English football lost one of its oldest faces today, as former Crystal Palace owner Ron Noades died aged 76 following a battle with cancer which unfortunately claimed the Englishman’s life. Noades also had a spell as chairman of fellow London club Brentford after leaving Palace, but it was undoubtedly with The Eagles that he enjoyed the majority of his footballing success.
He was in the most important job at Selhurst Park for a total 17 years, during perhaps the most successful period in their history, in the late 20th century. He was watching over as the London club nearly won the FA Cup in 1990, after overcoming the famous Liverpool side of the previous two decades, before succumbing to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side containing the likes of Mark Hughes in a replay. The Eagles were just 7 minutes from triumph in the original final, but a late strike from the Welshman Hughes to send the tie into a replay. Lee Martin’s goal in the replay was enough to win the cup for The Red Devils, and the rest, as they say, was history. However, Palace did manage a third-placed finish in the top-flight in the following year, under manager Steve Coppell.
Ron Noades remained as the Palace chairman until 1998, when he sold the club to Mark Goldberg controversially. The Englishman who is now managing lower-league club Bromley, agreed to purchase the club for £30 million – despite The Eagles nearing relegation from England’s top-flight – yet had to borrow money from Noades in order to get the £23 million needed to buy the club without its stadium, Selhurst Park. Goldberg was advised against buying the club by people close to Ron Noades but still persisted in his ambitions. Soon after taking over, many of his own investors pulled out, leaving Crystal Palace on the brink financially. The club entered administration soon after, and remained in that state until the turn of the decade. By this point Goldberg had been declared bankrupt, and his reputation damaged.
Soon after leaving the club as chairman, Ron Noades returned to Selhurst Park in a temporary capacity under the new owner, as caretaker manager, following the failure of Attilio Lombardo and Tomas Brolin in their bid to keep the Eagles in the Premier League. However, Noades merely watched the club he had been in full control of for nearly two decades slip towards liquidation and the second tier.
Post-Palace, Ron Noades took over another London club, Brentford, again making controversial decisions throughout his tenure with the Bees. He took over in July 1998, and immediately installed himself as first-team manager, a move which shocked many. Most pundits and fans doubted his ability to turn his hand to management, but he certainly proved his critics wrong. Brentford had been recently relegated to the Third Division when Noades took over, but the new chairman-cum-manager took The Bees back up to the Second Division at the first time of asking, winning the Manager of the Season award in the process.
The aging Englishman sold his majority stake in Brentford in 2006 to a supporters’ club known as Bees United, and then re-paid his debts to the club a year later, as Noades wound down his business activities in later life.
We can’t pretend that Ron Noades didn’t cause controversy throughout his footballing tenure, such as his admittedly strange decisions with Palace and Brentford, or with his comments on the proportions of skin colours in The Eagles’ team in 1991, but there is no denying he was a colourful face in the game while it lasted. The game needs more characters who light football off in an age where regulations and bureaucracy are rife, although perhaps ones who are not as controversial as Ron Noades. However, the man will be sorely missed by both Crystal Palace and Brentford supporters, among others.
