Jump to content

David Sullivan and David Gold complete takeover of West Ham United


YFSD

Recommended Posts

David Sullivan and David Gold have completed their takeover of West Ham United, buying 50% of the club with an option to acquire the remaining 50%. They will have operational and commercial control of the club with immediate effect and the duo, who sold Birmingham City to Carson Yeung this season, said Gianfranco Zola will definitely stay on as the club's manager. The deal values West Ham at £105m.

"We will spell out the book we are taking over," Sullivan said on BBC 5 Live. "The imbalance in the squad and the crazy wages the Icelandics were paying that brought the club to its knees."

Sullivan confirmed that Karren Brady, who was managing director at Birmingham, will become vice-chairman at Upton Park. He told Sky Sports that the club was in a "serious mess". "I don't think we would have bought West Ham if we weren't fans. It is a serious mess there but we are West Ham fans and it is nice to see that we beat off two foreign investors.

"Zola is absolutely staying. I can say that categorically. West Ham United need stability after all the recent upheavals. We appointed four managers and parted company with two at Birmingham in 16 years. We believe in our managers and give them the time and support they need," he added, revealing that he wants to take West Ham into the Champions League in the next decade. "We have a seven-year plan to get them into the Champions League.

"We are deeply and passionately involved in West Ham. It is where I have wanted to be for 20 years. We have done [what we have done] in a way that is good for Birmingham and we have got the club we wanted. Over the next seven years we will spend a lot of money."

Sullivan said part of their plan for the future of West Ham is to move from Upton Park to the Olympic Stadium. "It is the natural home for West Ham," he said. "We hope to persuade the government to let us move into the new Olympic Stadium and I believe the people of east London would support that move."

Sullivan and Gold became the favourites to buy the east London club after their rival Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia and team principal of the new Lotus F1 team, pulled out of the race.

Sullivan added: "West Ham is a bigger club than Birmingham with bigger aspirations and I appreciate that we have to achieve a lot more. It will be an immense privilege to lead this great football club and more importantly its supporters. Our first priority has to be securing the Premier League status of West Ham. I believe the players at this club have shown great commitment in trying circumstances and the new board and I will get behind them in every way we can."

What's peoples opinions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wouldn't wish them on anyone. Awful owners.

I don't know anything about them apart from what's been reported on SSN and what they've claimed their objectives are

Why are they so bad?

Media whores. Gold especially. Owning a London club is his dream so he can be on SSN every 10 minutes having an interview infront of his helicopter or next to the replica FA Cup he bought sprouting soundbites that the council estate fan will believe.

They'll hold the club back and be quite happy for survival, they won't invest anything that the club won't make back

Ticket prices will be Sky high (when Birmingham were a midtable Division One side their season tickets were over double the price of ours, and often over the past 8 years their child season tickets have cost more than our adults).

They'll develop an obsession with superior rivals, and constantly try and point score over their club. Brady will be sending for Tottenham in whatever Sunday rag she's writing for by the end of the month and Gold will be chatting shite about 'making us bigger than the Spurs'.

TBF to them, they won't ruin the club - they'll manage it sensibly and even if they do go down they'll get 'em back up. But say goodbye to any ambition, 15th in the top flight will be good enough for them long term. They'll drop clanger after clanger as they put themselves all over the media, Brady will be sleeping with players, attendances will drop because of sky-high prices and nothing to aim for and they'll just let the club drift for the next decade.

http://www.davidgold.co.uk/

+

0,,12562~8260159,00.jpg

Just sums them up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DAVID SULLIVAN started his West Ham reign with a blistering attack on "Mr Egghead".

The new owner revealed the club is £110m in debt - and blamed ex-chairman Eggert Magnusson.

Sullivan said: "Clearly Mr Magnusson, or Mr Egghead, thought the owner would subsidise the club."

Sullivan slammed the signing of Freddie Ljungberg from Arsenal in 2007 for £3million. The midfielder played 28 games.

He added: "West Ham took a player from Arsenal who was on £30,000 a week and paid him £80,000. That wasn't good business or necessary."

Ex-Birmingham owner Sullivan bought a 50 per cent stake of the club for £52.5m from the Icelandic owners. David Gold, his partner at City, immediately joined him.

Sullivan added: "It was a crazy way that wages were paid out by the Icelandics, that brought the club to its knees. You pay good wages, not crazy wages.

"I'm sure some fans will be fearful that we might be like Eggert and decimate the club. We won't.

"Magnusson phoned us six weeks ago and said he would like to be involved again. I don't know what the man is thinking."

Lifelong Hammers' fan Sullivan, who is joint chairman with Gold, revealed the extent of the debt.

He said: "We wouldn't buy this club at all if this wasn't West Ham. It makes no commercial sense. We must be mad.

"But there's £50m owed to banks, £40m owed to other clubs and there's not a penny to come in.

"Then there's the settlement of the Alan Curbishley case. So the real debt is about £110m."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe our way is a short-cut to a new West Ham headquarters but to disqualify the stadium's only viable future that I know of is to make a bonfire of the dreams of thousands and thousands of people in our under-privileged area. I love the idea of calling the club West Ham Olympic.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2820485/We-can-be-West-Ham-Olympic.html#ixzz0dOQhZ9Ii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Wouldn't wish them on anyone. Awful owners.

I don't know anything about them apart from what's been reported on SSN and what they've claimed their objectives are

Why are they so bad?

Media whores. Gold especially. Owning a London club is his dream so he can be on SSN every 10 minutes having an interview infront of his helicopter or next to the replica FA Cup he bought sprouting soundbites that the council estate fan will believe.

They'll hold the club back and be quite happy for survival, they won't invest anything that the club won't make back

Ticket prices will be Sky high (when Birmingham were a midtable Division One side their season tickets were over double the price of ours, and often over the past 8 years their child season tickets have cost more than our adults).

They'll develop an obsession with superior rivals, and constantly try and point score over their club. Brady will be sending for Tottenham in whatever Sunday rag she's writing for by the end of the month and Gold will be chatting shite about 'making us bigger than the Spurs'.

TBF to them, they won't ruin the club - they'll manage it sensibly and even if they do go down they'll get 'em back up. But say goodbye to any ambition, 15th in the top flight will be good enough for them long term. They'll drop clanger after clanger as they put themselves all over the media, Brady will be sleeping with players, attendances will drop because of sky-high prices and nothing to aim for and they'll just let the club drift for the next decade.

http://www.davidgold.co.uk/

+

0,,12562~8260159,00.jpg

Just sums them up.

started already with pay cuts

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...