the last few months, but P Riddy is surely the most ridiculous.
The former Leeds chairman may not have become a rapper since leaving Elland
Road but the change in his public image is almost as unlikely.
Ridsdale has moved from sinner to saviour by simply driving 25 miles down
the M1. The man widely reviled for selling-off David O'Leary's Champions
League semi-finalists and sending Leeds to the brink of extinction through
extravagant overspending, is now being revered for saving Barnsley from a
similar fate.
Ridsdale's experience at Leeds would have put many people off football for
life - he was forced to sneak out of his last game as chairman because the
abuse was too much for his wife - but he was always destined to stay in the
game.
He spent the summer searching for a club and approached Queens Park
Rangers, who entertain Barnsley tonight, before deciding to stay in
Yorkshire. Speaking in his modest office at Oakwell, where even the
chairman mucks in and makes the tea, Ridsdale explained his rush to return.
"People say it was very quick but I left Leeds in March and it's taken me
until now to get back into football," he said. "What else do you do? I have
to do something when I wake up in the morning. I can't stick around at home
because the wife would get sick of me.
"Being a football club chairman is in the blood. I went to a number of
games after I left Leeds and when you go back to watch it's hard not to be
involved. A number of clubs approached me and I made a list of clubs I was
interested in. I was invited to have a look at Oldham and Luton, while QPR
fitted the bill.
"QPR wanted the investment but not my day-to-day involvement and I wasn't
happy with that. They were very honest and I respect that. (Chairman) Nick
Blackburn has done a very good job but if I was going to invest I wanted to
be heavily involved."
As well as his love for the game Ridsdale is motivated by a determination
to prove his critics wrong.
After Leeds' free-spending adventure turned sour, with debts of £80million
forcing the sale of several key players, he was lampooned as a feckless
fool who spent money he didn't have and dubbed 'Publicity Pete' because of
his love of the limelight. Ridsdale rejects such accusations and feels he
was made a scapegoat for decisions taken by the entire board.
"I was stunned by the speed with which people turned from friend to foe.
For the first five years everyone was saying nice things but as soon as we
had a difficult period everyone turned on me," he said. "In a public
company you have a board of very able people, but you'd think I was the
only director.
"I didn't choose to be high-profile and was forced into that position.
During my time as chairman, George Graham left for Tottenham, there was the
plane crash at Stansted, two supporters were murdered in Istanbul and we
had two very high-profile players in court.
"I felt those issues required leadership from the board, not the manager,
and took a leadership position. I was complimented by the press but as soon
as it started going wrong I was accused of seeking publicity."
Ridsdale's reputation was hardly helped over the summer when new chairman
Professor John McKenzie released details of the club's lavish spending,
including £600,000-a-year on 76 company cars, £70,000 on private jets and
£20-a-month on goldfish for the boardroom.
Ridsdale resists the temptation to criticise his successor, or indeed any
aspect of the club's new regime, but is clearly unhappy such figures were
made public.
He said: "I'd question the number of company cars and the jets were used on
a small number of occasions, usually for the manager, and on one occasion
to sort out the Rio Ferdinand money quickly.
"If you're about to sell a player for £30m then £10,000 seems a reasonable
expense. I didn't have a company car and drove myself to work everyday.
"The boardroom is where we entertain visiting teams and £200-a-year for a
fish tank is not that much for a club with a turnover of £80m. Mind you,
I'll concentrate on sorting out the football club before I bring some fish
to Oakwell."
After life in the goldfish bowl at Leeds, Ridsdale is happy in the quieter
ponds of the Nationwide League. Barnsley may have spent the last 10 months
in administration and have only 14 fit outfield players for tonight's game,
but have at least one advantage over their Yorkshire rivals.
Ridsdale said: "At the moment our cash-flow is good and we have money in
the bank, which makes a pleasant change."
Leeds fans may not like the joke, but it's good to see P Riddy laughing
again.