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IRISH EXAMINER | January 25th, 201722 sportsexaminer
Bernie Ecclestone’s 40-Year Reign As
The Chief Of Formula One Is Over
Bernie Ecclestone’s
four-decade reign as
the ruler of Formula
One is over after
American company
Liberty Media completed
its £6billion (€7billion)
purchase of the sport.
Chase Carey, who was
already installed as the
sport’s chairman, replaces
Ecclestone as chief executive
officer.
Ecclestone, 86, has been
handed the role of chairman
emeritus, and will be avail-
able as a source to the new
board, but he will no longer
be involved in the day-to-day
running of Formula One for
the first time since the 1970s.
“I’m proud of the business
that I built over the last 40
years and all that I have
achieved with Formula One,
and would like to thank all of
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the promoters, teams, spon-
sors and television compa-
nies that I have worked
with,” Ecclestone said.
“I’m very pleased that the
business has been acquired
by Liberty and that it intends
to invest in the future of F1. I talented team of executives
am sure that Chase will exe-
cute his role in a way that
will benefit the sport.”
Ecclestone had stated ear-
lier today that he had been
stepped down.
In an interview with
German publication Auto
Motor und Sport, Ecclestone
said: “I was deposed today.
This is official, I do not run
the company any more.”
And after completing the
deal, Liberty Media, which is
now expected to usher in a
new dawn for the sport, paid
tribute to the departing chief
executive.
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“I would like to recognise
and thank Bernie for his lead-
ership over the decades,”
Carey, also the vice chairman
of 21st Century Fox, said.
“The sport is what it is
today because of him and the
he has led, and he will always
be part of the F1 family.
“Bernie’s role as chairman
emeritus befits his tremen-
dous contribution to the
sport and I am grateful for his
continued insight and guid-
ance as we build F1 for long-
term success and the enjoy-
ment of all those involved.”
Greg Maffei, President and
CEO of Liberty Media
Corporation, added: “I’d like
to thank Bernie Ecclestone,
who becomes chairman
emeritus, for his tremendous
success in building this
remarkable global sport.” C
Southend Sack Groundsman Of 27
Years After Frozen-Pitch Postponement
Southend have described the decision to sack groundsman
Ken Hare after Saturday’s League One game against Bolton was
postponed because of a frozen pitch as “a disappointment”.
Hare, who is still listed on the club’s website as head grounds-
man, has been at Roots Hall for 27 years, with the last postpone-
ment coming four years ago.
The much-anticipated fixture between two promotion-chas-
ing clubs was one of four English Football League games, all in
south-east England, called off that day because of the cold weath-
er. Games at Dagenham and Woking were also postponed in the
National League and nine of 11 fixtures in the National League
South were cancelled.
After four nights of temperatures between four and five
degrees below freezing, Hare used covers and heaters to thaw
the penalty area in front of the South Stand, which gets no sun-
light in the morning, but referee Charles Breakspear decided the
surface was unsafe when he inspected it four hours before kick-
off.
In a statement issued on the club website, Southend said:
“People generally lose their position as a result of not doing their
job. The necessary decision surrounding Mr Hare was a disap-
pointment and of course not taken lightly.
“Very FEW people have been dismissed at this football club
over the past 20 years and that even extends to managers.”
The word “few” was capitalized because local newspaper the
Southend Echo had earlier run a version of the statement with-
out the word. The paper’s long-standing club reporter Chris
Phillips has since posted two messages on Twitter to say the first
version of the statement did not contain “few” and he still has it
on his phone.
When asked by Press Association Sport to clarify why Hare
had been sacked, a club spokesperson refused to add anything to
the statement on the website.
With a big attendance expected for the visit of the former
Premier League club, Southend chairman Ron Martin is under-
stood to have taken the postponement particularly badly. Martin
has been more hands-on at the club since chief executive Steve
Kavanagh left to join Millwall in October.
While the late postponement was bad news for Hare, and
frustrating to fans of both Bolton and Southend, it did help swell
the gate at nearby Canvey Island. The Ryman Premier League
club tweeted that the League One clubs were “both well repre-
sented” in a crowd of 407. Canvey lost 5-0 to Bognor Regis
Town. C
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