Millwall hit the jackpot!

By Stephen 18
February 10 2005

Stephen Eighteen reports on the forthcoming appointment of Jeff Burnige as chairman of Millwall Football Club. The decision has been widely hailed as a good move as the Southwark News reporter admits.

The most ridiculous thing about the fanfare that has greeted Jeff Burnige's appointment as Millwall chairman was that nobody saw it coming.

"Turn for the better", "His blood is as blue as the fans", "He knows how we tick because he is one of us"; were just a sample of the glowing recommendations that endorsed the announcement on Monday morning that Burnige would succeed Theo Paphitis at the end of the season.

Yet where was Jeff's name when an A to Z of prospective chairmen was being drawn up?
Speculation ranged right across the football world from Ken Bates, Lonestar Partners, Peter Ridsdale, Gianluca Vialli and even manager Dennis Wise himself, to board members Reg Burr and Peter Mead.

Some quarters could look no further than a fruitless search forcing Paphitis to change his mind and indeed continuing at the helm - albeit on a temporary basis.

The rumours were endless and the talk was never-ending. So when the news came, if you'll excuse the pun, totally out of the blue, it was a source of much embarrassment that few had even considered Burnige as being the next man to lead Millwall Football Club.

Yet if you looked close enough, the hints were there.

It is impossible to think of the current board without it invoking the visual picture of Burnige having his say during high level talks.

It is unfathomable to consider going to a home game without the image of Burnige chatting to anybody and everybody in the executive bar - regardless of whether they were fans in need of a word or family members of a new signing searching for someone to help them settle in.

Like a butterfly floating aimlessly between multi-millionaire members of the Den hierarchy and pauper stricken youngsters without enough money to even afford a Lions shirt, he would talk to them like they were all from the same family. Lions have pride, not prejudice, you see.

The thought of Burnige not being at every away match, whether he be in the Director's Box or on the visiting terrace as he has so often, is hard to imagine.

The idea that out there sits another person with as much knowledge about the Lions, with an equalled passion to make Millwall a success and with the same desire to do the best for this club, which is his club, than Burnige, is even more far-fetched.
For Christ's sake, he even mentioned in the executive lounge on Saturday night that an announcement would be made on Monday regarding the new chairman.

And still his name did not come up when we all discussed who would be the new supremo.

Because unfortunately, it all boils down to one thing. Money.

You see, nobody in this relentless capitalist driven country we live in can be anybody unless they have some cash behind them.

Authority is seemingly only ever given to those who have bank accounts with eight figures to brag about.

And nowhere is this more prevalent than in football. I told some non-Millwall supporting friends that Burnige had taken over at the Den, and their first question was: "Is he loaded?"

Oh, that's alright then. As long as he can pay £20,000 per week to an Algerian international midfielder, who cares if he makes supporters pay a fortune to see the club they've followed all their life?

Why should anyone bother if he speaks a totally different language or wants to change the name of the stadium to fit in with the demands of corporate hospitality?

How about we get in a property tycoon who wants to use Millwall as a prime piece of land within spitting distance of central London to build a gated hotel and leisure complex adjacent to the stadium for specific 'members' only. After all, he is loaded right?

Of course money is important. Investment and ambition are forever the buzzwords that as research tells us; tend to be followed by that other nice word, success.

But it should not have made us ignorant to the point where we overlooked the fact that the best man for the job was within touching distance of all of us.

In financial terms, Burnige is no Roman Abramovich. He is no Theo Paphitis either.
But PLCs demand a less dictatorial style of financial leadership than a non-floated company, and regardless, there is still ample potential for money to be made and then invested.

The club has a great catchment area yet the Den never fills up.

The club has its own unique brand that is privately envied around the country, yet is seldom seen in 'non-Millwall' areas.

The Lions were FA Cup finalists last season, were in Europe this campaign, and have become regular members of England's top 30 highest-positioned sides.

So don't tell me that it is not there to be exploited. Paphitis will still be available as a "non-executive" director for Burnige to consult, and he can be of financial guidance should he be required.

In his latter years, Paphitis was unable to plough as much of his time into the club to hone into the untapped riches that are out there to be gained.

Now he has found a devoted, loyal man with a more easy-going diary to take on the job with all the passion and desire you would expect from a true Millwall fan.

Looks like we all forgot to check if it was possible for that fruit machine in the local pub to pay out a jackpot!