Brightons poker-playing owner Tony Bloom will be hoping the Seagulls play their cards right against Arsenal in FA Cup tie Brighton host Arsenal in their FA Cup fourth round tie on Sunday Brighton owner Tony Bloom has invested £200m into his boyhood club Bloom was integral in the Seagulls move to the Amex Stadium. He is known as The Lizard, has been likened to a swan and, within poker circles, labelled a phenomenon. There are many faces - if the myths are believed - to the mysterious Brighton owner Tony Bloom; a quiet, private man whose club are very much centre of attention today when Arsenal visit the Amex Stadium in the fourth round of the FA Cup. He was nicknamed The Lizard by an old friend who claimed he had alligator blood at the card tables, from where his career winnings are somewhere in excess of £2million. Fans of Brighton have likened him more to a swan; calm, sleek and elegant above the surface, but legs kicking fast below the waterline to get where he wants. Bloom’s exact wealth is unknown but he has already invested approximately £200m in Brighton, sums that have secured a new home and bright future for the club he followed as a boy. And so, on days like today, when the FA Cup holders are in town, he is worth his weight in gold in the eyes of Seagulls’ supporters, who may not know this most reclusive of figures, but have much to thank him for. Bloom, 44, studied maths at Manchester University, then became a professional gambler, a trader in the City and eventually made a fortune setting up online betting firm Premierbet in 2002 and selling it for £1m three years later. Now a property developer and director of 12 companies, high-stakes poker was the launching pad to his empire building and he is convinced it has given him the tools for his role at Brighton. In one of his rare interviews four years ago, he said: ‘Poker gives you a good grounding in lots of things, including reading situations and reading people and making tough decisions. Those skills can be used in business and certainly in running a football club.’ Certainly Brighton would not have been able to move into their Amex Stadium, which opened in 2011, were it not for his £93m investment when he took over in 2009. John Hewitt, chairman of the Brighton & Hove Albion Supporters’ Club, first met Bloom when he replaced the club’s previous chairman Dick Knight. We always thought you never know whether he will gamble with the club and end up losing it,’ said Hewitt. ‘But having met Tony, he doesn’t strike me as a gambler. That’s probably why he’s good at it. ‘We worked hard to get the stadium on its way but didn’t have the money to do it. Originally it was going to be funded by grants, but they didn’t materialise. If Tony hadn’t come along we wouldn’t have the stadium. The fact he’s a fan and he and his family go back with the club was important. He’s very driven in what he wants. Passionate, but doesn’t show passion. A bit like a swan, calm above the water but maybe paddling like mad underneath.’ Bloom is known to travel to away games via train and engages with fans, when he could easily afford to get there via a chauffeur-driven car. But for all the niceties, there is, predictably for such a successful businessman, a ruthless streak. The Lizard has cold blood. Bloom said in one interview, having declined to speak to The Mail on Sunday: ‘When it comes to football, people get very emotional and when I’m watching a game, I’m as emotional as the rest of them. ‘But running the football club, it’s really important to get that emotion to the back. Otherwise you’ll end up doing what a lot of chairmen always do and make some horrendous decisions.’ When Bloom first offered the money to build the Amex Stadium, then chairman Knight wanted to remain in charge, teach Bloom the job then unveil him as the man taking over when the stadium was opened two years later. Bloom had other ideas. In has autobiography Mad Man, Knight wrote: ‘Tony looked at me, it was an odd look as if to say why? He said, “I don’t need to do that. I’m going to run the club in a very different way from the way you have. I don’t think I need your advice”.’ According to sources close to Knight, that is a much more polite version of events than the reality. Bloom had his way and fans welcomed this local lad whose family are intrinsically linked to the club. His grandfather, Harry, was vice-chairman when they were promoted to the old First Division in 1979 and died of a heart attack on the team coach on the way to an away fixture against Stoke. His uncle, Ray, was a director at the club before Bloom stepped up, and remains one. Bloom attended games as a youngster, but is not recalled on the terraces and fans suspect he was a guest in the directors’ box with family. His ownership of Brighton feels less like a gamble and more an act of love. He has covered their losses in recent seasons, totalling 10s of millions and paid for their £32m training ground and academy which opened last summer and was awarded the highest ever score by the Premier League’s independent auditor for a facility. They are struggling this season but have narrowly missed out on promotion via the play-offs in the previous two and there is no denying that, based on the structure of the club, they are ready for the top flight. Their 30,250 stadium will be packed for the visit of Arsenal. Lizard, swan or just a businessman with a soft spot for his local club, Brighton can be happy Bloom is leading the way. Daily Mail.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 08:04:38 +0000
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