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Leighton Samuel is a Welsh businessman, and former owner of several sporting teams in South Wales. In 1988, Samuel founded picture frame manufacturer Décor Frame, now Dekor plc, in Bridgend, South Wales. ==Bridgend RFC & Celtic Warriors== Samuel purchased Bridgend RFC in the mid-1990s. He attempted to merge them with Neath in 2002. Bridgend won the Welsh Championship in 2003. In the summer of 2003, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) voted to reduce the top tier of Welsh rugby union from nine clubs in the Celtic League into five regions through a series of mergers. The new Celtic Warriors officially represented the Mid-Glamorgan Valleys area, which in practice meant that they were a combination of Pontypridd RFC and Bridgend RFC with the two parent clubs continuing in the Welsh Premier Division. Games were to be rotated between Pontypridd's Sardis Road and Bridgend's Brewery Field. To concentrate on the Celtic Warriors, Samuel decided to withdraw his financial backing of Bridgend RFC in March 2004. The original club was finally wound up by HM Revenue and Customs in 2006.() Fans and businessmen of the area resurrected the team, naming it Bridgend Ravens as the name Bridgend RFC was still owned by Samuel. Financial problems at Pontypridd RFC led to the sale of their half of the Warriors () to Leighton Samuel for £100,000; which he gifted to the WRU (), his attempt to become sole owner of the club having been blocked by the WRU.() Samuel's attempt to buy Sardis Road's ground lease to be an all-seater stadium for the Celtic Warriors was rejected by the Pontypridd's trustees.() Games were moved away from Sardis Road to Brewery Field on commercial grounds (), which led to threats of legal action from Pontypridd Supporters Club. Plans to merge Warriors with Cardiff Blues collapsed when Cardiff Athletic Club, the largest shareholders in Cardiff RFC made it clear they would not allow a combined side to use the Arms Park. The merger talks had attracted protests from both sets of fans. () Trouble followed in the spring and early summer of 2004 where Leighton Samuel repeatedly threatened and revoked threats of selling the club (); one such instance went as far as Samuel accepting an offer from the WRU citing a lack of support from fans in the new Bridgend / Pontypridd region, before changing his mind.() This transaction was considered to be legally binding, and the Warriors became 100% owned by the WRU. On the advice of David Moffett who cited spiralling debts, the club was dissolved with Leighton Samuel reportedly receiving £875,000 for his shares. () Samuel alleged that he only sold his share in the Warriors to the WRU because they agreed to keep the region going. The WRU denied this but Leighton Samuel took them to court claiming a misrepresentation of sale and loss of earnings from Brewery Field which he still owned. The WRU settled out of court. () 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Leighton Samuel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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