Norman Smurthwaite

Norman Smurthwaite (born 1960) is the chairman of Port Vale Football Club, who has served the club in this post from 2013.

He qualified as an engineer and built a successful business career and property portfolio before retiring at the age of 50. He took over as chairman of Port Vale in 2014, having been a key figure in the boardroom as the club secured promotion out of League Two in 2012–13.

Early life

Smurthwaite was raised in Radford, Coventry, and bought his own home in the area at the age of 16 after receiving compensation from an industrial accident at Dunlop in 1977. He qualified as an engineer and inherited an engineering firm in Holbrooks at the age of 21 from a friend who was a "father figure" to him. He sold the business two years later and moved to Nottingham, where he bought a chain of estate agents that he later sold on to the Halifax. He went on to invest in dozens of properties and retired at the age of 50.

Chairmanship of Port Vale

Smurthwaite was part of the investment group, led by Paul Wildes, that took Port Vale out of administration in November 2012. After promotion from League Two to League One was secured, Smurthwaite said that "I've never had any hobbies to speak of, but buying Port Vale has given me a passion. The club has reinvigorated me – it has saved me really, given me a new purpose." On 18 May, Paul Wildes made a shock decision to resign as chairman and sell his 50% stake to Smurthwaite, who became the club's chairman and sole owner; Wildes stated that "From many conversations with Norman, it's clear we have conflicting ideas on how to take Vale forward". It was revealed that Smurthwaite had funded the initial takeover, and that the pair had a disagreement following defeat to Bristol Rovers in March, with Smuthwaite insisting on a more public approach to take pressure off the manager and players.

Norman

Norman or Normans may refer to:

Places

List of Camp Lazlo characters

Camp Lazlo is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray. It features a large cast of anthropomorphic animal characters. The series takes place in Camp Kidney, a Boy Scout summer camp in the fictional town of Prickly Pines.

The cartoon is set in a universe inhabited solely by anthropomorphic animals of many species and focuses on a trio of campers attending a poorly run summer camp known as Camp Kidney; the series focuses on three "bean scouts": Lazlo the eccentric, optimistic monkey, Raj the Indian elephant, and Clam the albino pygmy rhinoceros. Other characters include the Camp Kidney staff, including the ill-tempered Scoutmaster Lumpus and his mild-mannered assistant Slinkman the banana slug. The program also features Lazlo's assortment of fellow campers, characters from a rival summer camp attended solely by girls, and some of the odd locales of the town of Prickly Pines.

Lazlo won the award for "Best New Character" at the Pulcinella Awards in 2006.

Norman (song)

"Norman" is a popular song written by John D. Loudermilk. Recorded by Sue Thompson in 1961, the song reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next year, Carol Deene released her version of the song in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart. Guy Lombardo recorded a version of the song for his 1962 Decca LP By Special Request.

References