Michael Wilde
Encyclopedia
Michael Wilde, born on the Wirral, Cheshire in 1952, is a businessman who became Chairman of Southampton Football Club
for two periods after the Club's relegation from the Premiership, resigning on 2 April 2009, the day after the Club's holding company, Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc, went into administration
.
before going to the University of Westminster
in 1973 where he obtained a first degree in Urban Estate Management before going on to do his Masters in Town and Regional Planning at Sheffield University. He later went on to work in estate agency, planning consultancy and in local government with Sheffield City Council
, before going to Singapore
in 1978. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
and became a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute
in 1981. He has authored many papers on housing issues and was a Senior Lecturer in Real Estate Economics and Town Planning at the National University of Singapore from 1978 to 1983. During his time in Singapore he also acted as an advisor to the Government's Housing Development Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority becoming a Member of both the Singapore Institute of Planners and the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers.
, Dan Petrescu
and Graeme Le Saux
before acquiring a 10% stake in the Club from existing Director Paul Thompson, the former West Bromwich Albion Chairman in February 2006. He went on to purchase further shares over the following months soon becoming the Club’s largest individual shareholder.
His first period as Chairman was from 30 June 2006 to February 2007, gaining his position following pressure on Rupert Lowe
to resign, the club's previous Chairman of ten years. Shortly after his arrival as Chairman, the Club's Director of Football, Sir Clive Woodward left by mutual agreement as the Club went about trying to restructure it’s finances. A number of new players were brought into a depleted squad including Rudi Skacel, Kelvin Davis
, Jermaine Wright
, Bradley Wright-Phillips
, and Inigo Idiakez
, but despite the Saints being in a play-off position in the Championship under Manager, George Burley
, Wilde resigned, reportedly due to a lack of promised investment from outside investors.
During his tenure Wilde also signed Academy player Gareth Bale
to his first professional contract, who quickly became a first team regular. Bale was eventually sold to Tottenham Hotspur
in a package potentially worth £10m to the Club.
Following a long period of boardroom upheaval in the Club after Wilde's initial departure, and after narrowly avoiding relegation to League One, Wilde and his earlier rival, Rupert Lowe, finally demanded an EGM to remove Chairman Leon Crouch and on 15 May 2008, Crouch and three other Directors resigned from the board. Wilde resumed his position as Chairman of the Football Club whilst Lowe became Chairman of the holding company, Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc.
Upon becoming Chairman again, Jan Poortvliet
, who represented the Netherlands
in the Final of the 1978 FIFA World Cup
in Argentina, was appointed Head Coach to work with what was a very young squad for the 2008/9 season. Whilst showing promise the team struggled to remain consistent in the Championship, and when the Club were deducted 10 points as a result of its holding company going into administration, relegation to League One became inevitable.
Wilde has been based in Jersey since February 2006 and in March 2007 he became the main sponsor of the Jersey Football Association (JFA) and played a significant part in bringing the Jersey F.A. International Small Nations Tournament to the island in November 2008.
of Copenhagen in 1988.
Upon returning to the UK, Wilde founded Merlion Housing Association in 1990, a specialist provider of privately funded affordable housing. He created and developed a shared equity model for the provision of Housing Association
Grant free affordable housing and has been instrumental in this form of tenure becoming a key tool of affordable housing policy in the United Kingdom. The Association has provided homes to nearly 2,000 individuals and families in housing need since its incorporation and was the only privately funded Housing Association to receive funds under the Government's £200 million Starter Homes Initiative in 2001 aimed at providing key worker
homes for, amongst others, teachers, nurses and the police.
Following the success of Merlion, Wilde went on to form a house building company, Infinity Homes Ltd, in partnership with its Chief Executive, Alistair Baker and in 2006 the company won the prestigious “Best Small Housebuilder” Gold Award in the Daily Telegraph sponsored What House? Awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the house building industry. Wilde acted as Non-Executive Chairman of the company until it ceased trading in 2008 due to the economic downturn. The holding company of Infinity Homes Ltd was, as a result, wound up in June 2011. Merlion Housing Association, however, continues to provide affordable housing to low income families, working closely with many Local Authorities throughout the United Kingdom
Wilde also co-founded, and is now Chairman, of Wildcard Films Ltdhttp://www.wildcardfilms.co.uk which was established in April 2009. He was executive producer
of the company's critically acclaimed short film "Roar", starring Russell Tovey
and Jodie Whittaker
, which has won awards at several major international festivals, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the Rhode Island International Film Festival
, and Winner for Best Cinematography at the Aspen Shortsfest. The company is now working on a major full-length feature scheduled for release in late 2012.
