London calling for Sullivan

Ever since he started out selling match-day programmes to football collectors, Sullivan has made a career out of spotting opportunities.

He said: "I would bring a long record of loyalty to a club, not being the sort of person who is in it for a quick buck. I have achieved quite a lot - not quite what the Arsenal directors have achieved but still quite a lot. The club that were considered insolvent are now solvent and we get virtual capacity every week. So I would bring a record of achievement, success and commitment. I think supporters want to see a club in safe hands, run with ambition but not to the point of bankruptcy."

There is no doubting Sullivan's currency at Birmingham, whose early season form seems more blip than slip. Together with the Gold Brothers, his long-term business partners, he has transformed the club from the butt of Jasper Carrot's jokes into a solid Premiership side.

Aren't there a few takers in London who could do with some of that stardust - or at least a piece of his reputed £550m fortune? And aren't two of them within easy striking distance of his stately Essex pile?

"It's true that I feel massive affinity with both West Ham and Tottenham. I nearly bought Tottenham when Alan Sugar bought them but I was worried by the £25m debt, although it wouldn't worry me now. At the moment I own 2.9 per cent of their shares. They are undervalued although you couldn't buy it for the £27m it is valued on the Stock Exchange. Enic might sell if they were offered a crazy price but they overpaid in the first place. Tottenham is a great brand but it's going down in value every year. They have not achieved much in 20 years.

"The trouble is how do you value anything? West Ham are £30m in debt, so how do you value them?" He is equally perplexed about how much Tottenham might be worth. "Alan Sugar actually did a pretty good job for them although he probably wasn't ambitious enough for the supporters.

"And they've probably been a bit unlucky in their choice of managers. Through Glenn Hoddle, George Graham and that Swiss fellow whose name I can't remember, they've had a pile of disappointments. West Ham have also picked their managers badly. Glenn Roeder was a very odd decision."

West Ham and Sullivan share history, not all of it amicable. Together with the Gold Brothers, he owned 27.5 per cent of the club before being persuaded to look at Birmingham by the failure of the other Hammers directors to offer him a seat on the board. "We could have stuck around trying to get a few shares here and there, but we decided to go to a club where we were welcomed." And here's the rub with Sullivan. After 12 years in England's Second City he feels emboldened enough to make his play for the First, perhaps this time hoping to achieve the respectability that was denied him last time out at Upton Park.

AFTER all, he is not just a pornographer any more, he is a football man. "You are always labelled by where you started. Paul Raymond is still 'The Strip King' even though he's probably the biggest property magnate in the West End. When he dies he ' ll still be ' Paul Raymond, Strip King'. Me, I'll be 'David Sullivan, pornographer'. I've just got to accept that.

"There's always the chance that I'll do something so amazing that I'll change it. It's unlikely but the truth is I make more money out of property than sex. I even own three shops in Hampstead High Street and half of Brewer Street. I've never hidden where I made my money but I would like to be successful in another area."

Which is where football comes in. Perhaps the best analogy lies with Roman Abramovich. "He's far wealthier than me, on a different level. But good businessmen are good for the game. In life there are two sets of people - doers and dreamers.

"The big danger for Chelsea is that if one day Mr Abramovich decides he has had enough, there is a wage bill that cannot be supported and the club would go under. We've done it a different way at Birmingham - the club are not dependent on us at all if we went tomorrow."

You wonder whether that last sentence is a matter of fact or a statement of intent. Spurs? West Ham? Millwall? The net is being cast wide.

WHAT DAVID SULLIVAN THINKS OF . . .

Chelsea

Never say never as far as I am concerned. Who's to say what may happen? But at the moment they seem to be improving all the time under the new chief executive. The new manager has been shown to be not just arrogant but also someone who tells the truth. He is the best.

Tottenham

If they had got to the Carling Cup semi-final it would have been half a good season for them, but if they have a bad run it might put pressure on the board. They are an undervalued club.

Arsenal

They are the best-run club in London. I am in total admiration of them. What they have achieved is incredible.

West Ham

We used to own 27 and a half per cent but I think they regarded us as back-street dirty-book sellers. Now it may be different.

Fulham

If I bought them I would have to get a place in town so that I could stay the night.

Barnet

Tiny but you never know. If I sold out at Birmingham in two years time and nothing came along, I might get interested in a club just for fun. Although really, football is all about history and demographics.

Crystal Palace

It would be a horrible trip. Almost as bad as Birmingham. They are a messy club and I want to have half a chance. It's like Monopoly: if you want to win the game and all you have is Old Kent Road it's damn hard.