American venture capitalist joins board of Aberdeen Football Club with £1.3m investment

Mr Crotty has spent more than 30 years brokering deals for communications and software firms and helped found the charity Grassroot Soccer with Tommy Clark, the son of 1960s Scotland goalkeeper Bobby.

He is also a trustee of top US university Notre Dame, and he was the lead donor for Indiana-based university’s £4m soccer stadium which was built in 2009.

With over 30 years in the venture capital industry, Mr Crotty has led investments in dozens of early stage companies.

During 27 years at Battery Ventures, he headed the firm as managing general partner for twelve years and remains as a senior advisor to the company. He currently sits on the boards of numerous private and not-for-profit organisations.

As a trustee of The University of Notre Dame, as well as the lead donor behind the construction of the school’s state-of-the-art mens and womens soccer stadium, Mr Crotty sits on the university’s Capital Campaign Cabinet which has raised several billion dollars over the last six years.

Mr Crotty called his new role in the north east of Scotland “an honour and a challenge” adding: “I first set foot in Pittodrie during the summer of 2003 when Bobby brought the Notre Dame men’s soccer team to Scotland for training and exhibition matches.

“All these years later I’m thrilled about playing an influential role in realising the bold vision of a club with such a rich heritage but a refreshing head-on approach to meeting the challenges of the modern football era.”

Aberdeen FC chairman Stewart Milne said: “This decision reflects the fact Tom is now a major investor in the club and in phase one of the Kingsford plans – the community sports hub, football academy and training facilities.

“He has a wealth of business experience and contacts that will help us attract and secure further investment from the UK and overseas.”