Len Cearns

Last updated
Leonard Crittenden Cearns
Born1 March 1914
Died28 October 1993(1993-10-28) (aged 79)
OccupationChairman, West Ham United
Parent(s) W.J. Cearns /

Leonard Crittenden Cearns (1 March 1914 - 28 October 1993) [1] [2] was a chairman of English football club West Ham United.

Cearns was a member of a family which had been associated with West Ham since its 1900 foundation. J.W.Y Cearns was a founding member and director of the club until 1934. His son, W.J. Cearns, Len's father, was chairman from 1935 until 1950. [3] Known as "Mr. Len" and "the father of West Ham", Cearns ran a construction company, joining the West Ham board in 1948 and taking the chairmanship in 1979 from Reg Pratt. [4] [5] [6] [7]

During the 1980s future chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold bought shares in the club to the value of £2m. Eager to keep control of the club with the Cearns and Pratt families, their further involvement was resisted by Cearns and the pair sold-up and later bought into Birmingham City. [8] He was chairman until 1990 when he handed the role over to his son Martin. The last years of his time as chairman in 1989 and 1990 saw him sack West Ham's long-term manager John Lyall, after 34 years of service, and the recruitment of new manager Lou Macari in 1989 and successor, Billy Bonds in 1990. [9] [10] He continued as a director after relinquishing the chairmanship of West Ham, until his death in 1993. [1]

Cearns served on the committees of the Football League, the Football Association and the Football Combination. He was also life vice-president of the Football League. [1] He died 28 October 1993, a director of West Ham United for 45 years. [11]

Related Research Articles

West Ham United F.C. Association football club in England

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stratford, East London that compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, having moved from their former home, the Boleyn Ground, in 2016.

Ron Greenwood English footballer and manager

Ronald Greenwood CBE was an English football player and manager, best known for being manager of the English national football team from 1977 until 1982, as well as being manager of West Ham United for 13 years, a time during which the club gained much of its fame. His final role in football was managing the England national football team.

Billy Bonds

William Arthur Bonds is a former professional footballer and manager, who is most often associated with West Ham United with whom he spent 27 years as player and manager. He played 799 first-team games for West Ham in a career spanning 21 seasons.

Paul Ince English association football player

Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder from 1982 to 2007.

John Lyall English footballer and manager

John Angus Lyall was an English footballer and manager primarily known for his 34 years at West Ham United. He played for the club as a youth, then as a first-team player before injury cut short his career. He then joined the coaching staff, before becoming the manager of the senior team in 1974. He stayed in that role until 1989. He subsequently went on to manage Ipswich Town from 1990–1994.

David Gold (businessman) British businessman

David Gold is a British businessman. He was the chairman of Birmingham City Football Club until 2009. Since 2010, he has been the joint chairman of West Ham United.

Alan Devonshire England international footballer

Alan Ernest Devonshire is an English former professional footballer who is the current manager of Maidenhead United. He was a wide midfielder who played for West Ham United, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1980, and Watford, where he finished his career in 1992. Devonshire won eight caps for England between 1980 and 1983. He subsequently became a manager with Maidenhead United, Hampton & Richmond Borough and Braintree Town.

Terry Brown (football chairman)

Terence Brown is the former chairman and Honorary Life President of English Premier League football club West Ham United.

Karren Brady British businesswoman (born 1969)

Karren Rita Brady, Baroness Brady, is a British business executive and television personality. She is best known as former managing director of Birmingham City F.C. and current vice-chairman of West Ham United F.C., and as an aide to Alan Sugar on The Apprentice, but also sits in the House of Lords and has been Small Business Ambassador to the UK Government.

Lee Roy Chapman is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker from 1978 until 1996, in which he scored almost 200 first-team goals.

Frank McAvennie Scottish footballer

Francis McAvennie is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a striker for St Mirren, West Ham United and Celtic, having had two spells with each of these clubs. With Celtic he won the Scottish Premier Division in 1987–88 and the Scottish Cup in 1988. He was capped five times at senior level for Scotland during the 1980s, scoring one goal.

Stewart Ian Robson is an English former football player and TV and radio football pundit. He played for Arsenal, West Ham United where he was their player of the season in 1988, and Coventry City. After his footballing career ended he took on a role as a TV and radio pundit for Arsenal TV until 2012, ESPN, TalkSPORT and BT Sport.

Julian Dicks English footballer and manager

Julian Andrew Dicks is an English football coach and manager and former professional footballer and professional golfer, who was most recently manager of Heybridge Swifts.

Ted Fenton

Edward Benjamin Ambrose Fenton was an English football player and manager. He spent almost his entire playing career at West Ham United and went on to manage the club between 1950 and 1961.

Alan Dickens

Alan William Dickens is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a midfielder. He played the majority of his football at West Ham United and Chelsea, and later played non-league football. He had a short spell as manager of Barking. He is now assistant manager of the Barking FC under 23s.

Reg Pratt

Reginald "Reg" H Pratt was a businessman and chairman of English football club West Ham United from 1950 until 1979.

Martin William Cearns is a former chairman of English football club West Ham United.

William John Cearns also known as Will and Bill was a chairman of English football club West Ham United and Managing Director of Wimbledon Stadium.

West Ham United F.C. is a football club based in London. It was founded in 1900 by Arnold Hills, owner of Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. The club's forerunner, Thames Ironworks F.C. ceased to exist in 1900 with West Ham United being formed to take its place.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Touche Ross & co (31 July 1993). "West Ham United plc Accounts year ended 31 July 1993": 3.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ↑ "Leonard Crittenden Cearns". Companiesintheuk.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Lyall, John (1989). Just Like My Dreams. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 44–45. ISBN   0-14-013193-0.
  4. ↑ Belton, Brian (2008). Brown Out. London: Pennant Books. p. 27. ISBN   978-1-906015-11-4.
  5. ↑ "West Ham United". www.cearnsbooks.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  6. ↑ "1971-1981". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  7. ↑ Atwal, June (27 June 2011). "WW1 memoir gives window on history". www.newhamrecorder.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  8. ↑ "David's Heart of Gold". www.davidgold.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  9. ↑ Welch, Julie (20 April 2006). "John Lyall - Obituary". www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Brown Out. p. 21.
  11. ↑ West Ham United official handbook 1996-97 page 139


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.