Mark Goldberg is an entrepreneur and English
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club chairman and manager.
Business
Mark Goldberg started out in the recruitment industry in 1984. Between 1992 and 1998 he built one of the UK's fastest growing IT contracting companies which doubled its turnover for five consecutive years resulting in a public flotation in 1996 at a market value capitalization of £36m as MSB INTERNATIONAL PLC. Goldberg sold a majority of his shareholding in 1998 at market cap of £200m.
He was declared bankrupt in 2000.
[
In 2000 Goldberg founded The TV Jobshop – Sky digital channel which advertised job vacancies via the TV channel. Whilst the concept was not successful in its original form, with reinvention, Goldberg adapted the model to become Viavision Ltd, which developed into one of Europe's largest independent satellite broadcasting corporations incorporating Jobs TV, Exchange & Mart TV, Sport xxx, TV and Poker TV. This ultimately led to a successful merger with Youmedia PLC in 2005.
In 2006 Goldberg coordinated the purchase of the Central Nic domain registry business out of administration, which owned UK.com, US.com, CN.Com plus other top domains. Goldberg helped to provide infrastructure for scalable growth, resulting in a successful public flotation 2013 on AIM at Market Cap £55m.
Since 2016 Goldberg has been co-founder and chairman of Recruiterlink, a recruitment technology platform providing recruitment tools to freelance recruiters worldwide. He has also developed a series of online life skills courses known under the brand name of StayingInTheGame.com.
]
Football
Playing career
As a player, Goldberg played for non-League
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
clubs Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...
and Beckenham Town, where he was player-manager while still in his 20s.[Former Palace chairman Mark Goldberg sees a different side of life as Bromley manager]
''The Daily Telegraph'', 5 November 2009
He also played football for two seasons in the United States, from 1982 to 1983, at the College of William and Mary
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, after being recruited by its head coach, Al Albert.
Crystal Palace
Goldberg became owner and chairman of Crystal Palace Football Club
Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in Selhurst in the Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Although formally created as a profe ...
in June 1998. Goldberg was unable to raise sufficient funds to achieve his plan for the club, ultimately resulting in the club being forced into administration and leading to his personal bankruptcy.
Goldberg had purchased the club from long-serving chairman Ron Noades
Ronald Geoffrey Noades (22 June 1937 – 24 December 2013) was an English businessman, best known for his investments in football clubs. He was the chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and finally Brentford. He was also the manager o ...
, but Palace ended up relegated from the FA Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
that season – for the third time in six years. The takeover deal also saw Italian Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
side Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
have a 10% stake in Palace, with a view to Juventus players being loaned or sold to the club. Goldberg also set a target into turning Palace into a leading European club by 2003.
At the end of the 1997–98 season, Goldberg appointed Terry Venables
Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...
as head coach for the following season and former manager Steve Coppell
Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player.
As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...
became Director of football. The club was not successful under his chairmanship and in January 1999 it was taken over by administrators who counted £22 million of debts, including £2m owed to Terry Venables and £7m to banks, the remainder to football clubs, players and HMRC
, patch =
, patchcaption =
, logo = HM Revenue & Customs.svg
, logocaption =
, badge =
, badgecaption =
, flag =
, flagcaption =
, image_size =
, co ...
. The club also failed to reach the standards set when Goldberg took over, with their financial crisis not being solved until a takeover by Simon Jordan
Simon Jordan (born 24 September 1967) is an English businessman who made his fortune in the mobile phone industry. In 2000, he purchased Crystal Palace Football Club and remained chairman of the club until administration in early 2010. In 2002, ...
was completed more than a year later, and a return to the Premier League was not achieved until 2004.
Bromley
Goldberg was player manager for a short period in 1988. He re-joined Bromley FC as first team manager in 2005, Appointed by his brother-in-law and Bromley chairman, Jerry Dolke, Goldberg replaced in incumbent manager George Wakeling and his management team.
Goldberg's start in management was successful, leading Bromley to promotion into the Conference South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
division via the play-offs. His first pre-season included a tie against the youth team of Crystal Palace and his competitive start was good, with Bromley topping the Premier Division after his first eleven games and reaching the First Round of the FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
before losing 4–1 to League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side Gillingham.[
Goldberg left Bromley during the 2007–08 season, to be succeeded by ]Simon Osborn
Simon Edward Osborn (born 19 January 1972) is an English former football player and football manager. A midfielder, he played 395 league and cup games in a 17-year career in the English Football League.
He began his career with Crystal Palace, ...
, but returned to the club at the end of the season. In April 2009, Goldberg suffered serious damage to his knee ligament while playing for Bromley Veterans in an Isthmian Veterans Cup semi-final.
Goldberg guided the club to promotion from the Ryman Premier Division during his first season after winning the Play Off Final against Billericay FC.
During his term, Goldberg guided the club to win 3 trophies amongst the Kent and London Senior Cup competitions as well as leading the club to reach the FA Cup First Round, during 5 out of his 8 seasons as manager.
Goldberg agreed to step down as manager on 4 February 2016.
Welling United
Goldberg became manager of Welling United in April 2016. He left the position in November 2016.
Personal life
Goldberg's son, Bradley
Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English.
Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular.
It is also an Anglicisation of t ...
, is a semi-professional footballer. Goldberg also has a daughter, Lauren-Rose.
Honours
Club
;Bromley
*Conference South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
: 2014–15
* Isthmian League playoff winners: 2006–07
*Kent Senior Cup
The Kent Senior Cup is an English football competition played between senior clubs in the county of Kent. It is administered by the Kent County Football Association.
History
The Kent Badge preceded the Kent Senior Cup, and was won in its three ...
(2): 2005–06, 2006–07
* London Senior Cup: 2012–13
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Mark
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
English businesspeople
English football chairmen and investors
Crystal Palace F.C. directors and chairmen
William & Mary Tribe men's soccer players
Beckenham Town F.C. players
Bromley F.C. players
English football managers
Bromley F.C. managers
Beckenham Town F.C. managers
Welling United F.C. managers
National League (English football) managers
Association footballers not categorized by position
English footballers