By Shane Farrington
3 May 2011 18:47:00
EPL, Manchester City v West Ham United, Demba Ba
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West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has attributed his relegation-battling side’s poor away form as one of the reasons for him not attending Sunday’s 2-1 loss away to Manchester City.
Sullivan, fellow West Ham owner David Gold and vice chairwoman Karren Brady all instead decided to watch the match on the television.
“Watching our poor away performances week after week, and not having the ability to influence things, has impacted on us,” Sullivan admitted.
“My family think I’m mad devoting so much time and money to the club and, as the match was on TV, I decided to watch it on TV.”
However, Sullivan, who recently questioned his side’s chances of avoiding relegation, did confirm that himself, Gold and Brady would be in attendance for their team’s next away trip after donating the equivalent amount of a cost of a private plane to Manchester to charity.
Sullivan, one of Britain’s richest men with an estimated fortune of around £400 million, added: “We couldn’t influence the result, we donated the cost of private plane to a charity for terminally ill children, we thought that would do more good.
“Had it not been on TV we would have been there. None of us draw any salary or expenses from West Ham United. We are not £20k-£60k-a-week footballers.
“We only took 1,100 supporters. Like us, the bulk of the West Ham United supporters preferred to watch it on TV. We’ll be at Wigan as will 4,500 supporters.”