News Of The World
By ROB SHEPHERD, 23/01/2010
THE stylish opulence of David Gold's Surrey sprawl is in stark contrast to
his deprived roots. As a kid, West Ham's new co-chairman survived the
Blitz, bomb-sites, hunger, illness and anti-Semitism in East London. Growing
up, he overcame being denied his dream of playing for the Hammers and
flirted with the Krays' notorious gangland scene, before eventually becoming
a prominent figure on Britain's Rich List. Last week, along with his
business partner of the past 30 years David Sullivan, Gold finally took
control of West Ham. It's a football club not just close to his heart, but
close to the terraced streets where he was brought up and began his
rags-to-riches journey. "If it was a book then you might say good read,
great story, but utter fiction that would never happen. But it has," smiled
Gold from the comfort of the drawing room at his 55-acre Victorian mansion,
where his estate includes a golf course, helicopter pad and jet runway. And
a little Yorkshire terrier called Daisy. When Gold was a ragamuffin post-war
boy living in a two-up two-down in Green Street, West Ham's Boleyn Ground
was virtually opposite and a symbol of something special. It was a place
where on a Saturday afternoon the dockers, as well as the duckers and
divers, stood side-by-side watching their local football team play. "To be
honest I never paid to get in as a kid," he admitted. "We had no money, so I
would wait until half-time when they opened a gate in the Chicken Run and
bunk in. "But from the age of seven it was a special place."
He is paying back now and some, having joined Sullivan in paying half each
for the £52.5million takeover, which for the time being gives them 50 per
cent of the club's equity.
Having beaten off three other bidders, Gold and Sullivan have a controlling
interest for at least four years when they can exercise an option to buy the
remainder. There are some cynics who will argue Gold and Sullivan have
pulled off a master business stroke. Maybe they have. But had their deal,
which has been on the table for more than five months, not been agreed then
West Ham could quite easily have gone bust over the next few months. When
push came to shove Gold and Sullivan, who recently sold Birmingham, had the
hard cash to make the deal viable. And just a little time spent in the
company of Gold illustrates that West Ham is a club now back in safe hands -
not at the mercy of volatile consortiums or maverick foreign owners. "Look,
let's make no bones about this, we eventually did the deal with less than
two weeks of the January transfer window left," stressed Gold. "Had it not
been done then West Ham would be hurtling towards a Leeds scenario. Had a
takeover not happened now, the club would have had to sell two, even three
players to raise the £20m needed just to pay the bills for the rest of the
season. "Of course that nightmare scenario would have pushed the club
towards relegation. With more top players then going it could easily have
seen the club ending up in the third tier. "Now I hear the argument that
while we seemed in the end to be the only people with the hard cash - the
very hard-earned hard cash - that maybe we would have let things unfold and
then take advantage of the scenario, picking the club up from the floor
after going into administration in the summer. "No. I couldn't have lived
with myself. No. Not at all. That might be the case if we were buying a club
we didn't have a feel for. But no. This is West Ham. It is my club. "OK, so
maybe I am being a bit selfish, too. I'm 73 but I still want to be involved
in a Premier League club. I couldn't wait until the summer then go through
the sort of journey Leeds has been through. It could be at least seven years
before we're back in the top tier. "No, we had to do it now. And let's not
forget West Ham is a special club, a very special club, with an amazing fan
base for it size. "Besides my mother Rosie, who died at the age of 92 a
couple years ago, will be so proud of what we have done."
A snapshot of Gold's formative days emphasises the empathy he has with the
Hammers. It is now a hairdressers with a flat above, and might sound like a
Ron Greenwood formation, but 442 Green Street is where the young Gold grew
up within a corner kick of the Boleyn Ground. The house took a couple of
shrapnel hits in the Blitz but Gold admits the biggest problem back then was
his father. "It was a difficult relationship. When I started to get a bit
older I realised he was to blame for the abject poverty we suffered,"
admitted Gold. "Let's be honest. My father was a petty criminal. It seemed
to me he spent more time in prison than out. "Then if being poor wasn't
enough I had to put up with all the taunts of being a Jewish boy. "As kids
we were spat at because our name was Gold. That's short for Goldstein. The
perception was, from the kids via their parents, that it was the Jews' fault
for this, the Jews' fault for that. The Jews had taken jobs, the Jews were
misers. "Kids in school were cruel. But after the war when people started to
realise about the Holocaust perception started to change. "My brother Ralph
ended up being an ABA champion and I played for West Ham boys. Suddenly all
the anti-Semitism stopped. In the mid-1950s, having played for the youth
team, the then West Ham manager Ted Fenton offered me an apprentice
contract. But my father wouldn't let me. He didn't see it has a proper job.
