Jeremy Keith
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"Big" Jeremy Keith became chief executive of Derby County after the takeover of the football club in 2003. He had previously been a director at Portsmouth and had a financial role at Leeds United. He described himself as a business doctor. Via parent companies, Jeremy owned 33% of the club after Derby County Limited went into liquidation, to the dismay of many supporters who were shareholders.
Mr. Keith announced in January 2004 that the Fife-based ex-agent Murdo Mackay, an associate of chairman and majority owner John Sleightholme was helping the club with football matters, a role which was flexible and not formalised.
The following month, in a forum with the supporters' trust, RamsTrust, he revealed that the club had been purchased for "three pounds". Jeremy found some of the questions hostile and pondered on what the purpose of the trust was.
[edit] Accounts For June 2003
The balance sheet issued on the same day showed that the club were £34M in debt after losses of £28M in the two years up to June 2003. The accounts had been late since the auditors were not satisfied that the club was financially viable prior to the restructuring of debts and a 70% reduction in players' wages. At this stage, Andrew Mackenzie, financial director from the previous loss-making regime, was invited onto the board. Mr. Mackenzie was not responsible for the debts and had been giving warnings saying "Guys, we have a problem", quoting Mr. Keith. Derby County was now owned by a new parent, Sharmine Ltd. According to the chief executive, "the club has paid the price for living the dream" and "we intend to run the club on a sound financial basis".
[edit] Murdo Mackay Promoted
The following month, Mr. Keith announced that Murdo Mackay had become Director of Football, his pay being performance-related. "Murdo has been working closely with manager George Burley and chief scout Simon Hunt on the playing side."
[edit] Relegation Avoided
Derby County narrowly avoided relegation to the third tier of English football in May 2004, followed by a trip to China by Keith, Mackay and Steve Harding. The supporters backed the club by buying 13,000 season tickets before the end of May. Keith appointed Marion Taylor as the club's secretary shortly before her marriage to Rams legend, Ted McMinn.
[edit] The Four Surprises
In September, it was that revealed the club were still paying for ex-player Fabrizio Ravanelli, who had earned £40,000 per week. "We've had our share of surprises", explained Jeremy. An out-of-court settlement was also agreed with former manager John Gregory. An expensive new public address system was required and there was an unknown "4th surprise". Shortly afterwards, following speculation, he assured supporters that he was there for the long haul and expected still to be at the club 10 years later.
[edit] Clough Mourned
However, on 21st October 2004, all the problems were temporarily laid to one side as Jeremy joined guests and supporters of Derby County and local rivals Nottingham Forest in a tribute to the life of Brian Clough at Pride Park Stadium.
[edit] The Kop
Jeremy mooted the idea of a "Kop end" at Pride Park to increase the atmosphere. The suggestion didn't progress very far due to policing considerations and the desire of home fans to engage in banter with visitors. Some fans thought it impossible to recreate the atmosphere on the Popside at the old Baseball Ground. Use of the word "Kop" showed that Jeremy was out of touch with Rams heritage.
[edit] Tom Huddlestone
As a transfer deadline approached in January 2005, Keith said "I can say to fans that the club is under no pressure from any quarter to sell players to reduce debts but we cannot prevent approaches and will consider them, as we are obliged to do so." The deadline passed and fans heaved a sigh of relief. Shortly after, it was announced that 18-year-old star Tom Huddlestone was joining Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the season. It was later revealed that the sale was indeed necessary for financial reasons. Keith later confirmed at a fans forum that the comments about the club's need to sell, were part of a negotiaion strategy.
[edit] Newspaper Reports
Despite the high debts, the team were doing well and challenging for a place in the play-offs to reach the Premiership. On 9th April 2005, reports in The Independent and the Derby Evening Telegraph described the complex financial set-up of the club, its parent Sharmine being owned by companies in Belize and the British Virgin Islands. It was also claimed that fraudster Michael Hunt was connected to the ABC Corporation of Panama who had loaned the club £15M at high interest rates, mortgaged against Pride Park Stadium. Directors of the club later clrified that Hunt has no involvement with the loan advanced.
[edit] Play-offs But Burley Leaves
Derby had a very successful season and finished 4th in the Football League Championship but failed to progress in the play-offs, losing to Preston North End. The prospect of Premiership riches and debt relief was over for the chief executive. There were more difficulties as the accounts for the previous year were overdue and then manager George Burley resigned unexpectedly after disputes with director of football Murdo Mackay.
[edit] New Manager
On 24th June 2005, Jeremy held a press conference to introduce the new team manger, Phil Brown, who was previously the assistant at Bolton Wanderers.
[edit] Accounts For June 2004
The accounts were publicised on Saturday 16th July 2006. There was a small operating profit but, after other costs were accounted for, the debt rose by £2.6M to £38.7M. Jeremy's remuneration of £45,000 was paid via his company Seabird.
[edit] Rasiak Sold
Polish international Grzegorz Rasiak was sold to Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur on the transfer deadline, 31st August 2005, for an undisclosed fee. The move was completed after the transfer window closed for Football League clubs, leaving the squad short in numbers.
Jeremy Keith was criticised on Radio Derby by Murdo Mackay who said "Jeremy Keith wants to be heavily involved on the football side but you do not need two directors of football. Jeremy is a talented individual but I don't think his talents lie in football". Mr Mackay was later reprimanded for these remarks.
BBC Radio Derby received a leaked email which revealed that the sale of Rasiak was forced by pressure from the Co-operative Bank. Jeremy Keith and chairman John Sleightholme had both denied that the sale was due to financial pressure but claimed Rasiak wanted to leave. Previous promises to the bank to raise money had not been kept - a tax scheme, players' wage budget and £2M for the sale of players the previous year. Jeremy continued to deny that the bank had told the club to sell Rasiak. He said, "It made no business sense for the board of Derby to tell the world before 31 August that we needed to raise £1m."
[edit] Investment Sought
By December 2005, Jeremy was seeking new investment into the club. He admitted that his original aims of financial gain had been transplanted by his affection for the club. "I thought I'd go in there, turn it around, get it promoted and sell it for a fortune. But I've fallen in love with the train set."
[edit] Phil Brown Sacked
On 30th January 2006, after a run of bad results, the Derby County board decided to dismiss the manager, Phil Brown, placing youth team coach Terry Westley in temporary control. Commenting, Jeremy said "The decision had to be made. We have given support to the football department. It was a board appointment and we have to accept some responsibility."
[edit] Peter Gadsby In - Jeremy Keith Out
A deal was finally reached in the early hours of Saturday, 29th April 2006, when a new board led by local businessman Peter Gadsby took over at Derby County. A large percentage of supporters had wanted to see this takeover materialise for many months and the news was met with great jubilation. A rival bid from the London-based hedge fund, Sisu Capital, had been thwarted. Keith wished the new board well When asked what he would be doing on the Sunday during Derby County's last match of the season. Keith simply replied, "Do the garden."
It was alledged that the debt had risen to £52million ( accounts are yet to be published). The consortium injected more than £20million, paid off the loan to the ABC Corporation and negotiated a deal over the remaining debt with the Co-operative Bank.
Jeremy was born in Jamaica to a Jamaican father and British mother and was raised in Montego Bay. He has an Australian wife and two daughters.
