Albion blogger Jarrod Hill talks about the legion of foreign investment in the Premier League, the pitfalls and wonders whether it will all end in tears ahead of the international break.
As we do not have an Albion game to look forward to this weekend, I have decided to take a closer look at the current state of the Premier League and ask the question, are we in danger of killing the golden goose?
The Premier League is funded by television revenue and the money involved is staggering.
Manchester United were the top earners last season, managing to rake in £80million while on their way to collecting the Premier League and Champions League trophies.
At the other end of the scale we have Derby County. Their ill fated campaign and record breaking points total still managed to earn them £28million for the season, plus two further parachute payments.
The money involved is amazing, yet even the average fan is getting used to hearing these figures banded about. The shock factor has long since left us.
Owning a football club in England used to be because you loved your club and were lucky enough to have the financial clout to do it.
That situation still remains to some degree in the lower leagues, yet the Premier League has become the playground of the mega wealthy, who view owning a club as a means to establish further wealth, gain notoriety, or use the club to help globally brand their businesses.
Currently we have nine Premier League clubs owned by foreign investors, with a further three British owned clubs effectively up for sale (Everton, Newcastle, and West Brom).
Yet it is easy to construct an argument for foreign investment in your own club.
Last season all of the top four clubs in England were owned by foreigners, with only two clubs in the top ten British owned.
I have recently observed events at Manchester City with great interest. The whole Thaksin Shinawatra situation for me has left a stain on English football, but that is soon forgotten as we quickly move on to the next big story, in this case the new owners and their immeasurable wealth.
Now we have a situation at Newcastle were the chairman arrives in a blaze of glory, declaring himself a huge fan. Within twelve months, if rumours are to believed, he is looking to sell the club for a profit.
So I have three questions burning in my mind I need help with.
To be competitive in the Premier League, does a club need mega foreign investment?
And are we in danger of killing the golden goose that is the Premier League?
Clubs such as ourselves and Hull City are fighting to prove you can remain competitive without being owned by super rich overseas investors, but can it be maintained?
The current world financial situation has affected every other market place, so are we being naïve to think it will not influence football?
For example the owner of West Ham, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, this week disclosed he was a major shareholder in Landsbanki, which has just gone into receivership, effectively leaving the club with no transfer funds in January.
The golden goose might still be laying golden eggs today, but will it tomorrow and long into the future?
What do you think?
14 Comments
fully agree,as we have all seen money does not bring success,chelsea for instance have had a few managers now but only 1 has acheived trophy`s .
So it is as much to do with coaching and management as it will ever be for how much money you throw at it,it has been pointed out by the abu dhabi clan that they will merchandise anything to do with man city-which in my veiw is tapping into a market of undefined proportion.
Man city will not be bothered about success on the pitch yet it is about the so-called brand awareness(differant word for exploitation of loyal fan`s)how can having a fast food chain devoted to man city have any real reflection of the club ,it is all about the pound sign`s and one day it will only be about the revenue a club can bring in and trophy`s will be second.
This is only my own opinion and i know most will not agree.
Thought provoking blog Jarrod. My views are this:
1. What we are witnessing is irriversible and there’s more to come.
2. It has created the have’s and have not’s; we already have a two tier league within the EPL. The big spenders will continue to widen the gap and leave the rest with nothing but survival to aim for.
3. As for clubs like ours, it is essential we retain a good Chairman / Manager combination and a ceiling on players pay. An excellent youth development scheme and a good scouting team to bring in fine youngsters etc.
4. As for us fans, we have to be realistic about our expectations; the good young players will be sold on as they themselves seek to earn more and also win trophies. We will need that process to secure our very survival in the top flight. Depressingly negative I know but strongly realistic.
I’m grateful we have great management at the moment and I’m grateful that the decade thus far has provided tremendous excitement every year - and terrific entertainment. Without the moneybags, that’s as much as we can expect now.
I wouldn’t swap what we’ve had this decade with numerous ‘bigger’ clubs outside the top 4; ironically, we’re on the verge of becoming like them - win a few, lose a few and end of season. There’s much merit in the bouncing up and down but always a risk of not making it back. However, that’s where we are and what we can expect. So what? WBA is my club, my emotional roller coaster and I love it!
BTW, I’m off to Abu Dhabi shortly, want me to have a word? LOL.
A salary cap’s the only way to stop our top flight spiralling towards self-destruction.
Make it a percentage of turnover so as not to penalise the bigger clubs and reward the bigger players with a percentage of the merchandising that relates to them.
If things continue as they are, foreign investors will take the game away from the fans i.e. huge increases in ticket prices, european leagues etc.
Also, player salaries are said to be increasing at 12% per annum, this is simply unsustainable, clubs will struggle even more to balance the books, essentially being subsidised by the sugar daddies, who will eventually walk away, leaving a lot of clubs in serious trouble.
Hats off to JP for the way our club’s being run, wouldn’t swap it for the world, and I think we may be one of the few beneficiaries when the game descends into inevitable financial meltdown in the next few years.
The golden goose has been plucked and the oven is ready, I feel some of these clubs will go under due to massive wages and no money to pay them, but at least both of our clubs a pretty solvent.
Glad i spent so much time writing this blog,LMAO!
I think “the bigger they are, the harder they’ll fall”
Our best move is to stay doing exactly what we are doing - being run on a sound financial footing, not in the hands of some oligarch who could drop us just as quickly as they picked us up (mentioning no names: Chelsea, Man City, Newcastle, Pompey even - Oops!).