"He wanted me to carry on as an apprentice bricklayer. Silly sod."
Maybe not so silly. The Gold family moved from selling bits and bobs in the
local markets to, er, selling bits an bobs in the magazine market. They
eventually made a fortune once they teamed up with rival Sullivan and moved
on to property and evening wear. Gold is unabashed about his past. "Yes, we
started to import the early girlie magazines from the US along with
paperback books," he admitted. He does, though, acknowledge a twist of fate
that got him and his family off a butcher's hook when their embryonic east
London publishing business started to gain wider and unwanted attention.
Gold recalled: "When he was out of nick my dad was a spiv. A travelling
salesman. Did we ever get mixed up with the Krays? "Well what happened was
this. George Cornell called us and said he needed to speak to us. It must
have been 1966. Cornell rings. He was the enforcer for the Richardsons. He
wanted to meet us. We felt there was only one reason - a protection racket.
"My old man is going to meet him in Blooms, the Jewish restaurant in
Whitechapel, the following day. I go to bed. I can't sleep. I'm listening to
the radio then on comes a bulletin that Cornell has been shot dead in the
Blind Beggar. I thought, 's**t. My old man's killed him'. "No, really. Look
for all his fault my father wasn't a violent man but he would stand up to
bullies. For two hours I thought he had killed Cornell, but, of course, it
was the Krays."
Clearly Gold is not short on east London street cred. Not that he has to
prove it. When the Football Association and West Ham couldn't spare any
time, let alone a shilling, for the club's greatest icon, England World
Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore, Gold and and Sullivan recruited him to be
sports editor for their Sunday and Daily Sport papers in the mid-80s. "Bobby
Moore was out of work and we gave him a job on the Sport newspapers," said
Gold. "I remember reading an article in the Telegraph saying what a real
shame it was that Bobby had to go to work for a DOWN-market newspaper. "I
thought how come YOU didn't give him a job? "Yes, we were a down-market
newspaper but we felt very honoured to have Bobby working for us. "I have
been through a lot in life but don't feel bitter really, apart from how
football, the FA, yes even West Ham, treated Bobby Moore back then."
In the 80s, Gold and Sullivan bought 29 per cent of West Ham for £2m but,
shunned by the ruling Cearns family at the time, they sold out and moved on
to rebuild Birmingham.
Gold recognises they made some mistakes on that 17-year journey at St
Andrew's. But some of the lessons have been heeded. That is why although
cutting costs on some areas that had run out of control at West Ham, they
will stump up cash to buy players in a bid to stay in the Premier League.
Gold added: "That is the priority. Although I'd like to think we could kick
on a bit. "Consolidation and growing is next. But I promise this. David
Sullivan and I will not take a penny out of any profit. "If we fly to
Manchester on one of my charter planes at a cost of £3,000 to watch a game,
we won't charge the club. It comes out of OUR pocket. "If down the line when
we get West Ham up there against Spurs, Villa, Everton, pushing the top
clubs, and a billionaire comes in and want to take the club to that next
level. Fine. "I won't stand in the way, providing that they care for the
club, keep me on as an ambassador or something and give me a few seats. I
think even I'm a bit too old to bunk in now."
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WORST HAM - LONDONERS' FINANCIAL WOES REVEALED
New owners stunned by Hammers' plight
News Of The World
By Rob Shepherd, 23/01/2010
DAVID SULLIVAN walked into the chairman's suite at Upton Park and realised
that behind the plush facade he had inherited a hammer house of horrors.
Along with partner David Gold, Sullivan had just paid £52.5million for a
controlling interest in the club. After an arduous takeover battle, it
emerged that only Gold and Sullivan had the hard cash to buy into the club.
More importantly, only they were qualified to take on the challenge of
reducing debts which, according to Sullivan, stand at around £110million.
