Karren BradyGETTY IMAGES
Premier League side West Ham United paid Vice-Chair Karren Brady £438,000 for consultancy work last season on top of her £898,000 salary, the club’s annual accounts revealed, according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. Brady was paid via her company, BKB Media Ltd., for work in connection with the sale of 10% of the club to American billionaire Albert Smith. She is the only director of BKB Media, which had assets of £2.6M ($3.3M) in its most recent accounts. West Ham paid Brady £365,000 plus VAT for her work. A club spokesperson said that it was extra consultancy work "outside the scope of her role as vice-chairman, and was paid accordingly as an external consultant." The accounts also disclose that co-Owners David Sullivan and David Gold were paid £4.6M in August -- £2.3M each -- as interest on their loans to the club of £45M, which earn 4-4.25% interest. Smith's purchase of 10% of the club in Sept. '17 "also saw him, via the company WHU LLC, make a loan" of £9.5M to West Ham, "but unlike the loans from Sullivan and Gold, this is interest-free and repayable if there is a change of ownership of the club" (LONDON TIMES, 1/3).
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES: In London, Tom Morgan reported Gordon Taylor, the "embattled" Professional Footballers' Association CEO, "could face further questions" from a Charity Commission investigation after it emerged he has "continued to receive a hugely controversial" £2.2M ($2.8M) pay packet. The overall package of £2.29M ($2.89M), including a basic salary of £1.2M ($1.5M), a bonus of over £777,000 ($982,000) and additional allowances, "is set to be published by Companies House this month." It is the same amount as last year, which was condemned at the time as "absolutely scandalous" by former England defender Graeme Le Saux. The Charity Commission "is already looking into whether the PFA Charity is effectively funding the salary of Taylor and whether this is normal and appropriate." According to the accounts for the year to June '18, the PFA spent just £125,000 on funding head injury research (TELEGRAPH, 1/3).
