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Revision as of 09:00, 17 June 2006 by CIreland (talk | contribs) (rv Vandalism)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Rupert Lowe is the current Chairman of Southampton F.C., an English football club.
When Lowe took control of Southampton he had minimal previous knowledge of football, although other English club chairmen past and present such as Alan Sugar, Jack Walker and most recently Roman Abramovich were similarly inexperienced when they bought their respective clubs. But in the mid-1990s, the Saints board were looking to float the club on the Stock Market, a long and costly procedure. So instead they attempted a 'reverse takeover', they needed to find a company that had already floated and take it over while effectively being taken over themselves. Lowe's Secure Retirements, old peoples homes, was a perfect prospect and he became chairman.
Fans groups were initially undecided about Lowe, he brought with him vast business expertise, a vital trait for any chairman of a football club but he also knew hardly anything about the game.
Graeme Souness, Manager and Lawrie McMenemy, Director of Football left the club citing 'difficulties' with the new owners, it came as a huge shock to many fans and to the local press who regarded McMenemy as 'Mr. Southampton'. However, since then Lowe has done much to improve his image in the eyes of Saints fans and the media with the move to St. Mary's going well and the successful policy of selling players to clubs for over-the-top prices. Dean Richards for £8 million and Kevin Davies for £7 million are good examples, especially considering Davies was bought back by Southampton shortly afterward for a much smaller fee, and they also gained James Beattie from this transaction, who enjoyed great form at Southampton, and later joined Everton for £6 million. For this, Lowe's financial astuteness is not to be underestimated to the on going success of Southampton F.C. Though his timing of managerial decisions are somewhat alarming and inconsistent.
Lowe stood for election as the Referendum Party candidate for Cotswold to Parliament in the UK General Election, 1997.
Stuart Gray, a talented coach, had replaced Glenn Hoddle as manager but had a disastrous start to the 2001-2002 season. Rupert Lowe acted quickly, sacking Gray and employing Gordon Strachan. In 2003 Saints went on to reach the FA Cup Final and qualified for Europe for the first time in over 20 years. By Christmas they were lying 4th in the league. However, it soon emerged that Gordon Strachan was refusing to extend his contract citing 'personal reasons', and Rupert Lowe and the board took the decision to replace him with Paul Sturrock.
On 23 August 2004, manager Paul Sturrock parted company with the club by 'mutual consent'. Rupert Lowe seemed to make the same mistake as he did with Stuart Gray employing a good coach Steve Wigley, who seemed to lack the steely will needed for a manager of any business. Wigley's honest but weary interviews were a feature of the early part of the season. Lowe having made the same mistake twice, almost consecutively, did not act so expeditiously as with Gordon Strachan's appointment, only sacking Wigley in November of the same year. He was replaced, to much furore, by former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, but he actually did worse in the second half of the season than Saints had done in the first half, and he could not stop the Saints from being relegated to the Championship in 2005.
His latest appointment of George Burley as head coach in December 2005 to replace the departed Harry Redknapp, who had returned to his 'spiritual home' at Portsmouth has widely been hailed as a positive step by the fans. Recent protests against Lowe have subsided as cooler heads have prevailed and Southampton FC look to build for the coming season.
More recently, there has been assurances made that Lowe will be made a Peer of the Realm before the end of the decade. The distinction of being made Lord Lowe will be bestowed due to 'services to sport and the local community'.
To date although Rupert Lowe has overseen the growth of Southampton Leisure Holdings to a ten-fold increase in turnover he has also overseen the relegation of the club from the top tier of English football for the first time in 27 years and has now put the club into disrepute. It does not look like Rupert Lowe will be Southampton Chairman for much longer with Mr Wilde a new investor in Leisure Holdings Plc, owning a 16.8% share of the company and wanting to uptake a further 500,000 shares at the end of the 2005/2006 season.