Richard Keys has revealed what late West Ham co-owner David Gold really thought of departed vice-chair Karren Brady in comments before his passing in 2023.
There was no lack of irony when Karren Brady suddenly left West Ham with immediate effect recently after 16 years at the club.
Just weeks before, hugely unpopular Hammers chief Brady had issued a rallying cry for everyone at the club – from the boardroom to the terraces – to pull together to try and avoid relegation.
But when West Ham are, in all likelihood, relegated from the Premier League this weekend, Brady will not be in the director’s box.
Richard Keys believes she should be to “face the fury of West Ham fans” who have been protesting against Brady and David Sullivan since the move to the London Stadium.
He calls the demise of West Ham under Sullivan and Brady a ‘genuine scandal’.
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In an explosive new column on his own personal website, Keys has revealed what late West Ham chief David Gold really thought of Brady.
The Baroness joined the club as vice-chair when Gold and Sullivan took over the Hammers back in January 2010.
She became a hate figure among the West Ham faithful for a plethora of reasons including ticketing, referring to fans as ‘clients’, airing the club’s dirty linen in her tabloid newspaper column and, of course, the controversial move to the London Stadium.
When it comes to Sullivan, Brady and Gold, most West Ham fans acknowledged that the latter was a genuine fan who cared deeply and passionately about the club.
And it seems Gold shared the feelings of his fellow fans if what he told Keys before his passing is anything to go by.
Over to Keys, who revealed the damning comment Gold made to him off air after a chat when he was hosting his own talkSPORT show with Andy Gray.
Keys: Gold said Brady did not represent West Ham
Keys blames Sullivan and Brady for ‘ripping the heart out of West Ham’ but says Gold should not be viewed in the same light because he was a ‘genuine fan’.
“I got to know Gold when he was good enough to come on Keys and Gray at talkSPORT,” Keys said.
“He was good on-air – better off it.
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“We discussed a lot after the show and I’ll never forget him saying of Karen Brady ‘Richard – she doesn’t represent West Ham. She represents herself’. Few truer words have ever been spoken.
“How many times do you think those words have comeback to me as I’ve watched her rip the heart out of West Ham – promising the world to fans and delivering little following the move from Upton Park?”
Keys also went on to list some of the ‘pastry crust promises’ Brady made to convince West Ham fans they had to leave their beloved Boleyn Ground home of 112 years.
Keys lists Brady’s ‘pastry crust’ West Ham promises
- She said they’d be moving to ‘a stadium fit for football that feels like home’. No.
- It would be a football arena ‘fit for world class football’. No.
- She promised full supporter consultation and polling. No.
- Little regard was given to what fans wanted.
- She claimed there’d be ‘sell out crowds and 50,000+ season ticket holders’. No.
- The stadium would bring ‘financial growth allowing West Ham to challenge the top six’. No.
- She claimed ‘West Ham would become one of the top 10 clubs in Europe’. No.
- There would be a ‘community legacy and jobs’. No.
- The arena would be a ‘multi-use venue’. Does two athletics meetings a year count? No.
Keys claims several former West Ham managers had told him Brady and Sullivan were difficult to work with.
“Brady got what she wanted (with the stadium move), West Ham fans didn’t,” Keys added.
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