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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 December 2023
Why buy a football club? Most businesses are there to make profits for their owners, but football is a unique industry because the investments made are frequently emotional or political instead of just financial. Ask a fan what is meant by success and their focus would be on trophies and on-field performances, not a financial return on investment. No two owners are exactly the same, but we can identify some broad ownership models that help us understand how clubs work, or not work, financially.
The traditional capitalist model of company ownership is that of profit maximization. This is an accusation that is often thrown at the likes of the Glazer family at Manchester United, ENIC at Spurs and Mike Ashley at Newcastle United. The accusations have some merit in the sense that the clubs have regularly made profits in recent years. In defence of the Glazer family it could be pointed out that Manchester United would have been more profitable if ticket prices had not been frozen for most of the last decade, Spurs can point to a Champions League final for the first time in their history and Newcastle's owner lent the club a nine figure sum interest free. Trying to work out the actual motives of such owners is challenging, as realistically (except in the case of the Glazers who do earn substantial dividends each year) the owners don't take out large sums from the club, unless at some point in time they sell it to another party.
The local fan made good
Ask a football fan what would they do if they won a huge sum on the lottery and many would reply that they would buy the club they have supported all their life. And for some clubs this is effectively what's happened, but instead of a windfall the fan has been successful in business and so has been in a position to purchase the team they’ve always supported.
In 2017 Huddersfield Town and Brighton & Hove Albion were both promoted to the Premier League for the first time. This would not have been achieved except for the money and devotion of local fan-owners. At Huddersfield Dean Hoyle had followed the club since a boy.
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