Noel White (16 December 1929 – 30 June 2019) was a businessman, football club chairman, director and administrator from the
North West of England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,052,000 in 2011. It is the th ...
. He was one of the founding architects of the
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 ...
and Life Vice President of
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
.
Business
White and Swales
White and Swales Ltd was founded in
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
by Noel White and
Peter Swales
Peter Swales (25 December 1932 – 2 May 1996) was a businessman who served as the chairman of Manchester City F.C. from 1973 until 1993. He held a variety of prominent positions within the game of football, including Chairman of The Football ...
in 1955.
They initially sold
Sheet Music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
,
Records,
Musical Instruments
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
and Accessories before moving into the flourishing market of television rentals.
They had by this time opened a total 15 branches in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
and South
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
.
Bowdon Hotel
Following the sale of White and Swales, Noel moved on to run and own the
Bowdon Hotel in
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
. Following major extensions and improvements this brought the hotel a 3 star rating which it still has.
White went on to sell the Bowdon Hotel in 1986.
It is currently operated under the
Mercure
Mercure may refer to:
* MERCURE, an atmospheric dispersion modelling CFD code developed by Électricité de France
* Mercure Hotels, a chain of hotels run by Accor
* French ship Mercure (1783), French ship ''Mercure'' (1783)
* Dassault Mercure, a ...
Hotels banner.
Football
Altrincham F.C.
Noel White first came to football prominence, when he and fellow businessman,
Peter Swales
Peter Swales (25 December 1932 – 2 May 1996) was a businessman who served as the chairman of Manchester City F.C. from 1973 until 1993. He held a variety of prominent positions within the game of football, including Chairman of The Football ...
took over
Altrincham Football Club in February 1961. At the time
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is a professional football club based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of and play at Moss Lane.
History
Altrincham was established by ...
were struggling at the foot of The
Cheshire County Football League and on the verge of bankruptcy. White and Swales had read a passionate letter in the local newspaper from 11-year-old Brian Lomax. White was Vice-Chairman of
Altrincham F.C until 1967, when
Peter Swales
Peter Swales (25 December 1932 – 2 May 1996) was a businessman who served as the chairman of Manchester City F.C. from 1973 until 1993. He held a variety of prominent positions within the game of football, including Chairman of The Football ...
moved on to become a director at
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club are an England, English association football, football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English football. Fo ...
White then became Chairman of
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is a professional football club based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of and play at Moss Lane.
History
Altrincham was established by ...
for 19 years before becoming a director of
Liverpool Football Club
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
in 1986. During his tenure as Chairman, he and his board turned Altrincham from nobodies into one of the leading clubs outside
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
. Upon leaving
Altrincham F.C.
Altrincham Football Club is a professional football club based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1891 and nicknamed "the Robins", they are currently members of and play at Moss Lane.
History
Altrincham was established by ...
in 1986 White was appointed club President a position he still holds. He is also President of the
Evo Stik Northern Premier League and a life member of
The Football Conference.
Liverpool F.C.
White joined
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
in March 1986 and was a director for over 20 years, including a spell as Chairman from 1990 until 1991. In October 2006, White gave an anonymous interview to the ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'', where he accused manager Rafael Benítez of spending money the club could not afford, and that it was time for the board to review taking control. This ended a long association with the club of which he was briefly Chairman.
The F.A Premier League
During his Chairmanship of
Liverpool F.C
Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...
, Noel White, along with
Martin Edwards
Charles Martin Edwards (born 24 July 1945) is the former chairman of Manchester United, a position he held from 1980 until 2002. He now holds the position of honorary life president at the club and Director of Inview Technology Ltd.
Biography
...
,
David Dein
David Barry Dein (b. 7 September 1943) is a British businessman, known for being a former co-owner and vice-chairman of Arsenal Football Club, and former vice-chairman of the Football Association.
Dein was vice-chairman of Arsenal between 198 ...
,
Irving Scholar
Irving Alan Scholar (born November 1947) is a property developer and former investor in football clubs, most noted for his time as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur and as a director of Nottingham Forest.
As chairman of Tottenham, Scholar became know ...
and
Philip Carter became one of the five founding architects of the
F.A. 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 ...
. In June 2011, on the twentieth anniversary of the "Founder Members Agreement" of the
F.A. 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 ...
, the architects were presented with a framed testimonial containing the crests of the forty-five clubs that have played in the competition since its inception in 1992.
The Football Association
White's initial involvement with
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
began in 1976 when he was elected as a council member representing full member clubs in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
and
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
. White was instrumental in helping introduce automatic promotion and relegation with the Football League a decade later. White was elected to the
F.A. International Committee in 1982 and was appointed Chairman in 1994. White was chairman of
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
's International Committee for 14 years until 2008. He was succeeded as Chairman by
Sir Dave Richards. White was elected as Life Vice President of
The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
in 2002.
UEFA
White was appointed Vice-Chairman of the
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
National Team Committee in 2002 and served for 4 years in that position.
The
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
National Team Committee represents European Nations which play in European Competitions at Senior and Under-21 level.
[http://www.lusa.u-net.com/alt0203h.htm]
Awards
In June 2013 Noel White was awarded a
British Empire Medal
The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...
for services to football as part of the
Queen's birthday honours list
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...
.
Death
On 30 June 2019, White died, following a long illness.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Noel
1929 births
2019 deaths
Liverpool F.C. chairmen and investors
English football chairmen and investors
20th-century English businesspeople
Recipients of the British Empire Medal