And it hasn't taken him long to start doing some simple maths and flourish a
red pen. Sullivan has been staggered at what he sees as some of the excesses
at the club, free spending that has continued despite the fact West Ham have
been on brink since the business empire of ex-owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson
collapsed 15 months ago. "We have bought into an incredibly bad situation.
At every level the club has been badly run," said Sullivan. "I'll give you
one simple example. It is now January and we have still got 21,000 first
team shirts in stock at £21 each. Ridiculous. "No proper decisions have been
made. Bad deals have been done. This is the deck of cards we have inherited
and it is going to take us time to play those cards."
West Ham's perilous financial position has forced them to take out loans on
the promise of the next two years' Premier League television revenue,
despite the fact they are far from guaranteed to beat relegation. Also, 70
per cent of a shirt sponsorship with SBOBET has been taken up front to stave
off the threat of administration. Gold claims the club needed to raise £20m
by the end of the month, which would have meant the sale of Scott Parker and
Matthew Upson and either Rob Green or Carlton Cole. Some of deals that have
heaped such a heavy financial burden on the club left the new owners barely
able to catch their breath. In summer 2007, Arsene Wenger was willing to
off-load Freddie Ljungberg for £1.5m The player is believed to asked for
£50,000 a week. In the end, they paid Arsenal £3m and gave the Swede near to
£80,000 a week. A year later, they realised he was not up to Premier League
pace any more, and they paid up his £6m contract. Players such as Kieron
Dyer, Craig Bellamy, Lucas Neill and Scott Parker joined on wages which were
way out of West Ham's league. Sullivan was staggered to discover technical
director Gianluca Nani was being paid £300,000 a year while two full-time
club doctors earned a combined salary of £400,000. Sullivan's view is that
if the pyhsios need any help then players will be sent to a specialist. The
doctors will go and so will Nani.
Nani's track record in recruiting players has, for the most part, been
disastrous. Last January, he lured German Under-21 international Savio
Nsereko to England for a fee touted at £9m. The player wasn't up to it and
has slipped back to Italy for next to nothing. Sullivan's verdict on the
squad is damning. He said: "We have an unbelievably unbalanced team. It
doesn't take a genius to see we have more midfielders than we know what do
with."
On the coaching front, Sullivan is astonished that, given the club's plight,
it still opted to hand Gianfranco Zola a new deal so soon into his
managerial career on a salary of £1.9m. Assistant, Steve Clarke is on £1.2m,
thought to be double the salary of Manchester United's No 2, Mike Phelan.
Sullivan will also wonder why several new company cars were recently
acquired, including an Aston Martin on a £1,500 a month lease. Having
brought Birmingham from the brink, Sullivan has a proven track record of
putting football clubs back on track, even if it is painful. As it stands
the plan is simple. Sullivan said: "The short term situation is survival.
The long term situation is our dreams."
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HAMMERS WANT TWO STRIKERS THIS MONTH
News Of The World
By Rob Shepherd, 23/01/2010
WEST HAM'S want two new strikers during the transfer window. The Hammers
tried to persuade Ruud van Nistelrooy to sign a £100,000-a-week deal for the
rest of the season now that he has been shown the door by Real Madrid. But
Van Nistelrooy who has rejected a pay-as-you-play deal from Tottenham and
has joined Hamburg in Germany rather than joining a relegation fight in East
London. West Ham may turn to another Madrid outcast Jan Huntelaar who is
also wanted by Everton after failing to shine at Milan. Benni McCarthy of
Blackburn and Manchester City's Benjani also remain targets. Hammers new
co-chairman Sullivan said last night: "The absolute priority at the moment
is for us to bring in two new strikers. "We can mix and mend in other parts
of the team but not up front. "The squad is terribly inbalanced, there are
too many midfielders and not enough forwards"
The Hammers though will not sell midfield general Scott Parker who is
believed to be wanted by Manchester City and possibly Tottenham. But if City
put more than £10million on the table for Swiss international midfield Valon
Behrami it is likely West Ham would do a deal given the other midfield
options within the squad. West Ham will also consider making a £2.5million
offer for Crystal Palace's forward Victor Moses who is being chased by City,
Fulham and Forest.
