception.

Jon maybe the frontman – a role not too uncommon to him – but he’s working alongside David Bianchi, Alexis Krachai and Andrew Ford under the banner of IAV Holdings Limited. Together they have invested in Sheffield FC and, working alongside current majority shareholder, Jeremy Levine, intend to drive the club forward,

“We very deliberately set up a company with complementary skill sets,” explained Jon. “I’m a creative person and my strength is ideas. The trick here is to put a team around me who can bring those ideas into being.

“Alexis is going to be the CEO, he will sort out the internal mechanisms of it. Andrew Ford is going to try and sort out the land complications. Dave Bianchi is going to try and connect us with a bunch of enablers and help bring into being some of the ideas I’ve got for the club.” 

As well as improving things on and off the pitch, one of the most important tasks facing the group is to tell the story of how the game originated in the city – a story still unknown to many parts of the world. 

In 1855, members of a Sheffield cricket club organised informal kick-abouts without any official rules. Subsequently, two members – Nathaniel Creswick and William Prest – formed the Sheffield Football Club.

The inaugural meeting of the club took place on 24 October 1857 at Parkfield House in the suburb of Highfield in Sheffield. The original headquarters was a greenhouse on East Bank Road lent to them by Thomas Asline Ward, father of the first club president Frederick Ward, and the adjacent field was used as their first playing ground.Much of this is now a B&Q car park.

Creswick and Prest were responsible for drawing up the club’s rules of play, which were decided upon at the club’s AGM on 21 October 1858, and published the following year. They were referred to as the Sheffield Rules.

Jon, and the wider group, feel that Sheffield needs to shout about itself a lot more and there are already talks regarding possible TV documentaries, e-sports clans, football festivals and more to cement the city as the true home of football. 

And of course there’s the desire to return the club to the city limits – they have been playing at the Coach & Horses ground in Dronfield since 2001. There’s a current open planning application at Meadowhead and they will also be working alongside the council and other partners to explore various alternatives. 

“The USP of this club is so unique,” enthused Jon. “There are only two clubs on the earth that have got the FIFA Order of Merit – Real Madrid and Sheffield FC. I find it scandalous that people don’t know this.” 

But while Jon is settling into his new role as football club chairman there’s also the small matter of his day job – as the lead singer of Reverend and the Makers – and the release of the band’s eighth album. 

Is This How Happiness Feels is released this month and will be followed by a series of in-store gigs, including The Foundry in Sheffield on 8 May. For Jon, it was one of his toughest albums to make and was delayed following his father’s passing but is one he’s incredibly proud of. 

“It makes it sound all doomy but it’s not, there’s only one song that’s really about that, it’s quite joyful really,” he said. “I love it, I think it’s brilliant, I’m really proud of it. It’s variations on soul music, I think that’s the thing that links it all together, which funnily enough is the music my dad enjoyed.

“We’ve had a real renaissance in the last few years. I’ve been doing this a long time. The awareness of the band seems to be at an all-time high. I’m grateful for that.”

Following the promo for the album there will be a series of festival performances over the summer, including a main stage slot on the Sunday night at Tramlines. 

In the meantime there’s just the small matter of running a football club as well as managing his brother, Chris, whose Steve Bracknall persona is currently featuring in a BBC podcast series. 

“You don’t expect to be in a band when you’re 40-odd years old or the chairman of the world’s oldest football club, managing a viral sensation as my brother is these days but long may it continue,” laughed Jon. 

He’s certainly got plenty to keep himself busy. Is This How Happiness Feels is released on 8 May, the same day as the band play The Foundry, Sheffield. Click here to find out more.