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Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale (born 11 March 1952) is an English businessman who is a director at Preston North End. He was until December 2011 the Chairman of Football Operations at Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.
Ridsdale became chairman of hometown club Leeds United in 1997 and enjoyed success in the first four years of tenure as Leeds reached the UEFA Cup semi-final in 1999–2000 and the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2000–01. During this time he enjoyed a good relationship with the Leeds fans. However, once the full extent of what Ridsdale and his board had done at the club was discovered, his once positive relationship with fans disintegrated. Ridsdale is now deeply unpopular amongst Leeds supporters for his role in the financial and relegation downward spiral of the club, falling from competing in the UEFA Champions League to EFL League One in six seasons.
Under Ridsdale's stewardship the club borrowed £60m against future gate receipts, effectively gambling on Leeds qualifying for the Champions League in successive seasons, which they failed to do. Ridsdale has repeatedly denied any blame with regard to the later situation of the club but has also conflictingly admitted it was a mistake to allow David O'Leary to spend so lavishly on players. Ridsdale also claimed that he would have saved Leeds from subsequent relegations to the third tier of English football and the debt his board had incurred in the name of the club. The fact remained however that by the time Ridsdale stepped down in March 2003, Leeds were £103 million in debt and failing on the field.
After Leeds' relegation to the third tier of the English league system for the first time in their history Ridsdale said he was "deeply saddened" by Leeds's relegation but stated that he did not believe that events during his tenure as Leeds chairman were in any way responsible for the club's current plight.
He was also the owner of Barnsley for a while, rescuing them from folding after dropping from the Premier League to Division Two and loss of revenue from the ITV Digital collapse. Some saw him as a major mistake at Barnsley as he nearly made the club go into liquidation before Gordon Shepherd and Patrick Cryne took over at Oakwell.
He became deputy Chairman of Cardiff City, who had recruited him to help with their new stadium project, which eventually became Cardiff City Stadium. He became chairman in October 2006 after Sam Hammam stepped down. The club's debts were estimated at £35m, and losing £10m each year, according to Ridsdale.
In mid-2007, Ridsdale campaigned to become a member of the Football Association of Wales council and hoped to be elected as one of six south Wales representatives on Welsh football's ruling body. However, when the vote took place in July he finished bottom of the candidates with just fourteen votes. It has been alleged that the former Leeds chairman has flirted with disaster, trying to build a promotion-winning side while, at the same time, the Bluebirds have fought off four winding-up orders. Ridsdale was forced to apologise for "misleading" fans when he conceded money raised during Christmas period 2009 from season ticket renewals for 2011 had to be spent on settling debts rather than reinforcements.
He announced his intention to quit as Cardiff chairman at the end of May 2010, the play-off final loss to Blackpool at Wembley Stadium on 22 May 2010 being his final game. Malaysian Consortium head Dato Chan Tien Ghee took over as part of a £6m deal for an estimated 30% of the club.
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Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale (born 11 March 1952) is an English businessman who is a director at Preston North End. He was until December 2011 the Chairman of Football Operations at Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.
Ridsdale became chairman of hometown club Leeds United in 1997 and enjoyed success in the first four years of tenure as Leeds reached the UEFA Cup semi-final in 1999–2000 and the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2000–01. During this time he enjoyed a good relationship with the Leeds fans. However, once the full extent of what Ridsdale and his board had done at the club was discovered, his once positive relationship with fans disintegrated. Ridsdale is now deeply unpopular amongst Leeds supporters for his role in the financial and relegation downward spiral of the club, falling from competing in the UEFA Champions League to EFL League One in six seasons.
Under Ridsdale's stewardship the club borrowed £60m against future gate receipts, effectively gambling on Leeds qualifying for the Champions League in successive seasons, which they failed to do. Ridsdale has repeatedly denied any blame with regard to the later situation of the club but has also conflictingly admitted it was a mistake to allow David O'Leary to spend so lavishly on players. Ridsdale also claimed that he would have saved Leeds from subsequent relegations to the third tier of English football and the debt his board had incurred in the name of the club. The fact remained however that by the time Ridsdale stepped down in March 2003, Leeds were £103 million in debt and failing on the field.
After Leeds' relegation to the third tier of the English league system for the first time in their history Ridsdale said he was "deeply saddened" by Leeds's relegation but stated that he did not believe that events during his tenure as Leeds chairman were in any way responsible for the club's current plight.
He was also the owner of Barnsley for a while, rescuing them from folding after dropping from the Premier League to Division Two and loss of revenue from the ITV Digital collapse. Some saw him as a major mistake at Barnsley as he nearly made the club go into liquidation before Gordon Shepherd and Patrick Cryne took over at Oakwell.
He became deputy Chairman of Cardiff City, who had recruited him to help with their new stadium project, which eventually became Cardiff City Stadium. He became chairman in October 2006 after Sam Hammam stepped down. The club's debts were estimated at £35m, and losing £10m each year, according to Ridsdale.
In mid-2007, Ridsdale campaigned to become a member of the Football Association of Wales council and hoped to be elected as one of six south Wales representatives on Welsh football's ruling body. However, when the vote took place in July he finished bottom of the candidates with just fourteen votes. It has been alleged that the former Leeds chairman has flirted with disaster, trying to build a promotion-winning side while, at the same time, the Bluebirds have fought off four winding-up orders. Ridsdale was forced to apologise for "misleading" fans when he conceded money raised during Christmas period 2009 from season ticket renewals for 2011 had to be spent on settling debts rather than reinforcements.
He announced his intention to quit as Cardiff chairman at the end of May 2010, the play-off final loss to Blackpool at Wembley Stadium on 22 May 2010 being his final game. Malaysian Consortium head Dato Chan Tien Ghee took over as part of a £6m deal for an estimated 30% of the club.