Leighton Samuel
Encyclopedia
Leighton Samuel Welsh
businessman, and former owner of several sporting teams in South Wales.
In 1988, Samuel founded picture frame
manufacturer Décor Frame, now Dekor plc, in Bridgend
, South Wales
.
in the mid-1990s.
He attempted to merge them with Neath in 2002. Bridgend won the Welsh Championship in 2003.
In the summer of 2003, the Welsh Rugby Union
(WRU) voted to reduce the top tier of Welsh rugby union from nine clubs in the Celtic League
into five regions through a series of mergers. The new Celtic Warriors
officially represented the Mid-Glamorgan Valleys area, which in practice meant that they were a combination of Pontypridd RFC
and Bridgend RFC
with the two parent clubs continuing in the Welsh Premier Division. Games were to be rotated between Pontypridd's Sardis Road
and Bridgend's Brewery Field
.
In order to concentrate on the Celtic Warriors, Samuel decided to withdraw his financial backing of Bridgend RFC in March 2004. The original club was finally wound up by HM Revenue and Customs in 2006.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/grassroots/2006/09/28/sad-day-for-bridgend-91466-17838224/ Fans and businessmen of the area resurrected the team, naming it Bridgend Ravens as the name Bridgend RFC was still owned by Samuel.
Financial problems at Pontypridd RFC led to the sale of their half of the Warriors http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/5075414.stm to Leighton Samuel for £100,000; which he gifted to the WRU http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3722529.stm, his attempt to become sole owner of the club having been blocked by the WRU.http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/new-deal-offered-in-pontypridd-buyout-581246.html
Samuel's attempt to buy Sardis Road's ground lease in order to be an all-seater stadium for the Celtic Warriors was rejected by the Pontypridd's trustees.http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/49996.html Games were moved away from Sardis Road to Brewery Field on commercial grounds http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3269151.stm, which led to threats of legal action from Pontypridd Supporters Club.
Plans to merge Warriors with Cardiff Blues
collapsed when Cardiff Athletic Club, the largest shareholders in Cardiff RFC
made it clear they would not allow a combined side to use the Arms Park. The merger talks had attracted protests from both sets of fans. http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/51586.html
Trouble followed in the Spring and early Summer of 2004 where Leighton Samuel repeatedly threatened and revoked threats of selling the club http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/53681.html; one such instance went as far as Samuel accepting an offer from the WRU citing a lack of support from fans in the new Bridgend / Pontypridd region, before changing his mind.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3727511.stm This transaction was considered to be legally binding, and the Warriors became 100% owned by the WRU. On the advice of David Moffett
who cited spiralling debts, the club was dissolved with Leighton Samuel reportedly receiving £875,000 for his shares. http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/daily-mail-london-england-the/mi_8002/is_2004_Oct_29/celtic-tigers-roar-grave-rugby/ai_n37356332/
Samuel alleged that he only sold his share in the Warriors to the WRU because they agreed to keep the region going. The WRU denied this but Leighton Samuel took them to court claiming a misrepresentation of sale and loss of earnings from Brewery Field which he still owned. The WRU settled out of court. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/5411064.stm
who were playing in Welsh league division 1 with the ambition of promotion to the League of Wales
. However, they failed to win promotion and Samuel withdrew his support and the club were subsequently relegated down to Welsh Football League Division Three.
in 2004 to start up Celtic Crusaders rugby league
club in Bridgend, the only professional rugby league club in Wales. Celtic Crusaders were initially successful; winning promotion in their second season and being awarded a Super League licence in their third year.
Crusaders struggled on the field and only won three games all season. They were also investigated by the UK Borders Authority for employing six players illegally on working holiday and student visas.http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/09/celtic-crusaders-australian-players-visas The six players were later deported and the club was fined £5,000 after providing evidence that checks were made on five of the players before employing them.http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_5977024,00.html.
