David Gold says taking charge of West Ham United is the proudest moment of his football career.

David Sullivan and Gold launched the latest bid three months ago.

They even revealed that until late on Monday night THREE parties thought they were in the driving seat.

Gold said: "Throughout the day we had lawyers scurrying to complete the finer details.

"Because the board had surrendered certain decision-making processes to the banks we were almost carrying out two sets of negotiations.

"But apart from that there was always the worry that one of the other groups might make it happen for themselves.

"Finally - right on the stroke of midnight - the call came from David Sullivan.

"That woke me up very quickly - the greatest moment of my footballing career."