Rupert Lowe

Rupert James Graham Lowe is a British businessman, who was the chairman of Southampton Football Club from 1996 to 2006. He regained his power in May 2008, teaming up with Michael Wilde, who had previously forced Lowe out, becoming chairman of the club's parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC, before resigning on 2 April 2009 after the company was placed into administration.

Rupert Lowe was educated at Radley College and Reading University before gaining a reputation working in the city for companies such as Morgan Grenfell and Deutsche Bank. He was also a board member of the London International Financial Futures Exchange. He founded Secure Retirements, a quoted care home provider, with Andrew Cowen, the former Southampton F.C. Vice Chairman.

In the mid-1990s, the Saints board were looking to float the club on the , a long and costly procedure. Therefore, they attempted a 'reverse takeover' as a way to reduce costs. They needed to find a company that had already floated and take it over while effectively being taken over themselves. Lowe's Secure Retirements, which ran Nursing homes, was a perfect candidate. The resultant group was renamed Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC.

After the deal was completed, Lowe became chairman of the football club. This was despite him being an avid rugby union watcher and hockey player, who had only seen his first professional football game six months previously.

Fans' groups were initially undecided about Lowe. He had vast business expertise, a vital trait for any chairman of a football club, but he also knew hardly anything about the game. Soon after the takeover, Graeme Souness and Lawrie McMenemy left the club, citing 'difficulties' with the new owners. This came as a huge shock to many fans and to the local press, who regarded McMenemy as 'Mr. Southampton'.

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