Norman Smurthwaite

Quick Facts

Full Name	Norman Smurthwaite
Occupation	Engineer
Date Of Birth	Aug 8, 1960(1960-08-08)
Age	64
Birthplace	England
Country	United Kingdom
Horoscope	Leo

Norman Smurthwaite Biography

Norman Smurthwaite is one of the most popular and richest Engineer who was born on August 8, 1960 in England, United Kingdom. Norman Smurthwaite (born 8 August 1960) is an English businessman and former chairman of the football club.

In October 2013, Smurthwaite controversially barred local publication The Sentinel from all press events following his disapproval of the newspaper’s coverage of a long delay in distributing specially designed third-kit shirts for fans who had paid for the merchandise in May. Smurthwaite replied by saying that the newspaper was prohibited from contacting him directly to discuss the report, not the media team at the club in addition, he said he was dissatisfied by the Sentinel reporter for trying to relay information that Smurthwaite disclosed in confidence to the journalist “in confidence”. The worst part was that in December the month that The Sunday People revealed that Smurthwaite sent agents an email in protest of their finances. The manager later released an announcement that said the wage bill budget that was set by the club during the summer was too ambitious and the club was forced to cover the PS1 million deficit from his own pockets. The main concern was about the future the manager Micky Adams and the apparent inability of Smurthwaite to provide his contract, despite the good performances on the field when the manager’s contract was close to expiring at the close of the season. Once it was announced that a contract would be offered, Adams declared”I’m not sure if he’s interested. “He has talked about it, now he has to deliver. I have never expressed a desire to leave. If everything is right I don’t see there being a problem, but once again Norman is talking about things instead of doing things.”

PVFC Limited, the club’s holding company, was hit with a winding-up order by HM Revenue and Customs in July 2014; Smurthwaite insisted this would not affect the club and that a funding error caused the problem and expected the order to be withdrawn. Smurthwaite continued to effect changes at the club, controversially axing the system of door-to-door lottery collectors and banishing the Port Vale Community Trust out of Vale Park. Smurthwaite invested £500,000 into the playing budget in order to help Micky Adams strengthen the squad. Despite not wanting him to resign, once Adams left the club Smurthwaite initiated a policy of experimenting with young players in the hope of turning a profit from player sales in the future. He appointed Adams’s former assistant Rob Page as first team manager in October. He later claimed that he had considered appointing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as manager, but decided against it partly because he believed that a racist minority of the club’s supporters would make appointing a black manager a bad idea. Smurthwaite caused controversy by telling a reporter that supporters who only attended away matches (due partly to Vale Park’s high ticket costs) “disgusted” him and that they should “go and support another club”. In February, the home game with Doncaster Rovers was put into doubt after Smurthwaite refused to pay extra policing costs that Staffordshire Police had demanded following intelligence that there would be troublemakers instigating violence at the game. Smurthwaite denied Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis’s claim that Smurthwaite threatened to close the club down during the dispute, but retracted his threat to bar police officers from entering the ground during the match. He further had to deny claims that he was picking the team, stating that first team matters were purely down to Rob Page. In April 2015 an email from his account was sent to a group of supporters stating that he wished to sell the club, though he denied sending the email, claiming that he had been hacked.

Smurthwaite was rumoured to have planned to sack Page live on BT Sport if the club lost an FA Cup First Round replay to Maidenhead United, though he dismissed the rumour as untrue. There was controversy however following the club’s defeat to mid-table League Two side Exeter City in the Second Round on 6 December 2015, after which Smurthwaite stated he felt “humiliated, ashamed and embarrassed” and said that plans to sign a striker in the January transfer window would be scrapped. The following day he officially put the club up for sale. He set an asking price of £4.25 million, stating “I have never lost money on a transaction in my adult life and I am not starting now”. He continued to reveal that he had been physically assaulted by three Vale supporters in April 2014, though Staffordshire Police could find no record of Smurthwaite’s complaint. He also admitted that he had been planning on buying Torquay United before being told by the Football League that he would not be allowed to own two clubs. He was also criticised by Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion organisation, after admitting that he had denied Hasselbaink the opportunity of being Port Vale manager due to his concern that a black manager would be abused by some supporters. Some of the club’s biggest name players rejected new contract offers and left Port Vale after Northampton Town paid compensation to Port Vale to sign Page as manager in May 2016; Smurthwaite claimed that he purposely set a low wage budget so as to drive Page and the players out of the club, thereby leaving room in the 2016–17 budget for a new manager to sign his own players.

