Sullivan: We're paying Carroll's wages out of our own pockets... We want the best team because we are West Ham fans

Posted Friday, September 21, 2012 by Dailymail

Sullivan: We're paying Carroll's wages out of our own pockets... We want the best team because we are West Ham fans
What the butler saw: A waxwork is part of the furniture at chez Sullivan

‘I will always be seen as being in the sex business because that is where I started. If I had the time I’d update my Wikipedia page.’

Not, he insists, because he is in anyway ashamed or embarrassed about his past. ‘I started there so there’s no point in denying it,’ he says. ‘If I was a cigarette manufacturer or an arms manufacturer or a drug dealer, I might have a doubt about how I’ve spent my life. But, to be honest with you, I like to think I put a smile on people’s faces.

‘I’ve made a lot of people happy. British people don’t like to talk about sex but Fifty Shades of Grey has proved what a huge market the sex market remains.’ Has he read the fastest-selling paperback in history? ‘My girlfriend has and she’s told me every detail,’ he says. ‘But I read racing fiction. I collect old racing fiction, along with Victorian racing trophies. I’ve read all the books on those shelves and all those over there I’ve yet to read. I’m into fantasy, not reality.’

Football, he says, is an interest that transcends both; a mixture of fantasy and reality. ‘You face a daily reality,’ he says.

Sitting there in a Dolce & Gabbana ‘Muhammad Ali’ tracksuit, Sullivan takes a deep breath. Since joining forces with Gold in 2010 to take control of the club they have both supported since childhood, it has not been easy.
When West Ham were relegated in May 2011, he likened it to Armageddon. ‘It was Armageddon because David and I had to put 35million quid in,’ he says, laughing again.

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