Sam Hammam - Wimbledon

Wimbledon

Originally moving to the area due to being a keen tennis fan, Hammam became involved in football by buying £40,000 worth of shares at Wimbledon in two years. Hammam was in charge of the unfashionable South London club during its meteoric and record-breaking rise through the football league to the top flight and the infamous 1988 FA cup victory.

While the club experienced on-field success during Hammam's tenure as Chairman, the situation off the pitch was more controversial. Hours after the club's FA Cup final victory, Hammam announced that the entire first-team was up for sale. Hammam fostered the "Crazy Gang" image at the club, encouraging bizarre rewards and initiation ceremonies for new players. Hammam pledged to buy leading striker Dean Holdsworth a camel should he score 20 goals in a season, while at his first day at the club record signing John Hartson had his kit set on fire by his new team mates. These eccentricities, led to him being dubbed "Sam the Sham" by Wimbledon supporters.

Hammam had arranged for ownership of the club's Plough Lane home ground to be held by a private company, of which Hammam himself was a director. In 1990, before Wimbledon had moved out of their ground to groundshare at Selhurst Park with local rivals Crystal Palace, Hammam bought out a covenant held on the ground by the Council that required it to be retained for sporting use. Once this was removed, Hammam went on to sell the site to supermarket giants Safeway, for a substantial profit, leaving the club without a home ground.

Hammam was subsequently unsuccessful with his initial proposals for the club to relocate to, among other places, Dublin, Cardiff, and Milton Keynes, and eventually sold his stake in the homeless club to two Norwegian businessmen for a substantial fortune, reported at around £30 million. However, it was his sale of the club's home ground which gave subsequent owners a chance to re-ignite the relocation of the club to Milton Keynes.