David Gold - Business
Industry Now
I've always wanted to own a football club,- confessed David Gold. "I'm a frustrated player, because I missed out as a young man. I lived across the road from West Ham and with a bit of luck I would have been a professional footballer." David and his brother Ralph later bought shares in West Ham. but couldn't get enough lo secure control. "You have to have control," he said. "A small investment in a football club is no good. You have to be a principal shareholder so you can dictate policy."
Birmingham City was in serious decline when the Golds came along with their friend, David Sullivan, in 1993. "It was minutes away from becoming a supermarket." So how does football compare to any other business? In David Gold's view. it doesn't. "Football is the one business where you don't set out to make money." he said. "It's all about generating money from other areas to fund it. because the only potential profit in a football club is eventually selling it. It's almost like a pension fund. One day when I'm ready to retire [around 95, he chuckles] I might consider selling my shares and hopefully there'll be a passionate multi-millionaire in Birmingham."
Football has a magnetism about it that can turn a sane and sober man into an addict. Anyone who has ever read Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch will know what I mean. Did this happen to Gold? Of course it did, and it didn't take long. "I thought I would be a West Ham fan all my life." he admitted. "But as the first year progressed at Birmingham I realised I'd been infected by this virus with no known antidote, called 'fanhood'. But when you get into the boardroom it's absolutely vital that you return to being a businessman."
David Gold grew up in poverty in the blast Find of London during World War Two. He failed his 11-plus ('miserably'), having had his education interrupted by dysentery. TB. a bombed out school, then evacuation to Doncastor.
"I have a driving requirement for success and more success"
This background has left its legacy. "When I first saw, 30 years ago. that I had a million pounds in the bank. I thought. 'I'm there. I'm a millionaire'. That Feeling lasted about five' minutes, because I wanted to be more. I have a driving requirement for success and more success. Even with a million pounds in the bank - which is a momentous moment in anyone's life I can assure you - there's always the fear that it can be snatched away, especially if you're self-made, and have come from the bottom rung of the ladder. I have this philosophy that nothing is forever."