In February 2009, Samuel reaffirmed his continued interest in the club. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/7895955.stm He then sold Brewery Field
stadium in March 2009 and decided to relocate the club to Rodney Parade, Newport for two years whilst a suitable venue in Bridgend was constructed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8176113.stm
Leighton Samuel sold his interest in Crusaders to Wrexham Village in December 2009 and the club relocated to Wrexham in North Wales. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/wrexham-fc/2009/12/11/crusaders-move-to-wrexham-fc-s-racecourse-is-confirmed-55578-25373171/ Samuel claimed to have put £1.64 million into the club and that the club was relatively free of debt. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/rugby-league-news/2009/12/20/rugby-league-league-crusade-cost-me-1-6m-admits-samuels-91466-25431166/
Crusaders had a much better season finishing eighth in the Super League
table and making the play-offs but ran into financial problems at the end of the season. By August 2010, documents showed that there were 18 county court cases against Crusaders, the earliest being December 2006.http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2010/08/04/crusaders-battling-thousands-of-pounds-of-county-court-judgements-55578-26991665/ According to the Sun newspaper, Crusaders went into administration on 2 November 2010 after Leighton Samuel served a writ on the Welsh club for £360,000.http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/rugby_league/3208952/Writ-puts-Crusaders-intio-admin.html However, Leighton Samuel denied this in a statement to the BBC: "It's rubbish. It's absolute rubbish. It's news to me. I've not served a writ. There is toing and froing regarding the transfer of the business but I've taken no legal action".
The GMB Union stated that they were taking action on behalf of players over alleged missing pensions payments on 12 November 2010. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news//tm_headline=super-league-s-crusaders-go-into-administration%26method=full%26objectid=27647780%26siteid=55578-name_page.html By the end of November, Crusaders finally did go into administration with debts thought to amount to around £1.25 million, most of them inherited from their time in South Wales.http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/latest/2010/11/29/crusaders-talks-continue-115875-22750552/#ixzz16n1GTxBm
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
businessman, and former owner of several sporting teams in South Wales.
In 1988, Samuel founded picture frame
Picture frame
A picture frame is a decorative edging for a picture, such as a painting or photograph, intended to enhance it, make it easier to display, or protect it.-Construction:...
manufacturer Décor Frame, now Dekor plc, in Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
, South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
.
Bridgend RFC & Celtic Warriors
Samuel purchased Bridgend RFCBridgend RFC
Bridgend Ravens are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division...
in the mid-1990s.
He attempted to merge them with Neath in 2002. Bridgend won the Welsh Championship in 2003.
In the summer of 2003, the Welsh Rugby Union
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...
(WRU) voted to reduce the top tier of Welsh rugby union from nine clubs in the Celtic League
Celtic League (rugby union)
The Celtic League is an annual rugby union competition involving professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
into five regions through a series of mergers. The new Celtic Warriors
Celtic Warriors
The Celtic Warriors were a regional rugby union team from Wales, who played in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup between 2003 and 2004.-History:The Warriors were one of the five original regions of the Welsh Regional Rugby Era...
officially represented the Mid-Glamorgan Valleys area, which in practice meant that they were a combination of Pontypridd RFC
Pontypridd RFC
Pontypridd Rugby Football Club, known as Ponty, are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, currently playing in the British and Irish Cup, Principality Premiership, and are the current SWALEC Cup champions....
and Bridgend RFC
Bridgend RFC
Bridgend Ravens are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division...
with the two parent clubs continuing in the Welsh Premier Division. Games were to be rotated between Pontypridd's Sardis Road
Sardis Road
Sardis Road is a rugby union stadium situated in Pontypridd, Wales. It is home to the Principality Premiership team, Pontypridd RFC and previously the Celtic Warriors, the now defunct regional rugby union team...
and Bridgend's Brewery Field
Brewery Field
Brewery Field is a 8,000 capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales 1,100 of which is seated capacity...
.
In order to concentrate on the Celtic Warriors, Samuel decided to withdraw his financial backing of Bridgend RFC in March 2004. The original club was finally wound up by HM Revenue and Customs in 2006.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/grassroots/2006/09/28/sad-day-for-bridgend-91466-17838224/ Fans and businessmen of the area resurrected the team, naming it Bridgend Ravens as the name Bridgend RFC was still owned by Samuel.
Financial problems at Pontypridd RFC led to the sale of their half of the Warriors http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/5075414.stm to Leighton Samuel for £100,000; which he gifted to the WRU http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3722529.stm, his attempt to become sole owner of the club having been blocked by the WRU.http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-union/new-deal-offered-in-pontypridd-buyout-581246.html
Samuel's attempt to buy Sardis Road's ground lease in order to be an all-seater stadium for the Celtic Warriors was rejected by the Pontypridd's trustees.http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/49996.html Games were moved away from Sardis Road to Brewery Field on commercial grounds http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3269151.stm, which led to threats of legal action from Pontypridd Supporters Club.