Smurthwaite has rekindled his dispute over The Sentinel by banning the publication from attending the press conference, where Page’s successor Page was announced. After appointing Portuguese director Bruno Ribeiro, the club’s first manager outside of Britain Smurthwaite said: “It has been a long, extensive process but I’m absolutely certain we have the right man for the job.” Smurthwaite also increased the budget of the club to permit over ten fresh players, mostly from abroad and said that he was anticipating Vale to compete for the top six spots and advised his staff that he’d take action to implement “plan B” if the club did not make it to the top six at the time Christmas rolls around. With Vale being ranked 17th at Christmas, Smurthwaite stated that “Plan B” was in effect, meaning it was time to sign “seasoned, higher grade” players. He also admitted that the feeling of being “a little bit hoodwinked” since his colleagues in his team (Jose Mourinho Aitor Karanka and Carlos Carvalhal) had provided the club with glowing testimonials but they have yet to loan any players to Vale. Ribeiro quit in his role as the manager at Port Vale on 26 December the following day, just hours after seeing his team lose 1-0 home against Walsall and Smurthwaite appointed Michael Brown in temporary charge. He also appointed Colin Garlick as the club’s CEO and in January declared his position as “I’m only really involved now when it comes to prising open the sweetie jar for the money”. Then, two months later, Smurthwaite accessed the OneValeFan fan site to solicit fans to decide if they should transfer the club’s assets to any of the hedge funds, which he claimed had met his cost for the team. He then issued an apology statement at his decision select Ribeiro and expressed his regret over his own efforts to communicate with supporters as well as “keyboard warriors” over social media. Brown was appointed caretaker-manager throughout the campaign, however he was not able to prevent the club from being relegated back to League Two. Smurthwaite made an apology on May 2 apologized for the relegation and also announced that he was stepping off as chairman and not attend any games in his bid to sell the club. A few days later, he was presented with an offer for PS1.25 million from the club. This was the same amount as the price he originally paid for the club in 2012. Another consortium made the same offer however Smurthwaite turned down both bids.

Norman Smurthwaite Net Worth

Norman Smurthwaite is one of the richest Engineer from United Kingdom. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Norman Smurthwaite 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Smurthwaite was born at Radford, Coventry, and purchased his first home in the region at seventeen after receiving compensation for an industrial accident that occurred at Dunlop at the time of 1977. He graduated as an engineer and was able to inherit an engineering company located in Holbrooks aged 21 by a relative who was an important “father figure” to him. He sold the company within two years and relocated to Nottingham and bought an estate agent chain which he later sold for the Halifax. He later invested in several properties before he retired at fifty. His family and father originate from the Sunderland region. He operated a company located in North East between 1999 and 2007. North East between 1999 and 2007 and was an owner of a season ticket at Sunderland during seven years.

Smurthwaite made up the part of the investor team, which was headed by Paul Wildes, that took Port Vale out of administration in November 2012. Following the promotion of the club from League Two to League One was secured, Smurthwaite commented the following “I’ve never had any hobbies to speak of, but buying Port Vale has given me a passion. The club has reinvigorated me – it has saved me really, given me a new purpose.” On May 18, Paul Wildes made a shock decision to step down as chairman and transfer his 50 stake to Smurthwaite who was appointed the club’s sole chairman and owner. Wildes said his belief that “From many conversations with Norman, it’s clear we have conflicting ideas on how to take Vale forward”. It was discovered that Smurthwaite had financed the first purchase and that the two were at odds following the defeat against Bristol Rovers in March, with Smuthwaite insisting on a more open method of removing pressure from the players and manager. It was revealed that the Football League assigned Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston as his mentor.

He qualified as an engineer and built a successful business career and property portfolio before retiring at the age of 50. He took over as chairman of Port Vale in 2013, having been a key figure in the boardroom as the club secured promotion out of League Two in 2012–13. He resigned as chairman following relegation back to League Two in 2016–17. He bought the Liberty Way stadium off Nuneaton Town in July 2018 and sold Port Vale in May 2019.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Norman Smurthwaite height Not available right now. Norman weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Norman Smurthwaite Dating?

According to our records, Norman Smurthwaite is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Norman Smurthwaite’s is not dating anyone.

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Facts & Trivia

Norman Ranked on the list of most popular Engineer. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United Kingdom. Norman Smurthwaite celebrates birthday on August 8 of every year.