‘There used to be an understanding among many of those in football about David,’ explains one former chief executive.
‘If you needed to get hold of him then you had to make sure it wasn’t between 1 and 2pm. It didn’t matter what it was, signing a player, selling a player, he was always unavailable then. They used to call it his “lunch hour”. Let’s just say the rumours were that he would be in his office and he would be, well, what you might call “otherwise engaged”.’
According to those who know David Sullivan from his time in football, rather than the porn industry, time is important. Money, however, is precious.
Consider this anecdote from another former adversary: ‘David would haggle over everything,’ they explain.
‘He would probably hate being described like this because he was university-educated and an intelligent man, but he was an absolute nightmare to do business with. Everything would have to be incentivised. For example, he’d try and knock a cheeky £200,000 off a deal and instead offer to pay £100,000 plus money for appearances, plus goal bonuses, plus loyalty bonus, plus position finish bonuses to try and squeeze everything out of you.
‘I think it was a nod to where he had come from. He loved West Ham and always tried to do his best for them but I think sometimes they lost out on good players because of it. Sometimes he’d end up paying over the odds close to the end of the window because he’d tried to save earlier on and missed out on his targets. It was often a false economy.’
That thirst for a pound, perhaps ironically, can be traced back to the club’s former Upton Park home – or to be precise the streets around it – where an 11-year-old Sullivan started on the entrepreneurial ladder by trying to flog second-hand programmes to match-going punters.
David Sullivan, pictured at London Stadium last November, was accused of preying on women for sex
The enterprising youngster would sneak into the directors’ box post-match because officials tended to drop their programmes on the floor, and scoop them up, sensing free money.
At other venues he would bung the groundsman a fiver to take his old programmes off him and flog for a profit. At Wembley and the big grounds he would stack them high and sell them low. ‘Fifty different programmes for six shillings and sixpence,’ he once told this newspaper.
It was a tactic he would take into adult life, his business taking off after he started flogging 200 glossy prints of topless models for a £1 instead of the original 20 he and a former university friend had started off with.
Sullivan’s childhood work at West Ham was cut short when he was moved on by stewards. He vowed, as he packed up his wares, to one day come back and buy the place. He was true to his word.
But first came Birmingham City. In 1993, after considering moves for Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United, Sullivan and his adult industry associates the Gold brothers, swooped for the Blues, who had fallen into administration. Now, the move may well not have been sanctioned. Sullivan had spent 71 days in prison before a successful appeal in 1982 after being convicted of living off immoral earnings from prostitution.
He was the owner of the Daily and Sunday Sport, known for their topless shots and outrageous (and often made-up) stories. As Daily Mail Sport revealed this week, the Independent Football Regulator, introduced last year, is looking into the situation following the release of the bombshell accusations, which he denies. It has the power to force an owner to sell their share in a club should it find that their integrity is not sufficient and has demanded information from the Hammers.
There was no independent regulator in 1993. As it was, the group paid around £700,000 and quickly set about changing things, but not everyone was impressed, not least by their decision to make Karren Brady managing director at the age of 23.
For years, visiting directors had been welcomed into the boardroom by Jack Wiseman, a St Andrews’ mainstay who had been on the board since the 1950s. Officials from both sides, as was the custom, would enjoy the game together and congratulate and commiserate. No longer. Sullivan and co based themselves in a separate ‘chairman’s room’. The message was clear. It is us versus you.
Sullivan and Karren Brady pose for a photo together at a function back in 1993
It was often also clear to those who worked for him. ‘If he thought you’d done a s*** job he would tell you,’ explains one former employee. ‘You always knew where you stood with him, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He was one of those people of a certain age who achieved success and who didn’t care about ruffling feathers. He didn’t often listen to reason and would pretty much do what he wanted.’
Much has been said and written about Sullivan and the Golds’ time in Birmingham. He would no doubt point to the fact that when they bought the club the Blues were languishing in the Second Division – and when they left they were eighth in the Premier League. It is a strong argument. Certainly, after they departed, things went south rapidly. So did the group, rocking up at the Hammers.
While in East London Sullivan oversaw the move from Upton Park to the London Stadium, not that he was often seen there aside from matchdays. One ex-member of staff claims they had spoken to him just once in the offices in four years. ‘And even then it was for a b******ing’, they say.
Media staff at the club would often be left tearing their hair out. According to some, Sullivan was borderline obsessed with his own reputation and would monitor every word written about the club and himself in the press. He often liaised directly with journalists over email.
‘We’d be signing a player and we’d have a media strategy worked out,’ explained one ex-staffer. ‘We’d take the pictures and have the announcement mapped out with all departments ready to capitalise – especially if we thought it was a player the fans would like. Then it would drop on a bloody fans’ forum out of the blue and ruin everything – and we all suspected David had tipped them off because he couldn’t help himself. It was a bloody nightmare.’
Getting new managers to his Central London flat could also be tricky. Whenever a new man was appointed, and there were many, they would often have to be pictured with Sullivan.
This is Sullivan’s mansion in Essex, which is where a number of the alleged incidents are said to have happened
Sullivan’s mansion was an exercise in ‘rich chav’, according to one visitor
A bemused Manuel Pellegrini was ferried to Mayfair, taken into the majority shareholder’s plush apartment (complete with giant chandelier) quickly snapped and then put back into the car.
Sullivan would often work from his home, set in 12 acres in Theydon Bois, Essex. ‘The house was an exercise in rich chav,’ explains one visitor. Sullivan had two wax models of butlers in the hall holding out trays. On his desk sat a pile of Rothmans, the in-depth football yearbooks, and on the other side what has been described as some rather less salubrious material. At one stage on the driveway stood a battalion of gnomes, painted in West Ham colours. If nothing else Sullivan, who often described himself as ‘a small person’ may have had a sense of humour.
Any humour will have been tested towards the end of his stint with the very unhappy Hammers. This season, fans have been well aware of what has been lurking in the background and there has been celebration as first Brady and now Sullivan have stepped down.
The man himself privately acknowledged that he had made mistakes. He told friends he accepted that he had picked poor managers, had signed players who did not represent value for money and, in January, admitted that the campaign had been ‘disastrous’. He was, however, angered and saddened at the abuse he was receiving from fans. ‘Sully, Sully you’re a c***’ was the blunt assessment delivered on a match-by-match basis.
That stung. His view was that under his watch the club had won a European trophy two seasons ago and enjoyed their longest spell in the Premier League, although that is now at an end.
He also claimed that the club had the cheapest season tickets in the Premier League and had been deeply unfortunate when it came to various VAR decisions.
Up until very recently, he believed he could win those fans back around, as bizarre as that may seem.
His efforts now, however, will be focusing on a very different battle as he mulls legal action. Should he wish to retain his 38.8 per cent stake that too may present a challenge, with the regulator on the march.
Sullivan may well reflect on the story of the kid booted off the premises who came back and bought the house. If this is to be the ending, however, it is unlikely he will be happy with it.