Although retaining strong links to the North-West, Wilde acquired Cardington House, a landmark property in Saint Aubin, Jersey
in 2006 and after an extensive refurbishment programme opened it as a luxury boutique hotelhttp://www.cardingtonhouse.com. The hotel has now become one of the island's foremost destinations for the holding of weddings, family gatherings and corporate events.
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
for two periods after the Club's relegation from the Premiership, resigning on 2 April 2009, the day after the Club's holding company, Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc, went into administration
Administration (British football)
Sports clubs in the United Kingdom, most often in football, sometimes choose to enter administration when they are unable to pay off outstanding debts. Under the Insolvency Act 1986 a business will face a winding up order bringing them to court and if it is shown that a business cannot pay debts as...
.
Education and early career
Wilde attended Wirral Grammar SchoolWirral Grammar School for Boys
Wirral Grammar School for Boys, founded in 1931, is situated on Cross Lane, Bebington, on the Wirral Peninsula in England.-Admissions:It is a foundation school, located within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and requires all potential pupils to take, and pass, the eleven plus exam exam prior to...
before going to the University of Westminster
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
in 1973 where he obtained a first degree in Urban Estate Management before going on to do his Masters in Town and Regional Planning at Sheffield University. He later went on to work in estate agency, planning consultancy and in local government with Sheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council
Sheffield City Council is the city council for the metropolitan borough of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It consists of 84 councillors, elected to represent 28 wards, each with three councillors...
, before going to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1978. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is an independent, representative professional body which regulates property professionals and surveyors in the United Kingdom and other sovereign nations....
and became a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute
Royal Town Planning Institute
The Royal Town Planning Institute is a body representing planning professionals in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1914.-Members:...
in 1981. He has authored many papers on housing issues and was a Senior Lecturer in Real Estate Economics and Town Planning at the National University of Singapore from 1978 to 1983. During his time in Singapore he also acted as an advisor to the Government's Housing Development Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority becoming a Member of both the Singapore Institute of Planners and the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers.
Southampton F.C.
He moved to Hampshire in 1985 upon his return from Singapore and became a major sponsor of a number of Southampton players including Kevin DaviesKevin Davies
Kevin Cyril Davies is an English footballer who currently plays for Bolton Wanderers and the England national football team as a striker. He was made Bolton team captain in January 2009....
, Dan Petrescu
Dan Petrescu
Daniel Vasile Petrescu is a Romanian football manager and former player, currently the manager of Kuban Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League....
and Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...
before acquiring a 10% stake in the Club from existing Director Paul Thompson, the former West Bromwich Albion Chairman in February 2006. He went on to purchase further shares over the following months soon becoming the Club’s largest individual shareholder.
His first period as Chairman was from 30 June 2006 to February 2007, gaining his position following pressure on Rupert Lowe
Rupert Lowe
Rupert James Graham Lowe is a British businessman, who was the chairman of Southampton Football Club from 1996 to 2006. He regained his power in May 2008, teaming up with Michael Wilde, who had previously forced Lowe out, becoming chairman of the club's parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings...
to resign, the club's previous Chairman of ten years. Shortly after his arrival as Chairman, the Club's Director of Football, Sir Clive Woodward left by mutual agreement as the Club went about trying to restructure it’s finances. A number of new players were brought into a depleted squad including Rudi Skacel, Kelvin Davis
Kelvin Davis
Kelvin Geoffrey Davis is an English footballer who currently plays as a goalkeeper for newly-promoted Championship club Southampton. Born in Bedford, Davis began his career with Luton Town as a youth player in 1991 and remained there until 1999. Davis later played for Wimbledon, Ipswich Town and...
, Jermaine Wright
Jermaine Wright
Jermaine Malaki Wright is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder and can also operate as a defender.-Football career:...
, Bradley Wright-Phillips
Bradley Wright-Phillips
Bradley Edward Wright-Phillips is an English footballer who plays for Charlton Athletic as a striker.He is the son of former Arsenal and England player Ian Wright, and younger half-brother to Queens Park Rangers and England international Shaun Wright-Phillips; Ian's adopted son, with whom he used...
, and Inigo Idiakez
Iñigo Idiakez
Iñigo Idiákez Barkaiztegi is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a midfielder .During 13 years, he played for Real Sociedad, with relative impact with the first team...
, but despite the Saints being in a play-off position in the Championship under Manager, George Burley
George Burley
George Elder Burley is a Scottish football manager and former player and manager, formerly the manager of Crystal Palace Football Club. Burley had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player making 628 appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps...
, Wilde resigned, reportedly due to a lack of promised investment from outside investors.
During his tenure Wilde also signed Academy player Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale
Gareth Frank Bale is a Welsh footballer who plays for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Wales national team. Bale began his professional career with Southampton in 2005 and was transferred to Tottenham two years later...
to his first professional contract, who quickly became a first team regular. Bale was eventually sold to Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
in a package potentially worth £10m to the Club.
