Martin Cearns

Martin Cearns
Born	April 1945
Occupation	Chairman, West Ham United
Parent(s)	Leonard /

Martin William Cearns (born April 1945) ^[1] is a former chairman of English football club West Ham United.

A bank manager with Barclays Bank, Cearns became a board member with West Ham taking over the chairmanship in 1990 from his father, Len Cearns. He held the position until 1992 when it was taken over by Terry Brown.^[2] Although no longer chairman, Cearns remained on the board until 1 December 2006 when he resigned when the club was sold to Icelandic billionaire, Björgólfur Guðmundsson for £85m.^[3][4][5][6] As part of the takeover he made £7.76m from the sale of his 1,844,000 shares in West Ham.^[7] Cearns' time at West Ham is remembered for his advocacy, with Peter Storrie, of the Hammers Bond scheme, a financial bond which West Ham fans would have been forced to buy before being allowed to purchase a season ticket. The proposal led to demonstrations both inside and outside West Ham's ground and to pitch invasions.^{[1] [8][9]}

References

1. "MARTIN WILLIAM CEARNS". Companiesintheuk.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
2. May, John. "Who IS Terence Brown?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
3. "Martin William Cearns". Company-director-check-co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
4. Atwal, June (27 June 2011). "WW1 memoir gives window on history". www.newhamrecorder.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
5. "Eggert: Pardew can bring the good times back to Upton Park". www.dailymail.co.uk. 21 November 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
6. Belton, Brian (2008). Brown Out. London: Pennant Books. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-906015-11-4.
7. Conn, David (22 November 2006). "Brown cashes in on overseas gold rush". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
8. Pierson, Mark (1997-01-27). "Football: West Ham fear FA censure over pitch invasion". London: Independent. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
9. "League Honour Martin Cearns". www.whufc.com. Retrieved 19 January 2013.