MULTI-millionaire publisher David Sullivan could be set to score a striking home result by bankrolling Totten-ham Hotspur or West Ham United.
Mr Sullivan currently co-owns Premiership club Birmingham City but in an interview with the Guardian said he had not ruled out the possibility of getting invol-ved with a club nearer to his Theydon Bois mansion.
Travelling to Birmingham to watch City has become a bugbear for the media tycoon. He said: "I love Birmingham but the mileage gets me down. There's no home games for me. There comes a point when you want to come home, and my home for the last 45 years has been east London-Essex."
Mr Sullivan, the joint 85th wealthiest person in Britain according to the Mail on Sunday's Rich Report 2004, with £430m, said he would be looking for a controlling interest, "over 50 per cent", in either club should the chance arise.
"It's an interest I've always had. There's nothing current, nothing imminent. I look at the situation with interest and at some point something may develop and I'm able to get involved. But I don't anticipate anything in the immediate future."
Some years ago Mr Sullivan wanted to buy Cardiff City, but regulations meant he was not allowed to own two clubs.
He already has a minor share interest in Tottenham and has had a financial interest in West Ham in the past. His financial involvement with Birmingham City began when the club was languishing at the foot of the then First Division, but still attracting 7,000-plus crowds.
He saw the potential and with the Gold brothers, with whom he owns Sport Newspapers, snapped up the club.
Mr Sullivan said he has always had a soft spot for Tottenham and West Ham because they were "local".
"I'll always have a soft spot for Birmingham. You can't be there 12 years and not have a soft spot for them. In reality I may well be there another five or ten years. There's many exciting things happening at Birmingham. But if the opportunity came up to come home and it was the right deal I would look at it."
Speaking at his 11-bedroom mansion, Birch Hall in Coppice Row, Mr Sullivan said the situation at Upton Park could change should the club fail to secure an immediate return to the Premiership.
"If West Ham don't go up this year they will start to have some severe problems," he said. "They will definitely get some problems from the fans who see them as a Premiership team, and I would think the board would come under a lot of pressure from the supporters.
"Whether they come under financial pressure as well I don't know, I'm not privy to their finances."
But if there are financial concerns then Mr Sullivan could be the man with deep enough pockets to come to the rescue.