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REDKNAPP KEANE ON CARLTON COLE
News Of The World
By Rob Shepherd, 23/01/2010
SPURS have offered Robbie Keane to West Ham in a bid to lure Carlton Cole to
White Hart Lane. Boss Harry Redknapp wants to shake up his strike force as
Tottenham seek to clinch a Champions League spot. Redknapp failed in a bid
to sign Cole before the start of the season. And new West Ham owners David
Sullivan and David Gold have vowed not to sell any of their top stars in
this transfer window. Instead they are desperately seeking to sign at least
two new strikers themselves as partners for Cole. And they may try to strike
a straight bargain for Keane now it is clear Spurs are ready to offload him.
Keane only re-joined Tottenham a year ago after a miserable six-month stint
at Liverpool. But the goals have dried up for him. Sunderland, Aston Villa
and Celtic are all interested in giving him a fresh start. Redknapp recently
insisted Keane was staying but is willing to reconsider his options as
attempts to sell Roman Pavlyuchenko continue to stall.
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SULLIVAN CASTS EYE TOWARDS MONACO
News Of The World
23/01/2010
NEW West Ham chief David Sullivan is in talks with Monaco over the signing
of Eidur Gudjohnsen. Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola played with Gudjohnsen
when the pair were at Chelsea together. Zola was alerted to Gudjohnsen's
availability on Friday and is hoping to set up a loan deal until the end of
the season. After missing out on Ruud van Nistelrooy, Zola turned his
attention to Gudjohnsen, 32, who has struggled to make an impact at Monaco
since quitting Barcelona last summer. Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has also
been trying to lure the Icelander back to England.
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WEST HAM STUNNER FOR DAVENPORT
News Of The World
By Neil Ashton, 23/01/2010
WEST HAM have stunned Calum Davenport by suspending the player's wages until
his court case is resolved. Davenport has received a communication from the
Hammers' HR department alleging that he may have been in breach of his
contract when he was attacked last August. The defender, who has since been
charged with assaulting his sister, has taken legal advice and brought in
the PFA. Davenport is on £20,000 a week at Upton Park and has told his legal
team to fight the proposals. Incredibly Davenport is continuing to train
with the club on legal advice while his solicitor attempts to resolve the
issue. Davenport was stabbed in the legs during the attack last year and
lost nearly four pints of blood. This is the latest blow for Davenport in a
long list of struggles. Two weeks ago he was denied entry into an Essex
health club to use the swimming pool after he was told the Hammers' deal
with them had expired. A spokesman for Davenport refused to comment last
night. A West Ham spokesman also refused to comment. Bobby Barnes, PFA
deputy chief executive, said: "I am aware of the situation and will be
working with all parties to try and achieve a satisfactory outcome."
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McCARTHY KEEN ON WEST HAM SWITCH
News Of The World
By Adam Marshall, 22/01/2010
BENNI McCARTHY is hopeful of tying up a move to West Ham after Blackburn
received a bid from their Premier League rivals. The South Africa striker
has been told he can leave Ewood Park for the right price to enable Sam
Allardyce to finance his own moves in the market. Stoke's James Beattie
remains on Allardyce's radar and will be pursued if McCarthy can be
offloaded. The striker, 32, impressed in Sunday's win against Fulham but was
left on the bench again for the Carling Cup exit at Aston Villa. West Ham
are desperate for more firepower as they were forced to play rookie Frank
Nouble as a lone striker at Villa last weekend with Carlton Cole still
sidelined. Gianfranco Zola has had talks with new owners David Sullivan and
David Gold and McCarthy was earmarked as a suitable target. A source close
to McCarthy has revealed that the move will definitely take place if the two
clubs agree a fee as the player is keen on a switch to East London.
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ALAN FLATTERED BY HAMMERS INTEREST
News Of The World
By Adam Marshall, 21/01/2010
BRAGA forward Alan admits he is flattered to be linked with West Ham.
Following the takeover of the Upton Park club by David Sullivan and David
Gold, the Hammers finally have some leeway to do some business in the
transfer window. Boss Gianfranco Zola has the backing of the new owners and
has already discussed possible targets with them.
A whole host of names have already been bandied about, including James
Beattie, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Fernando Cavenaghi over the past 24 hours.
However, Alan, 30, has heard he is on Zola's wanted list. "I'm happy for
that," he told reporters. "I appreciate the interest of West Ham. "But I'm
in Braga and only think about Braga." The Brazilian, who was formerly with
Benfica can play on the right wing or in a more advanced role.
