Football Club Ownership: The rise and domination of overseas owners and their impact on the world of football

Local TV Sport

As seasons go by, we’ve seen more billionaire takeovers and more protests from fans for clubs owners to move on. So, how important are football owners to a clubs overall success and how much has their involvement grown over the last decade?

Transcript

00:00 Whether it be an individual or a state-owned group, football owners have an increased power

00:07 and control over the clubs they are involved with. Comparing the lowest net worth of owners

00:13 in the Premier League to the highest, Sheffield United's Saudi paper manufacturer ownership

00:18 have an estimated net worth of £157 million. That sound a lot? Well, Newcastle's Sovereign

00:26 Wealth Public Investment Fund, who own 80% of the club, have an estimated net worth of

00:31 £320 billion, making the owners the richest in world football. So how does this affect

00:38 the fans after year upon year we see more takeovers completed? I think as long as it's

00:45 done in the right way, that's it as well. A club keeps its identity and stuff. Newcastle's

00:50 the one for me that I always think about in recent terms, obviously. I think we talked

00:53 off air about it before the takeover and they were in the relegation zone, weren't they

00:57 really? The takeover happened and I've got friends who are Newcastle fans and I remember

01:01 saying at the time it's only a matter of time before they'll be challenging for the league.

01:04 Then you get a few people saying that probably won't be the case. It's not always the case

01:07 that money buys success, but it usually does. That's the brutal reality of it and you've

01:12 only got to look at what's going on with all the moves over to Saudi and Qatar and stuff

01:15 and it's changing the whole landscape of everything really. There are also cases where despite

01:21 having the funds and assets to be worth millions if not billions, success on the pitch can

01:27 stray from the overall goals set by these investors. Looking at French giants Paris

01:32 Saint-Germain, for the first three years of their existence they were fan owned. In 2012,

01:38 Qatar Sports Investment became the sole owner of the club with one aim, to win the Champions

01:44 League. There are also cases in England where the owners have never been on the fans' side

01:50 despite success on the pitch.

01:52 What's just fine is a good owner as well because Fenway Sports Group at Liverpool never put

01:58 the club in any trouble. They've regenerated the stadium, the training grounds, but it

02:05 comes back to supporters not being happy by what they're spending on players. That's the

02:14 bit that a lot of supporters do see the most.

02:17 Saudi Arabia have shown this summer how interested they are in enhancing and getting more and

02:24 more involved in football. Qatar have shown that as well. We've obviously got Abu Dhabi

02:29 and Manchester City. I just think more and more, particularly Saudi Arabia, they are

02:34 really interested in getting their claws into football. Whether that's through ownership

02:37 or whether that's through anything else, who knows. I think that in the next five to ten

02:42 years that's probably where I see happening more and more with football ownership.

02:45 Well, a variety of different takes and thoughts on football ownership and these new investors

02:53 in the game. But one thing for certain is hoping that these owners don't enable football,

02:59 especially in England, to stray away from its roots.

03:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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