Sam Hammam
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Samir "Sam" Hammam (Arabic: سام همّام) (born 1948)[1] is a Lebanese business man, most notable for his high profile involvement in British football clubs.
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[edit] Career
Hammam was born in Beirut. Having trained as a civil engineer, he made his fortune as a building contractor in the Middle East. After emigrating to Britain in 1975, Hammam bought a majority stake in his local football team Wimbledon, becoming Chairman of the club.
[edit] Wimbledon
Originally moving to the area due to being a keen tennis fan Hammam soon became involved in football by buying £40,000 worth of shares at Wimbledon in two years.[2] Hammam was in charge of the unfashionable South London club during its meteoric and record-breaking rise through the football league to the top flight and the infamous 1988 FA cup victory.
While the club's on-the-field success during Hammam's tenure as Chairman was undeniable, the situation off the pitch however was more colourful. Typically, merely hours after the club's FA Cup final victory, Hammam announced that the entire first team was up for sale. Hammam fostered the "Crazy Gang" image at the club, encouraging bizarre 'rewards' and initiation ceremonies for new players - Hammam pledged to buy leading striker Dean Holdsworth a camel should he score 20 goals in a season, while at his first day at the club record signing John Hartson had his kit set on fire by his new team mates. Unfortunately however these eccentricities were not the extent of Hammam's controversial chairmanship, which led to him being dubbed "Sam the Sham" by Wimbledon supporters.
Hammam had arranged for ownership of the club's Plough Lane home ground to be held by a private company, of which Hammam himself was a director. In 1990, before Wimbledon had moved out of their ground to groundshare at Selhurst Park with local rivals Crystal Palace, Hammam bought out a covenant held on the ground by the Council that required it to be retained for sporting use[3]. Once this was removed, Hammam went on to sell the site to supermarket giants, Safeway, for a substantial profit, leaving the club without a home ground.
Hammam was subsequently unsuccessful with his initial proposals for the club to relocate to, among other places, Dublin, Cardiff and Milton Keynes and eventually sold his stake in the homeless club to two Norwegian businessmen for a substantial fortune, reported at around £30 million. However it was his sale of the club's home ground which gave subsequent owners, Charles Koppel and Pete Winkleman, the opportunity to buy a football club for franchising to Milton Keynes.
[edit] Cardiff City
Having sold his interests in Wimbledon, Hammam purchased control of Cardiff City at the end of 2000, where he quickly picked up where he left off with Wimbledon. Shortly after taking over at Cardiff, Hammam controversially pledged to get the entire Welsh nation to support Cardiff by renaming the club "The Cardiff Celts" and changing the club colours to green, red and white, [4],[5] although it was decided against this.
At Cardiff he became a cult-hero with fans for taking part in their head-patting 'do the Ayatollah' chant. One such game saw him performing the celebration during an infamous 2-1 home win in the FA Cup against then-Premier League side Leeds United in 2002. This, along with other aspects of his behaviour during the match, was blamed for contributing to the subsequent violence between Leeds and Cardiff fans at the end of the match.[6]
After failing to get the new stadium plans agreed by Cardiff Council due to concerns over financial security in 2006, Hammam agreed to a takeover by a consortium led by new chairman Peter Ridsdale and including local businessman Paul Guy.
In March 2008 Cardiff City began a court case against financial backers Langston over the repayment of a loan believed to be worth around £31 million. During the hearing the barrister representing the club named Sam Hammam as the man they believe to be behind the company.[7]
[edit] Controversy
Hammam has achieved a level of notoriety in English football for his unusual antics at matches, frequently walking around the pitchside during games, and his eccentric methods of publicising himself and his players.
On at least one occasion he made a player eat sheep's testicles prior to signing with Cardiff City. [8]
He has threatened poorly performing players with trips to the Opera.
In 1994 he was caught scrawling abusive graffiti in the away dressing room at Upton Park. When signing Robbie Earle from Port Vale, he locked the midfielder in his study until he signed.
[edit] Quotes
"We have to remain the English bulldog SAS club. We have to sustain ourselves by power and the attitude that we kick ass. Before we go down we'll leave a trail of blood from here to Timbuktu." - As owner of Wimbledon, March 1999.
[edit] References
- ^ Borras, Kevin; Slater, Matt (1996-10-17). "All for one!". Match of the Day magazine (BBC) (10): pp. pp10–13
- ^ "The Guardian: Still crazy"
- ^ "WISA article on lifting of Plough Lane covenant" Retrieved on 23 December 2011.
- ^ BBC Wales: Hammam: 'I will die for Cardiff Celts'
- ^ BBC Wales: Fans are Hammam's big worry
- ^ "Cardiff supremo rejects mayham claims", The Scotsman Retrieved on 6 December, 2008
- ^ "Hammam named in Cardiff loan case" BBC Retrieved on 14 March 2008,
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/1411563.stm BBC Sport:Prior moves to Cardiff 28th June 2001
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Steve Borley |
Cardiff City F.C. chairman 2000 – 2006 |
Succeeded by Peter Ridsdale |