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Tomkins urges Upson stay
Hammers youngster hoping captain will not be sold
Last updated: 24th January 2010
SSN
James Tomkins believes it is imperative that West Ham retain captain Matthew
Upson in the January transfer window. Upson has been linked with a move away
from Upton Park this month as the club looks to stay on top of their debt
mountain. The 30-year-old's contract expires at the end of next season and
the Londoners are yet to open talks over extending his stay. With various
suitors circling for the England international, team-mate Tomkins is
desperate for him to stay. "Matty is a great captain," said Tomkins. "For me
he has been brilliant because I've learned so much from him. "We work very
well together. It's massive that we keep him, but that's out of my hands."
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Gold still hopeful on striker
Hammers co-owner focused on quality addition
Last updated: 24th January 2010
SSN
West Ham co-owner David Gold is still hopeful the club will add a 'quality
striker' to their squad before the end of the transfer window. The Hammers
were keen on signing former Real Madrid forward Ruud van Nistelrooy, and
although they were willing to pay him £100,000 a week, the Dutch ace opted
for a move to German side Hamburg.
But Gold, who took charge at Upton Park this week along with fellow co-owner
David Sullivan, is still confident they can find a regular goalscorer
between now and the end of January. "(We want) any centre forward, any
striker, with a caveat that they must be able to score goals," he said.
"There are lots of strikers who don't score goals. "We're listening to any
proposals and working hard to bring someone in. "But the greatest danger
was that this deal (van Nistelrooy) could have gone on and on and the window
would have slammed shut on us. "I would be hugely disappointed if we did not
bring in a striker before the window closes. It would have to be someone of
quality or there is no point.
"We wouldn't be prepared to pay somebody £100,000 a week for one and a half
years. But we would be prepared to do so for four months. "We did it at
Birmingham with (Christophe) Dugarry for £50,000 a week and it saved us from
relegation."
Gold also admits that plans are being put in place should West Ham be
relegated from the Premier League this season, and is keen on securing a
switch from Upton Park to the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Olympics. "We
will have a plan in place for relegation but hope that won't be the case,"
he added. "I'm hugely confident. I believe we could be in mid-table by the
end of the season, but we are planning and making adjustments for the
possibility of relegation. "It's (the stadium move) a dream. It could
transform West Ham football club. As a fan I want to stay at Upton Park but
I'm a realist. "If West Ham is to move forward and challenge in due course,
three or five years from now, we have to move into a state of the art,
modern stadium. "Everybody I've spoken to is in favour of the project. We
are looking at the possibility of retractable seating. The Manchester City
stadium has been hugely successful and we would like to emulate that."
Meanwhile, David Sullivan has pleaded with former Hammers manager Alan
Curbishley to invest his financial pay-off back into the cash-strapped club.
With the Upton Park outfit £110million in debt, Curbishley has won his case
for wrongful dismissal and is still awaiting his settlement. Sullivan said:
"Alan will get somewhere between £1.25million and £3.25million, and we'd
love him to invest his settlement with us in West Ham. "It would be
marvellous, I could think of nothing better, but I don't think he's going to
be doing it."
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Sullivan wants Curbishley to invest in Hammers
By Soccernet staff
ESPN
January 24, 2010
David Sullivan has invited Alan Curbishley to invest his financial pay-off
from West Ham back into the cash-strapped Premier League club. Former
Hammers boss Curbishley won his case for wrongful dismissal against the club
in November and is still awaiting settlement. New West Ham co-owner Sullivan
admitted this week the club are £110million in debt, and has been scathing
in his criticism of the club's previous owners. Sullivan and business
partner David Gold face an uphill task to balance the books at Upton Park
and are seeking new investors, and the former Birmingham owner believes
Curbishley could go a long way to aiding those efforts. Sullivan told People
Sport: "Alan will get somewhere between £1.25million and £3.25million, and
we'd love him to invest his settlement with us in West Ham. "It would be
marvellous, I could think of nothing better, but I don't think he's going to
be doing it. "We're hoping to start seeing people we hope will invest with
us by the middle of the week. "We've got a few people who've got a gold card
who we're going to see and we're hoping they'll join us in the battle to
keep West Ham alive. "We're talking about substantial sums of money from
some very rich people and we're hoping in a few months' time that they will
have signed up for the fight. "We will show them what we did at Birmingham,
where all the investors doubled or quadrupled their money."
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