'This is one of the best cities to live in the world,' says Paul Barber
By Marc Weber
VANCOUVER — Paul Barber, introduced Wednesday morning as the Vancouver Whitecaps' CEO, said it didn't take that much convincing for him to leave his hometown club, Tottenham Hotspur, where he was executive director.
"This is one of the best cities to live in in the world, the Vancouver Whitecaps is a fantastic football brand, and the people here — the staff, the ownership, the supporter base — were all good reasons to come," said Barber, the 42-year-old North Londoner who grew up supporting Spurs.
"To be honest with you, it didn't take an awful lot of persuading on the part of the ownership group to convince me to take the job. I've been very lucky in my career to have done two dream jobs so far — with the national team and then I had the opportunity to lead my hometown club, the club I've supported since I was a small kid. This is a third dream job.
"I'm proud and privileged to be coming here."
With the Whitecaps bound for Major League Soccer in 2011, Barber will head up the executive team, which also includes president Bob Lenarduzzi and COO Rachel Lewis.
He'll be the primary representative for the ownership group and has a host of major challenges on his plate with about one year to go before the club's MLS launch.
While recently hired director of soccer operations Tommy Soehn will focus on building the roster, most of Barber's time will be spent dealing with the politics and finances of securing and building a training ground, the venue move from Swangard Stadium to the Empire Field site and then B.C. Place, as well as securing sponsorship.
No details on Barber's contract were given.
In the next two or three months, the Whitecaps will reveal their new logo and uniform and, with it, a major shirt sponsor. The Seattle Sounders, who made the jump to MLS in 2009, signed a $20-million US, five-year deal with Microsoft and promote Xbox 360 on their shirt.
With Spurs, Barber was in charge of the commercial side of the business, ticketing and hospitality, international tours and friendlies, as well as soccer development.
In the spring of 2009, Forbes.com listed Spurs as the 11th-most-valuable club in the world at $445 million US with annual revenue of $245 million.
Barber, who will remain as a non-executive director on the Tottenham board, previously worked as the commercial and marketing director for the Football Association and with the London host city group that is trying to secure the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
"There isn't another soccer executive in North America right now who could get anywhere near what Paul has accomplished," said Lenarduzzi.
Whitecaps MLS co-owners Jeff Mallett, the former Yahoo! COO and president, and Steve Nash, the two-time NBA MVP, met Barber about three years ago while exploring the opportunity of buying into Spurs. That didn't materialize but they struck up a friendship and sold Barber on the move to Vancouver when the MLS franchise became a reality.
Currently, Spurs has a formal relationship with San Jose Earthquake, and the MLS side just wrapped up training at Tottenham's grounds and played a friendly against their reserves. Barber said it's too soon to say what the Whitecaps-Spurs relationship will be, but sounded positive that something could grow over time.
Barber and wife Helen have three kids: son Sam, 16, and daughters Georgia, 12 and Ellie, 10. Barber's family will join him in West Vancouver after the current school year.
The Whitecaps are in the second division USSF D2 league this season and remain at Swangard Stadium. In 2011, they make the jump to North America's top-tier MLS, and open play at a temporary 27,000-seat stadium at Empire Fields. They expect to move into a renovated B.C. Place, with a retractable roof, around July, 2011.
mweber@theprovince.com © Copyright (c) The Province
