Paul Barber appointed Albion Deputy Chairman
Brighton and Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber has received a richly deserved promotion having been appointed as the club’s deputy chairman.
The move is in part recognition of the excellent job he has done since arriving at the Amex in the summer of 2012 and in part a reward for his loyalty to the Albion despite some significant interest in his talents from bigger fish.
Barber had been in contention to take over as chief executive of the Premier League after Richard Scudamore departs with his cool £5m bonus. Although the role eventually went to Susanna Dinnage, Barber even being mentioned as a candidate for the most powerful role in British sport shows how highly regarded he is.
Chairman Tony Bloom confirmed as much, saying in the press statement that accompanied the news of Barber’s new position, “Paul has declined recent opportunities to pursue roles at bigger clubs, preferring instead to invest his energies and considerable football experience to help establish our club in the Premier League.” A potential return to the Football Association, where he served as Commercial Director and then Director of Marketing and Communications, in place of current chief executive Martin Glenn had also been mooted.
Although Barber cops his fair share of flak and we all love kicking up a fuss about some of less-considered decisions, he is undoubtedly superb at his job. For every “customers not fans” gaff, the ridiculous move to charge supporters £250 a year to use the Seven Star Sports Bar and the recent controversy over banning flasks from the Amex, there has been the way he replies to virtually every single email from supporters no matter how trivial and the fact that he’ll always front up and explain controversial and unpopular decisions, even though it might be in a load of marketing waffle that nobody can make head nor tail of.
Barber has also overseen one of the most successful periods on the pitch in the club’s history. He’s been crucial in the appointment of two excellent managers in Oscar Garcia and Chris Hughton (the less said about Sami Hyypia, the better), helped to transform the recruitment side of things by jettisoning David Burker in favour of Paul Winstanley, delivered a state-of-the-art training facility at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre and perhaps most impressive of all, managed to convince the FA’s Technical Director Dan Ashworth to move to the Amex.
He’s negotiated a huge sponsorship deal with Nike – even though most of us miss the days when Errea would supply brilliant, tailor-made kits – and has picked up a glut of awards along the way, winning CEO of the Year for England and Scotland and Championship CEO of the Year at the Football Industry Awards 2013 and being named the Sports Executive of the Year at the 2016 International Stadium Business Awards in Madrid.
Barber is a member of The FA Council and also serves as one of The FA’s international ambassadors. He was also recently was appointed to the Professional Game Board as a Premier League representative, replacing Ivan Gazidis who is leaving Arsenal to join AC Milan.
Barber will maintain all his current duties in his new role, although you suspect that Ashworth will have more of a say in footballing matters given his achievements in turning England from a shambles of a national team into a cohesive unit that can challenge for honours right through from youth team level to Gareth Southate’s seniors.
On a personal note, we look forward to being able to mock up plenty more photos of Barber with pound signs in place of his eyes over many years to come.