When the day comes that these ‘new’ owners decide they’re ready to leave football and follow their lifetime love of xxxxxx (insert as applicable). we’ll soon see a shift in the balance of power within the top flight.
It may not be this year, it may not even be this decade, but the change will come and we (like the other well run teams) will be much better equipped to handle the change than others
I am happy that we are owned by a West Brom fan and would like to keep it that way. He has an emotional attachment and is running our club within our means. I am very sceptical of all this money pouring in and think it will not last. The financial meltdown has shown that there is a price to pay for a debt fuelled world. This financial crisis will no doubt have a huge impact on our Premier League. I can see problems for some ‘big’ clubs and you know what…….. I don’t give a damn if they disappear into oblivion. To answer your questions, 1. It depends what success means. To win the league or get in the Champions league then, at the moment, you need mega rich investment, but success for many clubs is surviving in the prem, and for that you need to use the ‘Prem’ money wisely and have a good set up/manager. 2. Yes, we are in danger of killing the golden goose premier league, and to be honest, I hope that happens. 3. Yes, it can be maintained without foreign investement.
The problem will all of this extra investment is where the money is ending up i.e. in the pockets of players, managers and agents. The clubs, in terms of the supporters, don’t really benefit by that much. In fact, if anything, the supporters have lost out as a result of all of the extra money in the game because it has driven up the prices of everything and taken a good many traditional supporters out of the game because they can no longer afford to go. Personally I am delighted that the Albion haven’t got one of these foreign mega investors and in time I’m sure that the clubs that have, will come to regret it.
Hi Bomber - i think the lack of response may be down to the sad news about The Horse…. but you are right in saying that football ownership is now about status for the mega wealthy.
I know we have invited investment, and will probably be brought out when we stay up - but i’m proud that we have achieved what we have with a British owner who is actually a fan of the team - he invested in us for the love of the club.
Middlesbrough have also benefitted from having a fan as a chairman, but this is becoming a rarity now.
I was more than a little pleased to see West ham feel the effects of the financial credit crunch and hope it serves as a warning to us and others.
Even man Utd will be affected if AIG goes down the pan.
Worrying times ahead unless your owner has oil money - maybe we should give Peace a chance ???
Sorry I’m late on this one Bomber - We have the IT Police at work now watching our every move !! Looks like my postings are going to be severely reduced !! Mind you there are some that would think that’s no bad thing !!!!
As usual, a good thought provoking blog my friend. Something I’ve wondered for a long time now, is money goimg to kill the game as we know it ? A break away league has been talked about many times and sooner or later the ‘Big’ clubs are gonna break away. Not necessarily because they want to, but because they have become so money focused that they will have to, to try and corner even more of the available cash to ‘feed the monster’. What effect that will have on the rest I don’t know and I really dread to think. I would hazard a guess that for a while a lot of the smaller clubs would go under and the ‘nurseries’ that they were for young talent would cease. Eventually those that survive will start the whole process again but hopefully next time around the indecnt haste for money will not be repeated. Utopia ? Who knows, but I honestly don’t want to think about not being able to talk about the Wolves (or the Baggies) in the way that we can now.
Looking at things in the current state of things. It does seriously make you wonder how many of the current premier clubs could go under ? As you mention WHU could be a prime candidate and any of those that have Banks or Insurance Companies as sponsors/owners could struggle. God, I’m depressing myself here !! I’ll have the whole game bankrupt if I carry on.
Anyway let’s look forward and stay cheerful. Believe it or not, you guys could make me very happy next week !! All you gotta do is beat thos Reds. I’ll have everything crossed for you my friend !!
Hi Jarrod
Hope you are well. I really enjoyed the article. I know what a frustration it can be when you put so much effort into a blog and get little response. I think I did one last year on an the best 11 who had represented Wolves at an International level and got a handful of responses.
I think the sad news about the Horse has meant that Albion fans thoughts are elsewhere.
Have a good weekend and I hope the training is going well (if at all?).
I agree,give peace a chance.Ithink I,ve said before it would be nice to stay up,but not at all costs.Keep WBA British if at all possible.The big byers from abroad don,t understand football anyway,only as a commodity.Prem. or Championship as long as we solvent?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
AS I HAVE ALWAYS SAID ,IF YOURE WAITING FOR THE ALBION TO SPEND 10 MILLION ON A PLAYER YOU MAY ASWELL GO SUPPORT SOMEONE ELSE BUT AT LEAST WE ALL KNOW WE WILL STILL HAVE SOME TEAM TO SUPPORT IN 5 YEARS TIME
Hull is right now the prove that its possible to compete with limeted finances. Heart and belive is enough. Not for the title, but to stay, and improve year after year. Its all in the head/brain. Why is it that some teams can only preform at home, and the same 11, a simular pitch, ball ect are useless the next week. Its the same rules, and 11 v 11. Its all in the brain, and thats also one of the reasons the rich teams has an advantage even before the game has started. “we cant winn on the road and we cant beat the big teams” Trust me, not long from now we will be laughing at the fact that we were talking about the advantage of playing at home. It only takes a “brainwash” to change that.
On another note: Is the Woodmann Corner Pub still there, and if so, what time would be good to turn up there on a sat. ?
Other pubs around the Hawthorne worth a visit. Ill be there for the Blackburn game on nov 1st. As you can see, its been a few years since last time. Lived in Gran Canaria 11 years, and I think we are talking 8-9 years. Obviesly its my first P L game, and I cant wait. Boing boing Danish Baggie