Following a long period of boardroom upheaval in the Club after Wilde's initial departure, and after narrowly avoiding relegation to League One, Wilde and his earlier rival, Rupert Lowe, finally demanded an EGM to remove Chairman Leon Crouch and on 15 May 2008, Crouch and three other Directors resigned from the board. Wilde resumed his position as Chairman of the Football Club whilst Lowe became Chairman of the holding company, Southampton Leisure Holdings Plc.
Upon becoming Chairman again, Jan Poortvliet
Jan Poortvliet
Jan Poortvliet is a retired football defender from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, wearing the number two jersey. His biggest club successes came when he played for PSV Eindhoven in the mid- and late 1970s...
, who represented the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in the Final of the 1978 FIFA World Cup
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...
in Argentina, was appointed Head Coach to work with what was a very young squad for the 2008/9 season. Whilst showing promise the team struggled to remain consistent in the Championship, and when the Club were deducted 10 points as a result of its holding company going into administration, relegation to League One became inevitable.
Wilde has been based in Jersey since February 2006 and in March 2007 he became the main sponsor of the Jersey Football Association (JFA) and played a significant part in bringing the Jersey F.A. International Small Nations Tournament to the island in November 2008.
Other business career
Whilst in Singapore Wilde, founded Contact Communication Services in 1983, a telecommunications company specialising in high-speed data communications and offering low-cost telex relay services throughout South-East Asia. The company quickly expanded through the establishment of operational offices in Hong Kong, East and West Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia. Wilde eventually exited the company through a sale to European Telecommunication giants, the Great Northern Telegraph CompanyGreat Northern Telegraph Company
The Great Northern Telegraph Company was a Danish telegraph company founded in June 1869...
of Copenhagen in 1988.
Upon returning to the UK, Wilde founded Merlion Housing Association in 1990, a specialist provider of privately funded affordable housing. He created and developed a shared equity model for the provision of Housing Association
Housing association
Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost "social housing" for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones...
Grant free affordable housing and has been instrumental in this form of tenure becoming a key tool of affordable housing policy in the United Kingdom. The Association has provided homes to nearly 2,000 individuals and families in housing need since its incorporation and was the only privately funded Housing Association to receive funds under the Government's £200 million Starter Homes Initiative in 2001 aimed at providing key worker
Key worker
A key worker is a public sector employee who is considered to provide an essential service. The term is often used in the United Kingdom in the context of those essential workers who may find it difficult to buy property in the area where they work....
homes for, amongst others, teachers, nurses and the police.
Following the success of Merlion, Wilde went on to form a house building company, Infinity Homes Ltd, in partnership with its Chief Executive, Alistair Baker and in 2006 the company won the prestigious “Best Small Housebuilder” Gold Award in the Daily Telegraph sponsored What House? Awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the house building industry. Wilde acted as Non-Executive Chairman of the company until it ceased trading in 2008 due to the economic downturn. The holding company of Infinity Homes Ltd was, as a result, wound up in June 2011. Merlion Housing Association, however, continues to provide affordable housing to low income families, working closely with many Local Authorities throughout the United Kingdom
Wilde also co-founded, and is now Chairman, of Wildcard Films Ltdhttp://www.wildcardfilms.co.uk which was established in April 2009. He was executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of the company's critically acclaimed short film "Roar", starring Russell Tovey
Russell Tovey
Russell George Tovey is an English actor with numerous television, film and stage credits. Tovey is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural drama Being Human which started in 2008...
and Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Whittaker
Jodie Auckland Whittaker is an English actress, perhaps best known for her work in the film Venus . She also starred in the ITV1 series Marchlands playing the young Ruth who had lost her daughter Alice.-Career:...
, which has won awards at several major international festivals, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the Rhode Island International Film Festival
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newport Film/Video Society & Arts Collaborative, a 501 non-profit...
, and Winner for Best Cinematography at the Aspen Shortsfest. The company is now working on a major full-length feature scheduled for release in late 2012.
Although retaining strong links to the North-West, Wilde acquired Cardington House, a landmark property in Saint Aubin, Jersey
Saint Aubin, Jersey
Saint Aubin is a port in the Channel Island of Jersey. It opens out to a bay of the Gulf of Saint-Malo.Originally a fishing village at the opposite end of Saint Aubin's Bay from the town of Saint Helier, Saint Aubin is now the hub of the parish of St. Brelade. Its name refers to Saint Aubin of...
in 2006 and after an extensive refurbishment programme opened it as a luxury boutique hotelhttp://www.cardingtonhouse.com. The hotel has now become one of the island's foremost destinations for the holding of weddings, family gatherings and corporate events.