Huddersfield Town Football Club
Autobiography reveals why Huddersfield Town’s old Leeds Road ground had to go, the battle to build a new stadium and how it shocked the football world
Entrepreneur Graham Leslie was the Huddersfield Town chairman who was the driving force behind the ‘new’ Huddersfield stadium which opened 30 years ago
Serial Yorkshire entrepreneur and philanthropist Prof Graham Leslie - who was the driving force behind building the John Smith’s Stadium – has written a revealing autobiography.
Graham was Huddersfield Town chairman in the early 1990s and had the vision and determination for Huddersfield to have the first all-seater football and rugby stadium in Europe - one which would be a trailblazer for the rest to follow.
He founded one of the UK’s most successful pharmaceutical companies, Galpharm - which went on to sponsor the stadium - and Graham later sold his business and has since dedicated his life to helping other businesses and charities.
Graham’s book, which marks 30 years since the first match at the ‘new’ stadium, is called Ahead Of The Curve and will be launched in the Terriers Together suite at the stadium on Friday, July 26, at 10.30am with anybody welcome to attend.
The stadium’s famous blueprint with its innovative banana-shaped trusses literally threw a curved ball into stadium design. It was so striking and different it set the standard for all other UK sports grounds to follow and, ultimately, inspired the new Wembley stadium.
In his book Graham reveals the perilous state of Huddersfield Town’s finances at the time, how close the club came to plunging into administration, why Leeds Road had to be demolished and how he managed to get a new stadium project up and running even though most people thought it would never happen.
Graham, who received the CBE in 2017 for services to entrepreneurship, has constantly been a disruptor, often thinking and doing things differently to everyone else.
He changed the way medicines such as ibuprofen could be sold in the UK, massively bringing down the cost and saving the NHS between an estimated £400m to £500m a year.
Graham’s still disrupting today and in his autobiography reveals how he now intends to change the way the music industry works and also gives vital business tips such as how companies can double their profits in a year.
He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Huddersfield and later became Resident Professor of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship there.
Graham, who is dyslexic, left school with no recognised qualifications and tells his amazing life story with frankness and humour. The book is packed with great anecdotes and reveals how Graham has sometimes been lucky to survive both physically and financially, often against all odds.
Graham is a natural philanthropist so all proceeds from the book are going to the charity Making Waves in Slaithwaite which supports the Waves day care centre for people aged 18 and over with learning and/or physical difficulties from across Huddersfield and beyond. It’s one of the most innovative day care centres in the UK.
The book costs £10.99 and people can get them on the launch day when Graham will be signing copies.
It will also be on sale in bookshops, the Huddersfield Town shop and online.
Anyone is welcome to attend the launch which will feature Graham along with Huddersfield Town legends Andy Booth, Peter Jackson and Kieran O’Regan who will talk about their playing days and the stadium.
A group of members from Waves will be singing a song Graham composed called United Together at the launch. The song has only been performed publicly before by London-based gospel Kingdom Choir who are famous for singing at the King’s Coronation and Harry and Meghan’s wedding.
The event will also reveal how people who buy the book will be able to enter a competition with a prize worth many thousands of pounds.
For more information about the autobiography or the launch event please email Andy Hirst at andy@ah-pr.com