Bill Bratt
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William Amos "Bill" Bratt MBE (born 1945) is the current chairman of Port Vale Football Club.
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[edit] Early life
Bratt's father was a WWII veteran who was taken by the Japanese as a prisoner of war. After the war his father appeared to be mentally scarred from his time in POW camps and regularly beat him, he apologized to his son whilst on his deathbed. He died in the 1960s of cancer.[1]
[edit] Business life
Bratt built up his business acumen and earned a healthy income as an insurance broker over a 30 year period.
[edit] Chairmanship of Port Vale
In 2001, Bratt was involved with a supporters' trust under the banner "Valiant 2001", which started moves towards attaining ownership of the club, including several offers that were rejected by chairman Bill Bell. The club went into administration under Bell in late 2002.[2] Valiant 2001 eventually secured control of the club after a long and drawn-out process as the 2002-03 season neared its close. Bratt had been a life-long supporter of the club when he took the chairman position in 2003.[3]
Bratt put a large portion of the clubs shares up for sale in February 2006. Robbie Williams bought £240,000 worth of the £250,000 worth of available shares in the club. Castle Comfort Stairlifts, the club's sponsors, at the same time bought the remainder for £10,000.[4]
Under Bratt's chairmanship, the clubs finances have stabilized, however the club were relegated to the bottom tier of English league football after a dismal 2007-08 season. Bratt and his board of directors have appointed four managers throughout their reign; Martin Foyle in 2004, Lee Sinnott in 2007, Dean Glover in 2008 and Micky Adams in 2009.
With the club languishing near the bottom of the Football League, closer to relegation than the play-offs, many Vale fans organized protests against manager Glover and the board, including Bratt.[5] With talks of fresh investment from shirt sponsors Harlequin Property came rumours on the internet that the company were planning to demolish Vale Park and build a supermarket, paying off Bratt to ensure his compliance.[6] Bratt passionately denied these accusations, seemingly angered by the suggestion and claimed that if he were to comply with the protesters demands and remove himself and the rest of the V-2001 directors from the Board, then the club would fold as banks and creditors would seek their money. He also reiterated his prior statements by stating that he would be prepared to leave his position if the right offer were to be made.[7]
As Chairman he was sometimes criticized for the perceived unprofessional practices of the board. Critics citing the phone vote that was arranged to sack Sinnott and the way in which experienced midfielder Dave Brammer was released- informing him via voicemail.[8][9]
Bratt was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.[10][11]
[edit] References
- ^ "Football chairman beaten as child". BBC News. 4 December 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/staffordshire/7126522.stm. Retrieved on 2009-01-02.
- ^ "Vale go into administration". BBC Sport. 16 December, 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/port_vale/2581571.stm. Retrieved on 2008-12-21.
- ^ Bill Bratt named as chairman bbc.co.uk
- ^ "Robbie buys into Vale", BBC.co.uk, 27 February 2006
- ^ "Vale fans stage post-match protest". The Sentinel. February 28, 2009. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Vale-fans-stage-post-match-protest/article-735721-detail/article.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
- ^ Shaw, Steve (March 27, 2009). "Breaking News: Shirt sponsor set to invest £1/2 million into Port Vale". The Sentinel. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/portvale/Breaking-News-Shirt-sponsor-set-invest-1-2-million-Port-Vale/article-850640-detail/article.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ "Vale chairman happy to walk away". BBC SPORT. 27 March 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/p/port_vale/7968155.stm. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ "Brammer denied new Vale contract". BBC Sport. 13 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/fooball/teams/p/port_vale/8048691.stm. Retrieved on 2009-05-13.
- ^ Shaw, Steve (May 14, 2009). "Port Vale: Brammer slams his voicemail farewell". The Sentinel. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/portvale/Port-Vale-Brammer-slams-voicemail-farewell/article-990120-detail/article.html?cacheBust=36O04X7mioDw&authid=MFqvhfxM2f9i75QTVBHapPI5MdQr9k7KUpy3V2ZscprBbuv81242300206802&success=true#community. Retrieved on 2009-05-14.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59090, p. 14, 13 June 2009.
- ^ "Port Vale: Chairman Bratt named MBE". The Sentinel. June 13, 2009. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/sport/Port-Vale-Chairman-Bratt-named-MBE/article-1074037-detail/article.html#StartComments. Retrieved on 2009-06-13.
[edit] External links
- 'The Valiants are not going to go into administration' Interview with The Sentinel (07/03/2009)
