of Delia’s time as Norwich City director approved
The end of Delia Smith’s time as a director of Norwich City has been rubber-stamped by the football club’s shareholders.
For more than 25 years, the celebrity chef’s name has been synonymous with the Canaries as a joint majority shareholder alongside her husband, Michael Wynn Jones.
A general meeting was held at Carrow Road on Wednesday evening to allow shareholders to vote on a takeover by Norfolk Holdings, the group led by US businessman Mark Attanasio.
The principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, who co-founded the California-based investment firm Crescent Capital Group, joined the club’s board two years ago after acquiring a minority shareholding.
City announced two months ago that an agreement had been reached for Norfolk Holdings to assume majority control of the club, if approved.
The result of the meeting is that Smith and Wynn Jones will step down as directors, although they will continue to attend games regularly as honorary life presidents. They will not make any profit from the deal.
The couple are both aged in their early 80s and live near Stowmarket in Suffolk. They joined the club’s board in November 1996 with an initial cash injection of £2m during a time of financial turmoil.
They became majority shareholders in 1998, and their eventful 26 years at the helm have featured six promotions, six relegations, two play-off finals and 15 managers.
Their nephew, Tom Smith, will remain a director alongside Zoe Webber and Attanasio, with the American’s business partner Richard Ressler joining the board. Norfolk Holdings will also be able to appoint another director.
