Mike Bamber (16 October 1930 – 11 July 1988) was a British businessman and football executive. He was chairman of

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

for a period of more than ten years during the 1970s and 1980s during which time he oversaw the football club's promotion to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

of English football for the first time. Mike Bamber was a musician and then a

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

before becoming chairman of Brighton & Hove Albion.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Bamber joined the board of Brighton & Hove Albion in 1970 and became joint chairman during the Christmas of 1972. Alongside vice-chairman Harry Bloom, Bamber negotiated the appointment of

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

as manager in November 1973. Clough would later describe Bamber as "a wealthy, night-club-owning, gem of a man, who turned out to be the nicest and best chairman I ever worked for," and "If he was alive today and I was tempted to come out of retirement, Mike's would be the offer I would take" and of his decision to leave Brighton for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

after less than one year with the club he said, "I know it broke Mike Bamber's heart." Bamber is portrayed briefly, by

Paul Bown Paul Bown (born 11 October 1957) is an English actor. Bown is best known for playing Malcolm Stoneway in the Granada Television sitcom '' Watching'' (1987–1993). He also had major roles in other comedy series, including as Roger Bones in the ...

, in the 2009 movie ''

The Damned United ''The Damned United'' is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel '' The Damned Utd'' – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Cl ...

'', shown meeting Clough and

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

in the lounge of a Brighton seafront hotel to negotiate terms. Bamber later appointed

Alan Mullery Alan Patrick Mullery (born 23 November 1941) is an English former footballer and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur, and the England national team in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working wit ...

, who led the football club to the First Division in the 1978/79 season. He also appointed

Jimmy Melia James Melia (born 1 November 1937) is an English former footballer who spent most of his career playing for Liverpool and went on to become a manager. Playing career Liverpool Melia joined the Reds straight from St. Anthony's School as a 15 ...

as Manager who led the club to their one and only

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

in 1983. The club lost that final and were relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in the same season. Bamber left the board a year later, in the summer of 1984, when he was replaced as chairman by Bryan Bedson.

Death

Bamber died at his home in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

on 11 July 1988, at the age of 57. Commenting on Bamber's death in August 1988, Brighton's then chairman Dudley Sizen said, "Mike was the most successful chairman we've ever had and the club enjoyed its finest hours under his leadership."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamber, Mike 1931 births 1988 deaths Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. directors and chairmen