Table of Contents
- Jeff Mostyn’s Commitment to Bournemouth
- Experience of Heart Attack
- Support from the Football Community
- Memorable Moments as Chairman
- Book Release Information
JEFF MOSTYN dedicated his mind, body, soul, and finances to rescue Bournemouth — even enduring a heart attack during his time as chairman.
Bournemouth, currently soaring in second place in the Premier League, owes much of its success to the financial and emotional support provided by their former chairman, Mostyn.
Former Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn reflects on his time with the CherriesCredit: Getty
He provided Eddie Howe an opportunity before overseeing the club's most successful periodCredit: Reuters
Known as “The Man Who Saved,” the 80-year-old lifelong Cherries supporter Steve Sly purchased the financially struggling club in March 2007 and rescued them from extinction two years later.
A simple nod to administrator Gerald Krasner signified his willingness to invest £100,000 of his own money to keep the club afloat, which was monumental.
Although he sold his shares to Russian-born petrochemicals trader Maxim Demin in 2011, he returned as chairman in 2013, leading the club through its glorious years.
However, in 2017, he “experienced a heart attack, a profoundly humbling and eye-opening event” while attending a conference with fellow Premier League owners and chairpersons in Yorkshire.
Mostyn, who takes immense pride in Bournemouth’s Premier League journey over the past decade, discusses this episode for the first time in his new book, The Chairman.
He shared: “I was celebrating another season in the Premier League at the AGM conference in Harrogate with other chairmen and CEOs when, around 2am, I began to feel nauseous.
“I spent the next two hours trying to make myself sick and then found myself in the emergency room at Harrogate Hospital at 5:30 in the morning, with a needle in my stomach.
“Desperate to leave, I begged the doctors to let me go home, insisting I just needed something to induce vomiting.
“However, they insisted on treating it as a heart attack due to my critically high enzyme levels.
“Roz Donnelly, the Premier League coordinator, was with me. She had the difficult task of informing my wife, Rose.
“I was too emotional to speak to her. My PA, Alice Jeans, was desperately trying to arrange a flight for Rose, but every flight was canceled.
“Eventually, a flight to Manchester was arranged in the early evening.
“The Premier League provided a car to pick her up and take her to the hospital in Harrogate and also arranged hotel accommodation for her.”
Mostyn, who stepped down as chairman for a second time in December 2022, continued: “After a weekend of tests in the coronary heart ward, I was then transferred for the stent procedure.
“Steve Gibson, the owner of Middlesbrough, showed incredible kindness by asking his chief executive, Neil Bausor, to ensure I didn’t go home immediately after being discharged.
Mostyn revealed how he received “a good spanking” from the players after their promotionCredit: Action Images – Reuters
He experienced a heart attack in 2017, which he described as “a humbling and eye-opening event”Credit: Arfa Griffiths – The Sun
“He also arranged for me to stay at Rockcliffe Hall, his hotel and Middlesbrough’s training complex.
“Upon leaving the hospital, I felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety.
“As I sat on a wall, I felt pins and needles, a classic sign of a heart attack. I told Rose that I wasn’t feeling well, describing my symptoms of tingling and breathlessness.
“Returning to the hospital was an option, but since I had been discharged, it would have meant starting the entire A&E process all over again.
“Neil reassured me that a car was on its way and that the club doctor would meet us at the hotel.
