The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Architect of Premier League dies
As an enterprising football businessman, Noel White helped lead two clubs to glory and played an instrumental role in the founding of the Premier League.
Born in Altrincham near Manchester in 1929, he began to build his entrepreneurial empire in his mid-20s.
With fellow businessman Peter Swales, he started selling sheet music, records and instruments – eventually ending up with a chain of 15 shops across Manchester and Cheshire.
As technology advanced, the pair moved into the burgeoning market of television rentals.
But it was an 11-year-old boy who influenced their next business move.
In 1960, Altrincham FC was on the verge of relegation and liquidation, prompting one of the club’s younger fans to write an impassioned plea to a local newspaper for someone to step in and save the day.
After reading the letter, Mr White and Mr Swales put their newfound profits to good use, wiping out the club’s debts and investing in new players.
Altrincham’s fortunes quickly turned around, with league titles and soaring attendance numbers following.
Mr Swales then left to join the board of Manchester City, leaving his former business partner at the helm. Mr White helped the team lift the FA Trophy twice during his tenure before moving to become a director of Liverpool FC in 1986.
Well-respected in his post, he held the position for more than two decades – including a brief spell as chairman in the 1990s.
During this stint he was one of five club chairmen working to set up the Premier League, devising a new structure to help teams make more money from the television rights of their matches. In 1992, a raft of teams resigned from the Football League for the new organisation, which today is one of the most watched sports leagues in the world.
Mr White died on June 30, aged 89.