Plans to merge Warriors with Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....
collapsed when Cardiff Athletic Club, the largest shareholders in Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...
made it clear they would not allow a combined side to use the Arms Park. The merger talks had attracted protests from both sets of fans. http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/51586.html
Trouble followed in the Spring and early Summer of 2004 where Leighton Samuel repeatedly threatened and revoked threats of selling the club http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/53681.html; one such instance went as far as Samuel accepting an offer from the WRU citing a lack of support from fans in the new Bridgend / Pontypridd region, before changing his mind.http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/3727511.stm This transaction was considered to be legally binding, and the Warriors became 100% owned by the WRU. On the advice of David Moffett
David Moffett
David Moffett is an executive businessman who was notably the Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union from 2002 until 2005 and Australia's National Rugby League from 1999 until 2001.-Biography:...
who cited spiralling debts, the club was dissolved with Leighton Samuel reportedly receiving £875,000 for his shares. http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/daily-mail-london-england-the/mi_8002/is_2004_Oct_29/celtic-tigers-roar-grave-rugby/ai_n37356332/
Samuel alleged that he only sold his share in the Warriors to the WRU because they agreed to keep the region going. The WRU denied this but Leighton Samuel took them to court claiming a misrepresentation of sale and loss of earnings from Brewery Field which he still owned. The WRU settled out of court. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/5411064.stm
Pontypridd Town AFC
Samuel invested in Pontypridd Town A.F.C.Pontypridd Town A.F.C.
Pontypridd Town AFC is a Welsh football club, based in the town of Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan. The club was formed in 1992 after merging with another team, Ynysybwl...
who were playing in Welsh league division 1 with the ambition of promotion to the League of Wales
League of Wales
The Welsh Premier League is the national football league for Wales. It has both Professional and Semi-Professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales, but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal...
. However, they failed to win promotion and Samuel withdrew his support and the club were subsequently relegated down to Welsh Football League Division Three.
Celtic Crusaders
Samuel was approached by the Rugby Football LeagueRugby Football League
The Rugby Football League is the governing body for professional rugby league football in England. Based at Red Hall in Leeds, it administers the England national rugby league team, the Challenge Cup, Super League and the Rugby League Championships...
in 2004 to start up Celtic Crusaders rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
club in Bridgend, the only professional rugby league club in Wales. Celtic Crusaders were initially successful; winning promotion in their second season and being awarded a Super League licence in their third year.
Crusaders struggled on the field and only won three games all season. They were also investigated by the UK Borders Authority for employing six players illegally on working holiday and student visas.http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/jul/09/celtic-crusaders-australian-players-visas The six players were later deported and the club was fined £5,000 after providing evidence that checks were made on five of the players before employing them.http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12196_5977024,00.html.
In February 2009, Samuel reaffirmed his continued interest in the club. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/7895955.stm He then sold Brewery Field
Brewery Field
Brewery Field is a 8,000 capacity sports stadium in Bridgend, Wales 1,100 of which is seated capacity...
stadium in March 2009 and decided to relocate the club to Rodney Parade, Newport for two years whilst a suitable venue in Bridgend was constructed. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/super_league/celtic_crusaders/8176113.stm
Leighton Samuel sold his interest in Crusaders to Wrexham Village in December 2009 and the club relocated to Wrexham in North Wales. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/sport-news/wrexham-fc/2009/12/11/crusaders-move-to-wrexham-fc-s-racecourse-is-confirmed-55578-25373171/ Samuel claimed to have put £1.64 million into the club and that the club was relatively free of debt. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/rugby-league-news/2009/12/20/rugby-league-league-crusade-cost-me-1-6m-admits-samuels-91466-25431166/
Crusaders had a much better season finishing eighth in the Super League
Super League
Super League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...
table and making the play-offs but ran into financial problems at the end of the season. By August 2010, documents showed that there were 18 county court cases against Crusaders, the earliest being December 2006.http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2010/08/04/crusaders-battling-thousands-of-pounds-of-county-court-judgements-55578-26991665/ According to the Sun newspaper, Crusaders went into administration on 2 November 2010 after Leighton Samuel served a writ on the Welsh club for £360,000.http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/rugby_league/3208952/Writ-puts-Crusaders-intio-admin.html However, Leighton Samuel denied this in a statement to the BBC: "It's rubbish. It's absolute rubbish. It's news to me. I've not served a writ. There is toing and froing regarding the transfer of the business but I've taken no legal action".
The GMB Union stated that they were taking action on behalf of players over alleged missing pensions payments on 12 November 2010. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news//tm_headline=super-league-s-crusaders-go-into-administration%26method=full%26objectid=27647780%26siteid=55578-name_page.html By the end of November, Crusaders finally did go into administration with debts thought to amount to around £1.25 million, most of them inherited from their time in South Wales.http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/latest/2010/11/29/crusaders-talks-continue-115875-22750552/#ixzz16n1GTxBm