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Rich Owners

Bobbywoodhogan
in Football (Other Teams)

Featured Replies

Hi guys

I'm after some help with finding information on rich people who have bankrolled football clubs. I need some back up getting the money argument again and I am failing to find the information I need to back up my argument. Basically could do with information on the guy who saved a Arsenal and hopefully something against Liverpool, United and Leeds.

United were owned by Louis Edwards who owned a meat wholesale business in Manchester. Whilst always having a good following , they really sprung to worldwide appeal via they're greatest disaster at Munich and the iconic players who made their names after the crash.Probably the biggest farce with owners for them was the proposed sale to Michael Knighton who all but bought them for 20m ,even took to the pitch in a strip before a match if I remember correctly and netted in front of the Stretford End only for the sale to fall flat cos he didn't have the funds.

Hi guys

I'm after some help with finding information on rich people who have bankrolled football clubs. I need some back up getting the money argument again and I am failing to find the information I need to back up my argument. Basically could do with information on the guy who saved a Arsenal and hopefully something against Liverpool, United and Leeds.

Have found this about Henry Norris who managed the move of Arsenal from Woolwich.

 

http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/henry-norris-man-who-would-be-king-arsenal

Hi guys

I'm after some help with finding information on rich people who have bankrolled football clubs. I need some back up getting the money argument again and I am failing to find the information I need to back up my argument. Basically could do with information on the guy who saved a Arsenal and hopefully something against Liverpool, United and Leeds.

 

Liverpool winning things started when John Moores, owner of Littlewoods, began investing in the early 60s. They were Division 2 nobodies for years before that. Who'd have thought it, Liverpool buying success with profits made from encouraging the poor to gamble. By a strange coincidence they stopped winning things around the time the Pools got overtaken by the National Lottery in the early 90s.

 

Interesting read about Henry Norris, particularly his relationship with the Liverpool and Football League chairman John McKenna, who presided over a match fixing scandal involving Liverpool and United and subsequently voted for Arsenal to be elected to Division 1 for reasons other than footballing merit.

 

The more you delve into the pasts of these clubs who boast endlessly about their histories, the more grubby episodes you find.

Man Utd

in January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £260,000 in 2015[nb 1] – the club was served with a winding-up order.[19] Captain Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club president), each willing to invest £500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the name;[20] on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officially born.

In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Following the death of principal benefactor John Henry Davies in October 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed control of the club.

Read today that one of Africa's richest men Aliko Dangote wants to buy Arsenal. He's 67th on the Forbes Rich List, worth a couple of billion dollars more than Roman. Shoe could be on the other foot soon  - lol  

  • Author

Read today that one of Africa's richest men Aliko Dangote wants to buy Arsenal. He's 67th on the Forbes Rich List, worth a couple of billion dollars more than Roman. Shoe could be on the other foot soon - lol

Ha, well with FFP he probably won't be able to come in and go nuts

Isnt he Nigerian? So I`d be careful, he might ask Arsenal to first send him their bank details and £5m, just so he can sort it all out with the banks at his end.

I started a different thread called Woolwich Arsenal which details their history. Basically, in the early years of the 20th century they were financially bankrupt, unsuccessful and playing in front of tiny crowds in South London (in a part technically in Kent at the time). Then in 1910 they were bought by a rich businessman named Henry Norris (he was previously involved with Fulham I believe) who subsequently moved them to Islington like a franchise. He paid for the construction of Highbury and they were then able to attract higher crowds and went on to be known as 'The Bank of England Club' (a tag later used for both Everton and Sunderland).

 

When a Gooner questions Chelsea's recent success, all you have to do is ask them three simple yes or no questions:

 

Would Arsenal's historical success have been possible without the financial investment of Henry Norris?

 

Answer: No

 

Was his investment 'earnt money'? (their favourite notion and argument)

 

Answer: No

 

So did they 'buy success'?

 

Answer: Obviously yes

 

Regarding other clubs, there are numerous examples of money men investing money which wasn't organically earnt by the club. Jack Hayward at Wolves, Sir John Hall at Newcastle, Al Fayed at Fulham (division 4 before he took over and playing in from of around 4,000), Dave Whelan at Wigan, Steve Gibson at Boro, the Moores family at both Liverpool and Everton etc. etc. Then look abroad (particularly Italy) and it is just as prevelant (Berlusconi at Milan, the Agnelli family at Juve, Cragnotti at Lazio etc.). If you are against rich owners then perhaps you should stop watching football as they are and always have been rife.

 

As mentioned above, United have historically been bailed out financially from money men who didn't make their money in football. I often hear they spent money which they earnt 'through their success'. Well in the 70s and 80s they were often the biggest spenders in England and they didn't win the league once in those two decades. True, they did get the biggest attendances (although prior to Munich, Chelsea's were consistently bigger) but this was in the days before mega sponsorship and TV rights. They bought Wilkins from us in 79 (I think) for around 850k which was massive back then. I think to believe they never benefited from outside investment would be naive to say the least.

 

Have these clubs benefited from outside investment to the extent of Chelsea with Abramovich or City with Monsour? No. However, their whole argument is often about 'earning the money' rather than the quantity. Any club who have never benefited from outside investment are free to take the moral highground...but I don't think there would be many who actually exist. 

 

Finally, I think the funniest thing is that it is often United and Liverpool fans who have the most righteous opinions. That Chelsea and City are killing the game with their evil money and that it is against the purer traditions of English football. I could take those accusations a bit more seriously if they weren't both owned by mega money American Sports Owners.  :biggrin:

I recovered a book from my parents house, 100 years of football, nothing in depth but in the 1930's Arsenal picked up the nickname "the bank of England club" because they were throwing money at everything.

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