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David Gold (born 9 September 1936) is a British businessman. He was the chairman of
Birmingham City Football Club Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first tea ...
until 2009. Since 2010, he has been the joint chairman of
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
.


Early life

Gold was born in
Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...
and brought up in
East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the ...
at 442 Green Street near to West Ham's
Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
. He played youth team football for West Ham and was offered forms to sign as an apprentice professional for the first team, which his father refused to counter sign. His father, Godfrey,The Independent: "Golden balls: West Ham United's co-owner reveals his cunning plan for the Olympic stadium" by Robert Chalmers
19 August 2012
was an East End criminal, known locally as 'Goldy', who spent time in prison during Gold's early years. His father was
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, whereas his mother was a Christian.


Business career

Gold owns Gold Group International (GGI), the parent company of the retailer
Ann Summers Ann Summers is a British multinational retailer company specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with 80 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphas ...
and lingerie chain Knickerbox. GGI was jointly owned by Gold and his brother Ralph, until he bought out Ralph's share in 2008. He co-owned (with brother Ralph) adult magazine company
Gold Star Publications Gold Star Publications was a British magazine publisher co-owned by David Gold with his brother Ralph. It included printing and distribution businesses, and a stable of titles including '' Rustler'' and '' Raider''. The business was formed in 19 ...
(GSP), including printing and distribution businesses, and a stable of titles including ''Rustler'' and ''Raider''. He and his brother sold their interests in November 2006. In 2007, the brothers also sold their share in Sport Newspapers, following falling sales and profits. He owned corporate air service Gold Air International until he sold it in 2006 for £4.4 million.


Football clubs

Gold is the former chairman of
Birmingham City F.C. Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first tea ...
In 2007 the Gold brothers were believed to be in the process of selling their share in Birmingham City which followed Birmingham's return from relegation and lower than expected profits. After the club was relegated once again to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
in May 2008, Gold was quoted as saying he was considering stepping down as joint head of the board of Birmingham City. He sold his Birmingham City shares in 2009. In May 2005, Gold bought the second
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
trophy at auction for £488,620, saying he wanted to prevent it being bought by overseas buyers. In January 2010, Gold and David Sullivan acquired a 50 per cent share of West Ham United giving them overall operational and commercial control of the club. They were appointed joint chairmen. They increased their share of the club to 30% each in May 2010 at a cost of £8 million. His time as chairman of West Ham has been conspicuous due to several incidents. In August 2010 his
Rolls-Royce Phantom Rolls-Royce has used the Phantom name on full-sized luxury cars over the past century: *Rolls-Royce Phantom I, 1925–1931 *Rolls-Royce Phantom II, 1929–1936 *Rolls-Royce Phantom III, 1936–1939 *Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, 1950&ndash ...
car was attacked by
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...
fans outside a pub near
Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...
after West Ham's 3–0 defeat. The car sustained £8,500 worth of damage. He described the incident as "the most frightening experience of my football life". In November 2010 Gold criticised Birmingham City's new owners for reneging on their promise to keep him on as chairman following the sale of the club. Birmingham City and their acting chairman, Peter Pannu, responded by banning Gold from their ground St Andrew's for Birmingham City's game against West Ham on 6 November. Gold later issued a personal apology to Pannu on West Ham's own website. After the campaign against Malcolm Glazer's increase in the debt of
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
and
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...
going into administration in 2010, Gold has advocated regulating football clubs' debts. He feels it is "cheating" for a team to take on debts which they could never pay off without external assistance and that he "fears for the league".


Personal life

In 1957, Gold married Beryl Hunt. They divorced in 1972 after Gold found her cheating on him with his best friend in his swimming pool, on the same day he caught his father stealing his shares. Hunt died in 2003. They had two children: *
Jacqueline Gold Jacqueline Summers Gold (born 16 July 1960) is a British businesswoman who is Chief Executive of Gold Group International, Ann Summers and Knickerbox. Gold is estimated to be the 16th richest woman in Great Britain. Gold is worth £470 millio ...
(b. 1960) is CEO of
Ann Summers Ann Summers is a British multinational retailer company specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with 80 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphas ...
and Knickerbox Ltd *Vanessa Gold (b. 1966) is the Managing Director of Ann Summers and Knickerbox Ltd. In 2005, Gold wrote his autobiography ''Pure Gold'' with co-writer Bob Harris. This dwells on his early childhood poverty, ascent in business and involvement with Birmingham City. , he lives with his fiancée Lesley Manning, in
Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...
. Following West Ham's move from the
Boleyn Ground The Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium located in Upton Park, east London. It was the home of West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic in the early 1990s during their years ...
to the
London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is located ...
in 2016, Gold was subjected to protests from groups of West Ham supporters who were unhappy with the move and who accused Gold of having taken money from the club and of being a "liar". According to the ''
Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday new ...
'' in 2020, Gold and his family are worth £460 million.


References


External links

* – official site * – official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, David English businesspeople English football chairmen and investors English people of Jewish descent Living people 1936 births Footballers from Stepney West Ham United F.C. directors and chairmen English autobiographers British businesspeople in retailing Footballers from West Ham Association footballers not categorized by position English footballers Birmingham City F.C. directors and chairmen