Laurence Bassini is a businessman from England. From May 2011 to June 2012, he was the chairman of Watford Football Club.
Laurence Bassini was rumored to be interested in purchasing Birmingham City for £27 million in November 2021.
Further articles about his interest in owning Birmingham City were published in June 2022, alleging that he had swapped contracts for a 30 percent stake in the club in a staged arrangement.
A Look at Laurence Bassini’s Career in Business
Laurence Bassini purchased Watford Football Club for £440,000 on May 31, 2011, after the club’s previous parent company, Watford Leisure PLC, was delisted from the London Stock Exchange and renamed Watford Leisure Limited.
Before taking over at Watford, Bassini was declared bankrupt in 2007 following the bankruptcy of his firm The Fox in Ibstone, near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Bassini was bankrupt for almost a year before changing his name to Bassini to have a “new start.”
While chairman of Watford, he was scheduled to speak with fans at the annual Fans Forum on November 8, 2011; however, he abruptly canceled, citing illness. On November 22, 2011, he abruptly canceled a future local radio phone-in, citing “poor health.”
In the months leading up to the club’s sale in June 2012, Laurence Bassini called the police when a staff member refused to give him the keys to the club safe, sparking claims of financial wrongdoing that culminated in the “Safegate” controversy. He wore a red builder’s helmet when conducting interviews with the neighborhood newspaper.
Thirteen months after purchasing the team, Bassini sold Watford Football Club to Gino Pozzo, Udinese and Granada’s owner and Giampaolo Pozzo’s son. It was revealed in November 2012 that Bassini was unlikely to repay the £1.5 million he owed to the Watford Football Club for “cash loans.”
Bassini was suspended from holding any position of responsibility with any Football League club after being found guilty of misconduct and dishonesty about financial transactions on behalf of Watford in March 2013.
The committee determined that by keeping his forward finance arrangements a secret from the league and the other directors of Watford, he had engaged in “dishonest transactions with the league and with his other directors” and “practiced secrecy and deception.”
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Bassini wrote a string of gloating texts to the local newspaper Watford Observer after Watford’s loss to Crystal Palace in the 2013 Football League Championship play-off Final, savoring his glee at their setback. The High Court ruled that Watford Leisure Limited be liquidated in July 2013.
Bassini lost a High Court case against the Russo brothers in March 2014. The former directors of Watford F.C. asserted that Bassini owed them more than £3.5 million. He was told to pay £3.5 million and £135,000 for a total of £4,353,000 (plus an additional £568,000 in interest and £150k in charges). He was referred to as “evasive” and a creator of “empty threats” during the trial.
The court was informed that Bassini had repeatedly accused him of conspiracies without offering any supporting details. One of them was that the Pozzo family and the Russos still jointly owned half of Watford F.C. and coordinated an attack against him.
Bassini, who had attended court for the whole trial, left before it concluded because he claimed to be “feeling dizzy” after “slipping” on the High Court steps. Laurence Bassini was declared bankrupt for the second time in June 2014.
Bassini was issued a bankruptcy order after she failed to make a £37,500 payment. Despite receiving more than £1.5 million in cash advances from Watford while employed there, Bassini insisted during the court that he did not own any real estate.
Bolton Wanderers FC
On April 17, 2019, it was announced that Bassini had agreed to buy EFL Championship club Bolton Wanderers. On May 7, it was reported that Bassini’s takeover was on the “verge of collapsing” due to his continuous refusal to show proof of finances to the English Football League.
Bassini obtained a court order preventing the sale of Bolton Wanderers to Football Ventures on August 8, 2019. His attempts, however, were ultimately futile, with Football Ventures completing the deal on August 28, 2019.
Charlton Athletic F.C.
It was disclosed in May 2020 that Bassini had a provisional deal to buy Charlton Athletic for £1.2 million. However, the sale was called off on May 27 due to issues relating to Roland Duchatelet’s ownership of The Valley and Charlton’s Training Ground.
Instead, he decided to pursue legal action against Bolton in an attempt to undo their takeover and regain control of the club after it was revealed that he had, in fact, officially owned Inner Circle Investments. This company held Bolton Wanderers at the time after Ken Anderson agreed to sell the club to him.
Birmingham City F.C.
In November 2021, it was reported that he was interested in purchasing Birmingham City for £27 million. In June 2022, the press claimed that he had exchanged contracts for a 30 percent ownership in Birmingham City in a staged deal.
A Look at Laurence Bassini’s Net Worth
The estimated net worth of Laurence Bassini is $80 million. His work as a businessman and football club management is his primary source of income.
Monthly pay for Bassini and other sources of income total more than $10 million yearly. He is among the wealthiest and most influential football executives in the U.K.
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A Look at Laurence Bassini’s Personal Life
Laurence Bassini is now a married man. They had children together, but his wife chose to live a solitary existence. Bassini has a healthy body weight that corresponds with his personality and an aesthetically acceptable height of 1.71 meters.