King’s Lynn Town have appointed former Leicester City chief Barrie Pierpoint as their new chief executive.
Pierpoint has started at The Walks with immediate effect as the Linnets look to bounce back from their recent National League Premier relegation.
Pierpoint was the first ever chief executive at Leicester, taking the Foxes from the brink of financial collapse to the Premier League in the 1990s with two League Cup wins along the way.
In a statement released by the Linnets, Pierpoint said his priority at Lynn is to start holding group meetings with staff and lay out his vision and expectations for the future of the club.
Pierpoint also wants to foster better relations with supporters and is planning to release dates for open forum discussions with fans to grow the Linnets’ community.
Lynn owner Stephen Cleeve said: “Barrie Pierpoint is a major signing for the club. I am looking forward to working closely with him in order to take King's Lynn Town FC to the next level.”
A Linnets statement added: “Barrie joins at a crucial point in the club’s development and will bring focus and drive to the business. Barrie brings huge experience to the club, having previously been the first Chief Executive of Leicester City in the 1990s, where he developed and managed an annual income stream of £24m with £3m nett profit.
“Barrie also guided the club through flotation to a public company in 1997 raising £12m. Under his leadership the club developed a £3.5m turnover conference and catering business within three years up from £0.5m.
“He was also acting chief executive at Boston United where he created a five-year strategy plan for business growth; restructuring the business and achieving a 50pc growth on the previous year.
“Barrie has also held CEO roles at Bradford and Portsmouth FC, where he implemented a complete cultural overhaul and created closer community ties.”
In a recent interview Pierpoint highlighted how he left Leicester in 2000 with a turnover of £24m and helped put foundations in place for the Premier League outfit they are today.
He cites his biggest achievement with the Midlands side as raising enough money to build a new members stand at Filbert Street, the former home of the Foxes.
In his book, Minding My Own Football Business, he said: “The stand that we had was the Members Stand and it was falling to bits," Pierpoint says. "It was run down, it was a filthy dump, tinny and wooden.
"So we built a brand-new spanking stand which had 9,000 seats, it had 28 executive boxes, rooms for functions and catering. It was state of the art.
"And within two to three years, we'd paid it off from all the opportunities and things that we ran in that stand.
"That was my proudest moment because I stood outside that building and saw it being built and I'd raised £5m and borrowed £1m.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here