Just how many billionaire clubs are there now – and how successful have they been? « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News, supporting the club, the players and the manager
by Tony Attwood
I had just got used to thinking that we had two billionaire clubs doing the rounds – Man City and Chelsea.
The came the news that PSG was in the same group – and then Malaga. And there is QPR although I can’t quite work out what is going on there.
So I am trying to build a list of such people and their teams and hope you will help. My point is that if the number of billionaire clubs in which the billionaires spend their money on players over and over again until they win something, then that is a real challenge both for Uefa and for the essence of football. Ultimately the traditional way football is run vanishes, and we have a billionaires club. The players might still be on the pitch following the rules, but it doesn’t have much to do with the tribal origins of the game – which still mean a lot to quite a few of us.
Restricting myself to Europe here are a few others that have come over the horizon
- Amancio Ortega has Deportivo de la Coruna
- Silvio Berlusconi owns Milan
- Francois Pinault owns Rennes
- John Fredricksen owns Valerenga (Norway)
Then there is the case of Anzhi Makhachkala bought by Suleyman Kerimov and/or Magomedsalam Magomedov. They are managed by Guus Hiddink and are looking to buy Robin van Persie.
Some of these cases are curious – Milan doesn’t seem to be buying nearly so many players these days. There is also QPR which is no longer owned by a billionaire. There is also Kronke owning Arsenal – but not putting his personal wealth into the buying of players.
And hasn’t Monaco just been sold?
What I want to do, and the area in which I need help, is to get a list of the clubs in Europe with their big time owners, and note their success levels, to try and work out just how successful the process of throwing lots of money at a club actually is.
If you have some insights or thoughts onto any club associated with a very rich owner, and if poss (but not essentially) the use it is making of the money, please write in.