Charlie Clapham

Last updated

Charles Clapham MBE (born 7 August 1946), more commonly known as Charlie Clapham, was the chairman of Southport Football Club, an English football club that play in the National League North.

Contents

Clapham was born in Accrington and lived there until he was seven years old. His family then relocated to Coventry. He grew up supporting Coventry City and, having been converted by his brother, Manchester United. [1]

Business interests

In 1978, while working in the West Midlands as a regional sales director, he co-founded Palace Chemicals with three business associates. [1] This saw Clapham following his new venture to Liverpool, eventually moving to nearby Southport in 1981.

In October 1995, the company acquired competitor Langlow Products Limited, incorporating the product line into their portfolio. [2] This was followed up by the acquisition of Houseplan, known for their sealants and adhesives, in September 2000. [2]

He is Managing Director of Palace Chemicals Ltd based in Speke, Merseyside, having completed a management buy-out in 1990. [1]

Chairman of Southport Football Club

A little over a year after moving to Southport he made his first visit to Haig Avenue where Southport were at the lowest point in the club's history. Having been voted out of The Football League in 1978, they were languishing in the Northern Premier League with attendances falling and debts spiralling out of control. At this game Clapham was handed a piece of paper as he entered the ground that read:

You might have read we are in trouble but not as much trouble as they are saying we are. If you think you might be able to help come and see the directors after the game [1]

After getting in touch with then chairman Gary Culshaw and vice chairman Barry Hedley, Clapham used his background in business as an attempt to trade the club out of their financial difficulties. After 18 months however Culshaw walked out. In an impromptu board meeting in Hedley's front room Clapham stepped forward as the new chairman of Southport Football Club. [1]

Under Clapham Southport saw a turnaround in fortunes both on and off the pitch. The ground was revamped with new stands, the club was now running at a profit and in the 1992/93 season Brian Kettle managed the side to Northern Premier League title and promotion back to the highest level of non-league football the Football Conference. The next ten years saw Southport compete primarily in the top half of the table, regularly being the top semi-professional side in the country. A trip to Wembley Stadium in 1998 as the losing finalists in the FA Trophy under the guidance of Paul Futcher is one of the highest points in Clapham's tenure as chairman. [3] In 2000, Clapham gave former Liverpool and England defender Mark Wright his first managerial job, investing heavily but ultimately failing to win promotion back to the football league. [1]

Since 2005, Clapham has been vice chairman of the Football Conference [4]

Clapham oversaw Southport transitioning from a semi professional to professional club in 2006 as an attempt to consolidate their position in the Conference Premier. This was the first time Southport had been a professional club and employed a solely full-time group of players and back room staff. [5] However Southport reverted to part-time status (though some players are full-time in order to train the youth teams).

In 2007, Clapham was elected to the FA Council following Lord Burns' structural review of the national governing body. He serves as a member of numerous committees, representing the views of non-league football. [6]

During Clapham's time as chairman, the club has sold several players for sizeable sums of money and to teams higher up the footballing pyramid. Steve Whitehall was sold to Rochdale A.F.C. in 1991 for a club record £25,000. [7] Carl Baker was the next player to be sold for a large sum of money and in the process smashed the previous club record, moving to Morecambe in July 2007 for a reputed £50,000. [7] Craig Noone moved to Plymouth Argyle for an undisclosed fee that could eventually rise to a new club record in excess of £100,000 despite never playing a competitive game for the club. [8] In May 2009 Morecambe raided Southport again, signing Mark Duffy for £20,000 after a short loan spell. [9] Zac Aley moved to Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee in February 2010, however it is believed the club would reap the benefits financially if he establishes himself as a first team player. [10]

In the 2011 Birthday Honours, Clapham was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "for services to Manufacture and to Football in Merseyside." [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morecambe F.C.</span> Association football club in Morecambe, England

Morecambe Football Club is a professional football club in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southport F.C.</span> Association football club in Southport, England

Southport Football Club is an association football club based in Southport, Merseyside. They play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 5,414. They are known by their nickname "the Sandgrounders". The club's main honour is winning the 1972–73 Football League Fourth Division championship and they have won a number of titles in non-League football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sammy McIlroy</span> Northern Irish footballer

Samuel Baxter McIlroy is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played for Manchester United, Stoke City, Manchester City, Örgryte (Sweden), Bury, VfB Mödling (Austria), Preston North End and the Northern Ireland national team.

Jonathan Philip Robert Newby is an English former footballer, who played as a striker, and manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleetwood Town F.C.</span> Association football club in Fleetwood, England

Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club, which was originally formed in 1908. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.

Simon Grand is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Charnock Richard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Brown (footballer, born May 1985)</span> English footballer

Scott Brown is an English former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He has played in the English Football League for Bristol City, Cheltenham Town, Port Vale, Morecambe and Accrington Stanley.

Michael John Twiss is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder. He scored 95 goals in 458 competitive matches in a 15-year career.

James Harvey is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun Whalley</span> English association football player (born 1987)

Shaun James Whalley is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for English League One club Accrington Stanley. Born in Prescot, Merseyside, Whalley played for Norwich City and Southport as a youth before making his Football League debut with Chester City in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Baker</span> English footballer

Carl Paul Baker is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or as an attacking midfielder and was most recently assistant manager for AFC Telford United.

Stuart Barlow is an English football coach and former professional player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Brodie (footballer)</span> English association football player

Richard Jon Brodie is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of North West Counties League side Burscough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liam Watson (footballer)</span> English footballer and manager

Liam Watson is an English former professional footballer and current manager of Southport Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Walker (footballer)</span> English association football player

Jason Walker is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker for Northern Premier League club Lancaster City. He previously played for Dundee, Greenock Morton, Morecambe, Luton Town, York City, Östersund, Forest Green Rovers, Southport, Barrow, Chorley and Workington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Duffy (footballer)</span> English footballer

Mark James Duffy is an English football coach and former player who is Head Coach for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Macclesfield.

Zachery George Aley is a semi-professional footballer who plays for City of Liverpool as a midfielder. He played in the English Football League with Morecambe.

Cole John Stockton is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL League Two club Morecambe. A physical forward, he has good finishing skills with his right-foot.

Bryan Griffiths is a former professional footballer who played as a defender in the Football League and later had an extensive career as manager of Non-League football clubs.

Ben Hedley is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for National League North club Darlington. He previously played in the Football League for Morecambe, as well as in non-league football for Witton Albion and Bradford.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "THE CHARLIE CLAPHAM STORY". Trust in Yellow. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 "About Palace Chemicals". Archived from the original on 28 November 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  3. ↑ Rupert Metcalf (6 April 1998). "Southport celebrate Wembley final". The Independent. UK. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  4. ↑ "Conference appoints vice-chairmen". BBC Sport. 11 July 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "Southport to go full-time in 2006". BBC Sport. 16 December 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  6. ↑ "FA Committees". The Football Association. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Southport welcome back Baker for friendly". thefreelibary.com. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "Plymouth sign left-winger Noone". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  9. ↑ "Shrimps clinch Duffy deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  10. ↑ Philip Kirkbride (26 February 2010). "Southport FC's Zac Aley joins Blackburn Rovers". Southport Visiter. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  11. ↑ United Kingdom: "No. 59808". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 10 June 2011. p. 14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.