Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale (born 11 March 1952 in Leeds, Yorkshire) is an English businessman well known as acting as chairman of several football clubs, most notably Leeds United. February 2011, Peter is currently working pro bono for Plymouth Argyle FC.
History
Ridsdale became chairman of hometown club Leeds United in 1997 and enjoyed success in the first four years of tenure as Leeds reached the UEFA Cup semi-final in 1999–2000 and the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2000–01. During this time he enjoyed a good relationship with the Leeds fans.[1] However, once the full extent of what Ridsdale and his board had done at Elland Road was discovered by the fans this relationship vanished and he is now best remembered by Leeds supporters for the financial and relegation nightmares that the club found themselves in, going from a top flight Premier League club to a League One club in the space of three seasons.
Under Ridsdale's stewardship the club borrowed £60m against future gate receipts, effectively gambling on Leeds qualifying for the Champions League in successive seasons, which they failed to do. Ridsdale has repeatedly denied any blame with regard to the later situation of the club[2] but has also conflictingly admitted it was a mistake to allow David O'Leary to spend so lavishly on players.[3] Ridsdale also claimed that he would have saved Leeds from subsequent relegations to the third tier of English football and the debt his board had incurred in the name of the club[4] The fact remained however that by the time Ridsdale stepped down in March 2003, Leeds were £103 million in debt and failing on the field.[5]
After Leeds' relegation to the third tier of the English league system for the first time in their history Ridsdale said he was "deeply saddened" by Leeds's relegation but stated that he did not believe that events during his tenure as Leeds chairman were in any way responsible for the club's current plight.[6]
He was also the owner of Barnsley for a while, rescuing them from folding after dropping from the Premier League to Division Two and loss of revenue from the ITV Digital collapse. Some saw him as a major mistake at Barnsley as he nearly made the club go into liquidation before Gordon Shepherd and Patrick Cryne took over at Oakwell.
He became deputy Chairman of Cardiff City, who had recruited him to help with their new stadium project, which eventually became Cardiff City Stadium. He became chairman in October 2006 after Sam Hammam stepped down.[7] The clubs debts were estimated at £35m, and losing £10m each year, according to Ridsdale.[8]
In mid-2007, Ridsdale campaigned to become a member of the Football Association of Wales council and hoped to be elected as one of six south Wales representatives on Welsh football's ruling body. However, when the vote took place in July he finished bottom of the candidates with just fourteen votes.[9] It has been alleged that the former Leeds chairman has flirted with disaster, trying to build a promotion-winning side while, at the same time, the Bluebirds have fought off four winding-up orders.[8] Ridsdale was forced to apologise for "misleading" fans when he conceded money raised during Christmas period 2009 from season ticket renewals for 2011 had to be spent on settling debts rather than reinforcements.[10]
He announced his intention to quit as Cardiff chairman at the end of May 2010, the play-off final loss to Blackpool at Wembley Stadium on 22 May 2010 his final game, with Malaysian Consortium head Dato Chan Tien Ghee taking over as part of a £6m deal for an estimated 30% of the club.[11] The club was estimated to have between £10m[8] and £30m of debt.,[11] and faced a fifth winding up order over a £1.9m tax bill on 16 June. The publishing of the financial accounts for year 2009 in August 2010 revealed that the clubs actual debt was £66 million, leading to concerns over the continued existence of the club.
United We Fall
In November 2007 Ridsdale released the book United We Fall: Boardroom Truths About the Beautiful Game making claims about incidents which had contributed to the downfall of Leeds United in the mid-2000s. Extracts were printed in The Sun and on their on-line page. Ridsdale made the following claims:
- Former Leeds manager David O'Leary had a large role in "a secret deal with bung agent Rune Hauge that ultimately landed the disgraced Norwegian £1.75million". The claims were in regard to the deal that brought Rio Ferdinand to Leeds.[12]
- Before O'Leary had left the club he had "lost the dressing room" and this was the real reason for his sacking in the summer of 2002. Several players had stated that "they’d be looking to move elsewhere if O’Leary remained as manager for the 2002–03 season" including Paul Robinson who had stated after being dropped for a match "I’ll never play for that b*****d again".[13]
- Football agent Pino Pagliari had "offered the illicit payment when Robbie Keane moved to Tottenham in 2002" to submit an "invoice for ‘agent services’" for £600,000. In return for Ridsdale allowing this the fee would be split 50:50 between the two of them, however Ridsdale refused and reported the offer to his board, for future reference so to never deal with the agent.[14]
- Martin O'Neill had signed a contract in January 2003 to become manager of Leeds as soon as Celtic would release him from his contract. He would have taken over from then manager Terry Venables however Venables' team at the time went on a seven game winning run. The contract had a clause that Ridsdale was Chairman when O'Neill took over yet Ridsdale left due to pressure from fans before Venables was sacked and O'Neill could take charge.[15]
When responding to these claims David O'Leary called Ridsdale "deranged" and suggested that he was 'two faced' with his comments compared to how the pair's relationship had continued since both had left Leeds.[16]
O'Neill later responded to the claims regarding him stating that he had taken part in discussions with Ridsdale and had signed a conditional statement but "he insists that nothing legally-binding was put in place".[17]
Notes
- ^ "Peter Ridsdale: Dignified face of football". BBC News. 14 April 2000. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "Ridsdale: Stop Blaming Me". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "Ridsdale: I should have said no to O'Leary". ESPN. 30 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "I would have saved Leeds, says Ridsdale". Daily Mail. London. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "Leeds hopeful over new investors". BBC Sport. 24 October 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "Ridsdale: No Leeds Celebration". Sky Sports. 1 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ "Exorcising the demon of Peter Ridsdale". sportingo.com. 29 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
- ^ a b c Fleming, Mark (22 May 2010). "Ridsdale seeks £90m vindication for gamble that hastened his Cardiff exit". The Independant. London. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ^ "City boss Ridsdale fails to win FAW seat". South Wales Echo. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-27.
- ^ Shuttleworth, Peter (20 May 2010). "Cardiff City chase Premier League golden ticket". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
- ^ a b "Cardiff City's £6m Malaysian takeover approved". The BBC. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
- ^ Sheehan, Pat (30 October 2007). "O'Leary's deal with bung agent". The Sun / Peter Ridsdale. London. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ Sheehan, Pat (30 October 2007). "I'll never play for that b*****d". The Sun / Peter Ridsdale. London. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ Sheehan, Pat (31 October 2007). "I was offered £300k bung". The Sun / Peter Ridsdale. London. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ Sheehan, Pat (31 October 2007). "O'Neill signed as Leeds boss". The Sun / Peter Ridsdale. London. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ "O'Leary slams 'deranged' Ridsdale". Sky Sports. 2 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
- ^ "O'Neill admits to Leeds agreement". BBC Sport. 3 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-04.