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Coffee 1:48 Tue Jan 17
How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Say what you like about Sullivan and his mob, to the best of my knowledge he's probably the best of the lot. Or the least bad. They've probably all been in it as much for themselves as for the good of the club.

1. Sullivan. Some will never forgive him for exchanging Upton Park for the current stadium, but in time that will be forgiven. He/they saved us from bankruptcy or near enough.

2. Eggy. For a short while, he offered hope and visions of glory at the Premiership's top table. It was good while it lasted. But sadly a false dawn.

=5th Uncle Terry Brown, the Cearns, Reg Pratt. Brown will be remembered for his financial stewardship - whether that was good or not is very much up for debate. Will always be remembered for the Bond scheme and "It was our turn to go down". The Cearns and Mr Pratt filled the role in less ambitious times when little was expected and little delivered. The FA Cups were probably more down to Greenwood and Lyall than the owners.

Let's hope the next regime goes to No 1 and stays there.

Hammer and Pickle 9:37 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

easthammer 5:03 Tue Jan 17

Thanks for the info. - I'd completely forgotten about Reg Pratt. The Academy should bear his name and it's a disgrace he has faded from our memory.

one iron 9:33 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

65 years a hammer, all of them wankers.The only people who love westham,are its fans.Only owner who was a hammer was brown.And what a shit show that was.

Yep, Righty O 4:56 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Disclaimer ... Not that that is saying much (re Cearns)
At least we had a couple of years were we could forget the shit

Yep, Righty O 4:54 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Remember the Brown out days, Cearns before that.
Would say (can't include Eggy as too short reign)
Cearns

yngwies Cat 2:15 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Got richer, fucked up, or fucked off.

El Scorchio 12:33 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

The Egg man was my favourite by far. Even if only for his head slap when we scored against Man U. Who knows what might have happened had Iceland not gone bankrupt.

Matthew Holmes 12:21 Wed Jan 18
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Grumpster 7:25 Tue Jan 17

Steady 8:15 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

60k each home game, huge catchment area, loyal fan base that accept no trophies, haven’t won anything of note in 42 years, biggest club in England not to have won the league title, seriously why do we suffer it

zico 7:49 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

To be fair to the board at the time on the Banks thing I think they thought Ron was bonkers, but he was a man of integrity and I can understand his dilemma considering he has made an agreement with a friend. I too think he was bonkers by the way, and think he admitted it as much later.

isolated hammer 7:27 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

The Cearns and Pratt really had a Volcano waiting to erupt on their hands. Mid 60's they really had a chance to buy quality and bolster the squad, Gordon Banks being one of those. Ironically RG decided he would stick to his agreement for Bobby Ferguson. The 80's was the other time we could really have pushed on. So Pratt and the Cearns are a la Brown and GSB. Flashes in the pan followed by mediocrity, followed by the odd relegation and promotion, followed by, well you get the gist.

But you know what, we are a big club in terms of support, we are average in terms of success, we are the best when it comes to stuffing it up the big boys and those days will always make my weekend.

Grumpster 7:25 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Never has a club with such huge potential been continually run by cunts in its entire existence anywhere in the world.

From useless unambitious cunts, to thick foreign cunts, to unambitious pocket filling cunts.

Clearly the west ham way.

Pentonville 6:02 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Haha yeah
They were dark times but glory for chicken Ron and the fanzines!

zico 5:57 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Pents - Bit harsh calling it Bonds Scheme considering Billy was the Manager at the time!! ;-) Think the scheme was about the only thing Bonzo and Dicksy agreed on!

Pentonville 5:17 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Bonds Scheme was launched towards end of 1991....Brown was put in as a way of pacifying us I thought later on in season so 1992. I could be wrong but that is how I recall it...

zico 5:15 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

East - Agree. Seem to remember he backed Lyall fully with the Phil Parkes buy.

Leroy -- It's only been last few years the Brighton board will have anything nice said about them by Brighton fans. Prior to that the Club was a mess. Sold the Goldstone Ground and played at Withdean Stadium for years and the Club nearly went under several times. On a nice footing now but it was bleak for years.

zico 5:11 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Pents, must have been right upon change of chairman then.,

1979–90 - Len Cearns
1990–92 - Martin Cearns - Advocate of the Hammers Bond scheme - He became vice-chairman on Terry Brown becoming chairman in May 1992
1992–2006 - Terry Brown Became a director in November 1990 and chairman in May 1992

I remember Peter Storrie being on board then and he worked under Brown

easthammer 5:03 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Without a doubt the best-ranked chairmen/owner in my lifetime was Reg Pratt. While the ownership was shared around the Cearns Family and others. Reg Pratt was the chairman from 1950-1979.

During this time West Ham moved out of the second division to and for twenty years they were in the top division. Under Pratt's Chairmanship, the Managers appointed included Ted Fenton, Ron Greenwood and John Lyall. He developed the Boleyn Ground, and created a world-admired Academy for the development of homegrown talent which produced three world cup winners and arguably England's greatest-ever player. On the playing side, we won two FA cups and European Cup Winners and achieved our highest-ever place 3rd in a top division.

All the other chairman/owners pale into insignificance compared to Pratt.

Sullivan who to be fair has been the next best (or rather the least worse) by saving West Ham from the brink but failing to fully develop the modern potential of the club whilst feathering his own nest (probably more a comment on the present day values that underlie mordern sport as a business rather than those of the 1950s)

Of the rest Brown was the worst and the Icelanders a tragic joke

LeroysBoots 4:58 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

In my lifetime, since late 60s, we have never had a decent steward of our club

Penny pinching, shysters, pathetic

Not one of them have been any good

Just think what we could achieve if we had a club like Brighton running us with our fanbase

Pentonville 4:48 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

It was Cearns and bonds scheme as I recall the red cards and chanting of "CEARNS OUT"
Jesus that feels like a lifetime ago

zico 4:18 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

Mad Dog, wasn't it Brown etc under the Bond scheme not the Cearns?

My only problem with the Icelandic's were the ridiculous contracts given to some of the signings - Ljungberg, Boa Morte, Dyer. Lucas Neill was a mercenary but at least he was decent. Less said about Davenport and Quashie the better! Icelandic's had money (for a bit) but transfer policy was a bit shit. Even Bellamy admitted h only came for the money.

Side of Ham 3:50 Tue Jan 17
Re: How would you rank West Ham's chairmen/owners in your lifetime?

This is simple....

Find what owners achieved the most on the football side and then find out who made the most out of the club.....and weigh one up against the other.....

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