City’s Sheikh off top spot in football rich list
THE billionaire owner of Manchester City has been knocked off top spot in the annual Football Rich List.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, who has invested more than £400m on buying and investing in new players since his takeover of City 13 months ago, has been toppled by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who is a shareholder of London club QPR.
The Football List, which is compiled by FourFourTwo.com, estimates Sheikh Mansour’s fortune at £17bn, while the Indian magnate has seen his fortune soar by £6bn in the last 12 months to £18.4bn thanks to a stock market rally of his business Arcelor-Mittal.
Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman Abramovich, knocked from first to third in the last edition of the Football Rich List, retains his place in the list with a £7.8bn fortune.
Manchester United’s owner Malcolm Glazer, the reclusive 81-year-old Florida-based tycoon is in seventh place with a fortune estimated by FourFourTwo of £1.5bn, up from £1.1bn a year ago.
Everton shareholder Lord Grantchester is 10th with £1.2bn. He is the grandson of Sir John Moores, the Littlewoods pools tycoon and holds 8% of the shares.
Liverpool’s co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett occupy joint 16th place in the league table with an estimate wealth of £500m each.
The family of the late Jack Walker, which still own Blackburn Rovers via a trust, are in 19th position with a fortune of £400m.
Liverpool born housebuilding entrepreneur Steve Morgan, pictured, the owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers is placed 25th with a £350m fortune, while Blackpool Tower owner Trevor Hemmings, who owns 28% of Preston North End is in 27th place and is said to be worth £300m.
Dave Whelan, the Wigan Athletic owner and former JJB Sports chairman is in 31st place with £190m; US-based gaming and property entrepreneur Robert Earl, who owns a stake in Everton is ranked 35th with a fortune of £150m.
The Oyston family, which own Championship side Blackpool, are 46th place with wealth of £85m.
Isle of Man-based Eddie Davies, majority shareholder of Bolton Wanderers in in 52nd slot with £65m, while Mike Garlick, an investor and director at rivals Burnley is in 55th place.
The Wirral-based businessman Peter Johnson, who owns 60% of Tranmere Rovers, is worth £32m and is in 67th place.
Patrick Cryne, the owner of Barnsley, who made his fortune from IT firm iSOFT is in 69th spot with £30m, a position he shares with another Yorkshireman living this side of the Pennines, John Ryan, who built up cosmetic surgery group Transform and owns Doncaster Rovers.
Michael McDonald, a North West businessman and former boss of Eccles-based Texas Holdings, is a shareholder in Sheffield United, is valued at £28m and is in 79th spot, while Crewe shareholder Jimmy Rawlinson is worth £26m and is in 81st place.
