Lewis Cox: West Brom, football and philanthropy, Shilen Patel's passion shone through
Shilen Patel’s passion and connection to this project he has undertaken at Albion, as well as his family’s history and values, were evident in an hour or so of his company last week.
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The Express & Star was invited as one of three local media outlets for lunch with the club’s new owner and chairman less than 24 hours after last Wednesday’s pulsating draw with QPR at Loftus Road.
The 43-year-old Florida-based millionaire covered a number of subjects, some covered in an interview with BBC Radio WM, available in full on air at 7pm on Wednesday evening.
While most around the table were bleary-eyed from a late night in West London, entrepreneur and investor Patel was keen to open up about himself and his background.
His passion for becoming a custodian at an historic football club, a craving for involvement in the sport, the Patel family’s philanthropic values, centered around education and healthcare, shone through.
Shilen and his father, Dr Kiran, have taken over the club from Guochuan Lai in a £60million acquisition. Kiran is a medical professional and philanthropist, following in the footsteps of his father, Shilen’s grandfather, who the family calls ‘bapuji’ and died when the Albion chairman was young. A few weeks prior to that, he gained the permit from the Indian government to build a hospital in India.
Albion’s owner explained that his family’s vision is to invest in infrastructure and opportunity to inspire growth, both in education and health. There is a passion to continue a global legacy left by the grandfather, to plant seeds and watch them grow.
