Paul Barber has been named Chief Executive of the Season at the Football Business Awards, on an afternoon when the club scooped two golds and a silver award at the prestigious end-of-season gala dinner in London.
Paul was the divisional winner for the Premier League and was announced as the overall winner from across five CEOs nominated from the top four divisions in England and also the SPFL north of the border.
He said, “It’s a great honour to win this - and there were four other very good CEOs and congratulations to all of them.
“I’d like to thank all the staff [at Brighton & Hove Albion] who make a football club. The award is not just about a CEO, it’s about all the staff.
“I’d also like to pay tribute to Martin Perry, who is retiring this summer, as he’s been such a fantastic influence on the club. And I would like to thank our chairman Tony Bloom who’s invested so much in the club to help give us such a fantastic season.”
Barber added, “Credit also must go to our men’s head coach Roberto De Zerbi and our fantastic men’s first team for the achievement of qualifying for the Europa League; and also our women’s head coach Melissa Phillips and her squad for the resilience they’ve shown in recent weeks to secure our WSL status.”
Albion won gold in the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Award; silver in the Sustainability Award; and were shortlisted in the Best Fan Engagement category.