The boss of Flamingo Land tells CHRIS TITLEY how he became England's youngest football chairman - and why the move worried his family.

IT'S a good job Gordon Gibb has a strong constitution. Twice his world has been flipped over with the sort of stomach-churning lurch that make his Flamingo Land rollercoasters a must for thrill-seekers. First he was catapulted from a university degree course to the top of the family's leisure empire when his father died in a car crash. Then, in a tense few hours earlier this month, he saved Bradford City and, at 26, became the youngest chairman of an English Football League Club.

By taking over at City, Gordon was again following in his father's footsteps. Robert Gibb was chairman of Scottish club Hamilton Academical.

This fact has not been lost on the tight-knit Gibb family. They viewed Gordon's decision to chair Bradford with "some trepidation", he admits.

No wonder. On December 29, 1994, in the midst of the Gibbs' Christmas celebrations, Robert was asked to attend an extraordinary board meeting of Hamilton Academical. Despite treacherous weather, he set off on the 400-mile trip. His car left the A170 Helmsley road and hit a tree stump.

When his family rushed to Robert's bedside in the intensive care unit at Northallerton Hospital, they were told to expect the worst. Yet he pulled through, and was transferred to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield for treatment to his spinal injuries.

Four months after the crash, following an operation, he suffered a heart attack and died. "It was extremely cruel," Gordon said.

When he announced his intention to devote half his working life to a football club, that tragedy came flooding back.

"In the family there's possibly a little bit of bitterness about how my father died in the car crash, pinning a bit of the blame on football in general.

"But I think they know my father would have been 100 per cent in my corner with this venture. They continue to support me and back me in this venture 100 per cent as well."

There is no doubt that Robert Gibb was a profound influence on his only son.

"It wasn't a typical father-son relationship," Gordon says. "He was more of a soul-mate, and for years everything I did, he was involved with.

"Whether that was school work, or after-school sporting events, he was supportive in every aspect of my life."

In the aftermath of the car crash, Gordon, sisters Vicky and Melanie and mum Maureen had to work through their personal anguish to ensure Flamingo Land survived. For Gordon, that meant abandoning a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Glasgow University (he later graduated in business from Hull).

"It was hard work," he admits. "I'm a fighter, my dad was a fighter as well.

"He taught me to be a fighter and that's exactly what I did, as the rest of the family did. We battled to consolidate the business."

Without his dad, Flamingo Land "was like this rudderless ship". Hundreds of jobs were at stake. But together they steered it and their other theme park, Cleethorpes' Pleasure Island, through the stormy waters.

During Gordon's time in charge, Flamingo Land's visitor numbers have risen every year, to 1.3 million in 2001.

According to the latest figures, the North Yorkshire attraction is the second-most popular theme park in the country, behind Legoland. It used to be in fourth place but, bafflingly, the Tussauds group, which owns Alton Towers and Chessington World Of Adventures, has not published new figures.

Now Gordon has a new challenge. Like his dad, he is not averse to risk. Just as Robert Gibb took a massive gamble in buying a run-down zoo near Pickering in 1978, so his son is taking a big chance on Bradford City, whose debts are rumoured to be around £34 million.

Saving the club from extinction was a very close-run thing. Hugely complex legal and financial negotiations took place against a tight deadline set by the Football League. Gordon bought his 49.2 per cent share in the club - the same as new partner Julian Rhodes - for £1.

Although the saviour of the club, he is not one to bask in the fans' gratitude, and adopted a low-key approach to City's first home game. "I didn't go on the pitch, that's not my style.

"They tried to get me into the centre circle to introduce me to the fans, but I think the fans have had enough of an evangelical style of chairmanship."

His youth has led some to question his ability to turn the club round. But as he points out, he has been at the head of another seasonal-based leisure industry since 1995, and that has done pretty well. And he has already invested £2 million of his own money.

That is not to say he underestimates the task ahead. "It's definitely a high risk."But my attitude has always been that the potential for success is increased accordingly with the extent of the risk."

Gordon also believes he has absorbed some of the skills of chairmanship from watching his dad at Hamilton Academical.

Robert Gibb tried to become more involved at York City back in the early Nineties, but was rebuffed. Gordon's more recent offer of help was similarly rebuffed.

So he is glad to see the previous directors gone and Bootham Crescent in new hands.

"The last of the dinosaurs have disappeared," he says. "Hopefully, we have got some more visionary, forward-thinking people at the helm, to give York City more chance of progressing.

"Had the club been sold to my father, as former chairman Michael Sinclair wished at the time, I can be 100 per cent confident that York City would be up in a higher division."

Gordon has always been passionate about sport, particularly football. His dad actually prevented the Hamilton manager from signing up his son, as he did not want football to interfere with his education.

While a pupil at St Peter's in York - a rugby school - he switched to the oval ball. Born on the West Coast of Scotland, he played rugby for Scotland Colts while at university.

Today he considers Yorkshire home. His dad took over Flamingo Land in 1978 when Gordon was three, and the family moved here four years later. He must have been the envy of his mates - a kid with his own theme park. "There's an obvious enjoyable side to the family owning and running a theme park and zoo," he said. "You're never short of friends, especially on birthdays."

But he also saw how much hard work it took.

Gordon has never shirked hard work. He now plans to devote four days a week to Bradford City and the remaining three to Flamingo Land. Most working days come in at 16 hours.

At the same time, he is planning his May wedding to Victoria Binnington, a theme park designer he met when she created Flamingo Land's seaside area last year.

Then there are his dogs, a Great Dane and German Shepherd, to walk.

So when does he find time to relax? "I watch football for 90 minutes on a Saturday afternoon," he says.

Updated: 10:30 Tuesday, August 27, 2002