CHAIRMAN Bob Cooper
informed colleagues at the Board meeting on 23rd May 2002 that
he was standing down as Chairman and Director of Norwich City
Football Club with immediate effect.The Chairman told the Board
that he had made his decision in January, however he had decided
that the decision should be kept in the strictest of confidence
until the season was over. The Chairman wanted Nigel
Worthington and the team to have every opportunity to succeed
this season.
The Chairman said: "When I left Sainsbury's almost 4 years
ago I knew I wanted to do a range of things in my life. My love
for football and my friendship with Delia and Michael brought
me to Norwich. They wanted me to help them bring the Club out
of a difficult period of decline and re-establish itself as a
successful Club again. It was a difficult task and it has taken
longer than I expected.
"However, as everyone can now see, Norwich City is on the
up again. The whole nation saw in the Play-Off Final what a vibrant
and good team Norwich now have with Nigel
Worthington, its outstanding young Manager.It was clear when
I arrived that the team needed major surgery. This needed time
and money. The money to rebuild the team came from the sale of
Craig Bellamy and others. The careful
accumulation of good players at bargain prices and the appointment
of Nigel Worthington and Doug
Livermore gave us a team to make it happen.
"We also invested in our youth and retained our status as
an Academy. The new indoor playing area is now ready. Young players
are now emerging for the 1st team squad and behind them there
are a growing number of high quality players and nearly all of
them are from Norfolk.
"The Club is financially much healthier and this year will
show, for the first time in many years, a healthy financial result
achieved without the need to sell players and with no overdraft
at the end of the year. The plans for the development of the land
around the ground, including the new South Stand, are sensible
and well thought through. The one dark spot on the horizon is
the loss of income from ITV Digital. We have gone some way to
cover this loss with Birmingham's share of the gate money at Cardiff
and other initiatives we have taken. It is my intention to stay
on the Commercial Committee of the Football League whilst the
situation with Carlton and Granada is resolved. It is a matter
I feel strongly about and I will do all I can do to protect the
interests of Norwich City and all other Nationwide League Clubs
.
"It is a new time for me with new challenges. I take great
pride in my time at Norwich City and I believe under my Chairmanship
that Norwich City FC has come through a difficult time and has
now emerged as a happy and optimistic Club again. I recently received
a letter that had this as its final line: 'Best wishes - and congratulations
on putting the smile back on the faces of so many Canary fans.'
If I have achieved that then that makes me a very happy man."
Bob first became a director at Carrow Road in June 1998. He was
formerly a main Board Director of Sainsbury. He is a Director
of New Crane Publishing, NCFC (Holdings) Ltd and EventGuard Limited.
Bob's replacement as
Chairman is Director Roger Munby.
.
