Noel White

For the Australian rugby league footballer, see Noel White (rugby league).

Noel White (born December 1929) is a retired businessman & football club director & administrator from the North West of England. He was one of the founding architects of The F.A. Premier League & Chairman of The Football Association’s International Committee from 1994-2008.

Business

Accountancy Trained in a Manchester Chartered Accountants Practice (interrupted by 2 years National Service with R.A.M.C.) it was there where he met Peter Swales. In January 1955 they opened the first White & Swales shop at 2 Cross Street Altrincham (Rent £2 per week) selling Records, Sheet Music, Musical Instruments and Accessories. These premises were extended twice before they opened their second shop in Stockport, from where they first commenced selling and renting Television sets and Domestic Appliances. In 1968 they sold White & Swales Ltd which was then trading from 15 Shops in North Cheshire and South Manchester with a Head Office and Maintenance Department in Hale, to Thorn Electrical Industries. Noel moved to run the Bowdon Hotel, Altrincham where both he and Peter had bought an earlier interest. In 1969 Noel became the sole owner and commenced the major extensions and improvements, which brought 3 Star appointments from the Hotel Associations and Egon Ronay Recommendations for the 96 seater Restaurant. In 1986 Noel sold the Bowdon Hotel to Frames Tours Ltd, together with Planning Permission for further expansion on adjoining properties, which had been previously acquired. The business now trades under the “Mercure” banner, part of the Accor French Hotel Group.

Football

Altrincham F.C.

Noel White first came to football prominence, when he & fellow businessman, Peter Swales, took over Altrincham F.C. in February 1961.Altrincham were struggling near the foot of The Cheshire League & on the verge of bankruptcy. Vice-Chairman until 1966, when Peter Swales moved on to become a director of Manchester City F.C., White was Chairman for 20 years, before becoming a director of Liverpool F.C. in 1986.During his tenure as Chairman, Altrincham were Champions in each of the first two seasons of The Alliance Premier League (1979-80 & 1980-81)….now The Blue Square Bet Premier….. & missed out on being voted into the Football League in June 1980, when they were beaten by a single vote by Rochdale, who were re-elected. During the 1970’s & early 1980’s, Altrincham established a fearsome reputation as F.A. Cup Giant Killers & created a record for a non-league club by becoming the first club to reach the F.A. Cup 3rd Round in four consecutive seasons (1978-9 to 1981-2).They are still the only club, outside The Football League, to have achieved this. In January 1986, they reached the 4th Round, having beaten 1st Division Birmingham City at St. Andrews. White has been President of The Northern Premier League since 1980. He was a prime mover in the creation of The Football Conference in 1979 & became its first Vice Chairman in the same year. He is a Life Member of The Football Conference. White is The President of Altrincham F.C.

Liverpool F.C.

At the invitation of the then Chairman, John Smith, who was looking to increase the level of commercial business acumen within his board, Noel White joined Liverpool in March 1986 & was a director for over twenty years, including a spell as Chairman in 1990-91. He took the lead in the commencement of major ground improvements at Anfield, with the extension & re-design of the Kemlyn Road stand, which incorporated 30 Hospitality Private Boxes, the first ever at Anfield. He pursued the return of Liverpool, following the ban on English clubs from European competitions. He stepped down from the board in October 2006 after confirming that he was the unnamed director, who had given an anonymous interview to a Daily Mirror journalist, which questioned manager Rafa Benitez’s transfer dealings & selection policy, in the wake of a defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United.

The Football Association

White’s initial involvement with The Football Association, was in becoming a Council Member in 1976……a role that he carried out for twenty years, before becoming Vice President of The Football Association (1996-2002). He became a member of The Football Association’s International Committee from 1982 & having carried out the role of Vice-Chairman (1990-1994), was appointed its Chairman in 1994.He was Chairman for fourteen years, before retiring on age in 2008.One of his main roles in this position was selecting the manager of England’s International Team & his spectrum of involvement in this arena started with the dismissal of Graham Taylor & ended following the appointment of the current England manager, Fabio Capello. In the interim period the England managers were Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, Howard Wilkinson, Kevin Keegan, Peter Taylor, Sven Goran Eriksson & Steve McClaren. He is a Life Vice-President of The Football Association & still sits on The F.A. Protocol Committee, attending Council Meetings & its A.G.M.

The F.A.Premier League

During his Chairmanship of Liverpool F.C., Noel White, along with Martin Edwards (Manchester United F.C.), David Dein (Arsenal F.C.), Irving Scholar (Tottenham Hotspur F.C.) & Philip Carter (Everton F.C.) became one of the five founding architects of F.A. Premier League. In June 2011, on the twentieth anniversary of the ‘Founder Members Agreement’ of the F.A. Premier League, White was presented with a framed testimonial containing the crests of the forty five, eternally grateful, clubs that have played in the competition since its inception in 1992.

UEFA

In 2003, White was appointed Joint Vice Chairman of The UEFA National Team Committee that represents European Nations which play in European Competitions at Senior & Under 21 level. He retired, on age, from this position in 2006.

References

External links

• Bio at ZoomInfo

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Name	White, Noel
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Date of birth	1930
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