The Goldfather

In the world of football club owners, David Gold is more the Golf GTI than the Ferrari 458. The owner of a pornography business empire and son of an East End gangster has a shrewd edge to him when cutting a deal, but his heart warms for West Ham United and due to his good nature, positive ideas and promotion of ethics in football, pundits and key figures in the media have by and large, warmed to the golden boy, who has claret and blue blood running through his veins.

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In the present day and age, we often hear about how football clubs should be run as a business, breaking even financially and not spending beyond their means. However, it is also well documented that, in the current climate, there are no business prospects to any football club and even the share prices of the likes of Manchester United have had to be cut. So who in their right mind would have wanted to buy an administration threatened West Ham United, £100 million in debt, destined for Premier League doom and gloom, tainted with controversy and marred by the collapse of the Icelandic banks? A West Ham fan of course, and coincidentally a man who has often made it into the top 200 of the Sunday Times’ Rich List. In January of 2010, David Sullivan and David Gold stepped in and effectively saved West Ham United from falling by the footballing wayside, buying 51% of shares and implementing a structured business plan which would include buying more shares from CB Holding and selling them to make a profit with the ultimate goal of financial stabilisation.

However David Gold is not liked by all. Parting shots were fired to and from Gold, Sullivan and Birmingham City as their tenure as owners came to an abrupt end in 2008 and on his return to the club as owner of West Ham, Gold has often been banned from the directors box. The way Gold has made his money, through the promotion of pornography and ownership of both Anne Summers and Knickerbox under the umbrella company of Gold Group International, is not everyone’s cup of tea either. DG, as he is often referred, had a troubled upbringing with his father in prison for many years due to activities in East London gangs while he lived at home, at 442 Green Street, with his mother enduring a childhood in poverty.

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Despite these setbacks, Gold has often said it was this fear of going back into poverty that drove him on, and during the hardest years of his life, he had one love that took him away from the harsh reality of the world. West Ham United Football club. It is no secret that Gold himself was a gifted footballer and was even offered professional terms by the club, but this escape, through football, demonstrates an emotional attachment to the club that only a fan could possess. Gold is a fan and an owner, who has a true love for the Irons and evidently wants what’s best for the club (a view which he desperately tries to convey when attempting to sell the Olympic stadium idea to fans). Since his introduction as co-owner of West Ham, many elements of the media have grown to like David Gold, through his accessibility to fans and journalists alike over the popular social media tool of Twitter and the understanding that he has for the working class football fan, when offering the likes of kids for a quid deals, are there to be seen. His positive ideas too, which encourage financial regulations in the sport, would protect football clubs, and are also admired by many. Since the 2010 takeover David Gold has flourished as both an owner and a personality.

 

So does this man who does much of the hard work behind the scenes deserve all this credit? He has taken West Ham from the murky depths of uncertainty and put them on a stable path to recovery. Thanks to David Gold, West Ham United has a brighter future, but most importantly, a safe one. This true fan of the club may be Gold by name, but he is claret and blue by nature.

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