George who?
Chairman of Newcastle United Football Club between 6th December 1990 and the arrival of Sir John Hall.
George was a nothing of a chairman, he didn't seem to have what was required at the time, namely lots of cash. Ask any fan today for an opinion of George Forbes and your answer is very likely to be, George Who?
Invisible?
The relative unknown from Wooler seemed to fade away as easy as he'd appeared on the scene, George was a farmer, that's only going from memory.
He maybe not invisible thanks to an anonymous Journalist
GF (born 09/10/1945, Coldstream, Scotland) was/is a Newcastle supporter and remains the only former chairman to attend matches. He attended Newcastle games throughout the country from his late teens. Living then and now in the Scottish Borders.
GF was invited to join the board as the current board, under substantial pressure, aimed to appease fan discontent by appointing a number of local businessmen.
On appointment GF owned and ran a substantial Berwickshire farm near Coldstream in Scotland, he owned and ran a livestock auctioneering business based in Wooler with further auction marts in three Northumberland towns. A qualified auctioneer GF built the family farm from a small holding to a substantial farm. Showing substantial business acumen GF went from an employee of a relatively small auction mart to the owner of the same mart, turning it into the biggest in the UK. GF also had property interests and was a director of other varying companies.
GF moved from director to vice-chairman and to finally chairman at Newcastle. He chaired the club during an extremely difficult period for no salary and no financial gain. He was an interim chairman during the Magpie Group takeover, I see you say the club needed financial help but it has been proved beyond reason that the Halls did not put a penny of their own money into the club. The takeover coincided with the rebirth of football in England with Sky's financial backing of the Premier league changing the club scene significantly. GF had the opportunity to remain as part of the new board however felt the Halls where the wrong people for the club, Sir John Hall had not been to a Newcastle game before his interest in the takeover, whatever we are led to believe. Clearly if GF had stayed as part of this board he would have been a very very wealthy man today. GF was the first to approach Kevin Keegan, it was not SJH.
GF now still farms, has an interest in a property development company and is a director of various businesses. GF is also the chairman of the BCE (British Cereal Exports) who promote the export of British cereals and advise the government;
A pdf document showing members of the board of the BCE
A page from the British Embassy
The recent book 'So you think you want to be a director of a football club' by fellow director Peter Mallinger sheds some light on GF's time at NUFC; you can get details of what looks like an interesting book here
I do hope this email will lead to a little more balance in your website, in my opinion Mr Forbes did what he perceived was best for Newcastle United at all times.
A request to the Journalist
I'd love to hear from this Journalist again to see if would be so good as to answer a couple of questions that this e-mail has raised. If not then thanks for going out of your way to provide the above information, it is appreciated. We can be contacted be email here