Sven, Money, and Promotion

I had decided to write about David Beckham's encounter with abusive LA Galaxy fans today, but an announcement was made this afternoon that neatly encapsulates several trends in English football.

Reports emerged today that Sven Goran Eriksson, former manager of club teams Lazio and Manchester City, and national teams England and Mexico, may soon become the director of football for Nottingham County (aka Notts County) in League 2. Mr Eriksson is one of the most famous football managers in the world and he is being credibly linked with the team that finished 87th in English professional football last year. Is this a joke? No. In fact, despite there being no official comment some commentators are talking about the move as if it is a done deal. How can this be?

Six days ago a mysterious Middle Eastern consortium called 'Munto Finanace' finalised the purchase of Notts County. I say 'mysterious' because despite reports of prolific wealth, Munto Finance has not managed to produce a website (I would suspect that before the purchase of the midlands club it did not exist). So far they have designed a new logo for the club, and apparently, hired Sven. If you are a mysterious Middle Eastern consortium with loads of cash to spend, hiring Sven is a good way to make an initial splash. The question is, though, why would Munto Finance want to buy a club that two seasons ago was on the verge of being relegated to non-league football?

English football clubs have long been the playthings of wealthy Englishmen. The Premier League has become a global sports phenomenon since its inception in 1992, though, and now wealthy foreigners want one too. The first famous example of this was Roman Abromovich's purchase of Chelsea FC in 2003. Despite being one of the richest men in the world, and despite London filling up with rich Russians taking advantage of the UK tax regime, it was a bit of a surprise to the sports world to find that one of the most popular English clubs was suddenly Russian-owned. People worried that Mr Abromovich's oil wealth would be used to 'buy success' in the Premiership. It did - Chelsea won two titles in a row soon after his purchase. Chelsea fans didn't complain, and it did break up the duopoly of Arsenal and Manchester United that had ruled for the few years previously.

Before long, though, obscenely rich people from around the world began to want English football clubs as well. In 2007, Championship side Queens Park Rangers (QPR) were taken over by a consortium of Formula 1 tycoons and Steel magnates (including Lakshmi Mittal few people in the world with more money than Roman Abromovich). Suddenly Chelsea were the second richest club in English football. QPR did not hold the title for long. Just under a year ago mediocre Premiership club Manchester City was bought by Sheikh Mansoor bin Zayed Al Nahyan. You may not know him, but your car does. He is the emir of Abu Dhabi and you have been adding to his wealth every time you fill up your tank. He is so rich it is reported he funded the takeover of Man City with the money he found under the cushions in his sofa.

It now seems that if you are going to have any street cred the next time you play baccarat in Monte Carlo you need to have an English football club in your plaything portfolio. The problem is that not very many Premiership teams are for sale. Not to worry, though. Because of relegation and promotion, you can buy a team lower down and, providing the funds keep coming, spend your way into the Premiership. This is the stated goal of Munto Finanace. There is a touch of romance to this story as well. Notts County is the oldest professional club in the country. They are a founding member of the Football League, but were nearly ejected from it two years ago. Restoring the club to its former glory will make a great story and will certainly be more satisfying than the relatively easy success at Chelsea.

Hiring Sven, assuming it goes ahead, will show everyone they are serious. Every agent in the country will take a call from the ex-England manager. Reporters will listen to what he says. Players will be eager to play for his team. Sexy secretaries will be seduced by his bookish charm....ooh, wait, that's another blog post waiting to happen!

A generation ago fans dreamed of an unproven kid of exceptional ability being spotted by their team. Now fans dream of oil tycoons of whatever nationality buying their club. The trend seems to be to buy lower and lower ranked teams and build them up, so...... anyone interested in Bath City?