Entrepreneur Graham Leslie CBE, the driving force behind the John Smith’s Stadium, is to publish his autobiography

Serial entrepreneur and philanthropist Graham Leslie – who was the driving force behind the building of the John Smith’s Stadium – has written a revealing autobiography.

Graham was chairman of Huddersfield Town in the early 1990s and had the vision and determination for Huddersfield to have the first all-seater football and rugby stadium in Europe – one that would be a trailblazer for the rest.

He founded one of Britain’s most successful pharmaceutical companies, Galpharm – which went on to sponsor the stadium – and Graham later sold the business for $86 million and has since devoted his life to helping other businesses and organizations charitable.

Graham’s book, which marks 30 years since the first game at the ‘new’ stadium, is called Ahead Of The Curve and will, fittingly, be launched at the stadium on Friday 26 July.

The stadium’s famous plan, with its innovative banana-shaped trusses, literally threw a curve ball into stadium design. It was so striking and different that it set the standard for all other sports grounds in Britain and eventually inspired the new Wembley Stadium.

In his book, Graham reveals the perilous state of Huddersfield Town’s finances at the time, how close the club came to plunging into administration, why Leeds Road had to be demolished and how he managed to get a new stadium project off the ground, even though most people. thought it would never happen.

Graham, who received a CBE in 2017 for services to entrepreneurship, has consistently been a disruptor, often thinking and doing things differently to everyone else.

He changed the way drugs such as ibuprofen could be sold in the UK, massively cutting costs and saving the NHS between around £400m and £500m a year.

He is still disrupting today and in his autobiography he reveals how he now plans to change the way the music industry works and also offers vital business advice such as how companies can double their profits in a year.

Graham, who is dyslexic and left school with no recognized qualifications, tells his amazing life story with honesty and humour. It’s full of great anecdotes and reveals how Graham was sometimes lucky to survive both physically and financially, often against all odds.

Graham is a natural philanthropist, so all proceeds from the book go to Slaithwaite-based charity Making Waves, which supports the Waves day center for people aged 18 and over with learning and/or physical disabilities in Huddersfield and not no more. It is one of the most innovative day centers in the UK.

Graham chose to support the charity as the autobiography was co-written with Huddersfield journalist Andy Hirst, whose son George was a member of the Waves and enjoyed being there before he sadly died in July 2021, at the age of only 27.

The book costs £10.99 and people can get it on the day of the launch, when Graham will be signing copies.

It will also be on sale in the Huddersfield Town store and online.

Anyone is welcome to attend the launch which will feature Graham, Huddersfield Town legends Andy Booth, Peter Jackson and Kieran O’Regan and the Making Waves charity.

The event will also reveal how those who buy the book will be able to enter a competition with a prize worth many thousands of pounds.

For more information, email Andy Hirst at [email protected]

Huddersfield Town owner Kevin Nagle says he is close to securing a deal for control of the John Smith’s Stadium.