This is a strange view not at all recognised by the vast majority of people in the UK. Watford supporters are pleased their club is being run by experienced business people who have a love association with professional football. They love the financial solidity and respect for tradition. Are you suggesting Watford supporters would feel more affinity with their club if it was owned by a red hatted local businessman? There is also no desire for supporters to invest real money in their club to 'take over ownership'. They are quite happy for others to take the financial risks and to be able to freely moan about them when not 100% successful. Thankfully the German model will not catch on in the UK.
Well said............... football has gone to the dogs.... well hang on we started with dogs at the Vic Seriously though....... How any decent human ordinary supporter can say the financial set up we have in the Prem is beneficial the sport is beyond me....
The fact that the Pozzos have shown a respect for the traditions of the club is purely a matter of luck SH. The fact is that under the rules governing English football they could do more or less anything which they wanted with the club - whether traditional or not. Luck was on our side - we could have been Coventry or Wimbledon. It is a matter of luck for the Pozzos that they took us over at our lowest ebb - ie. from Bassini - had they taken over directly from Elton John then the reaction would have been much more critical from the fans.
Football is more than just a business SH. It's roots were not corporate - a football club is an organic part of the town which gave birth to it and they existed long before predatory capitalists casted their hungry eyes on the sport.
SH is only interested in what he has at Watford. The model doesn't exist throughout the game however. Coventry City are now playing their home games at Birmingham FC since they were taken over by a hedge fund. Wimbledon and Brighton both lost their home grounds when property speculators took over. Imagine if WFC had not been so lucky, they could have been doing a ground share with Luton.
The problems with professional football in England is when those running their respective clubs fail to run it on a sensible financial basis.
Watford fans are not stupid, they lived through the time when EJ became bored with Watford during his drug and booze period. He looked to ditch the club a.s.a.p. On the other hand the Pozzos have hardly put a foot wrong, they should be recognised as certainly equally the best Watford owners with EJ. There are many good owners of football clubs in England. There is also zero interest in German type ownership.
I doubt that anyone would disagree with you about what the Pozzo's have done for Watford, but that is not the point of this discussion. It is about foreign owners coming in without any football allegiance, but because of the money they can bring take over a club and turn it into a money making investment. If they can provide enough money then they can effectively buy a team. It cannot be good for football to turn a 92 club structure into a mini*league of six clubs.
I do not think that you are in any position to makes broad claims about 'zero interest' SH, seeing as how the majority of fans in England know very little about it. I agree that England has a different history in as much as most/if not all clubs have always been football only clubs whereas on the continent they have tended to be sports clubs, with a footballing department. Obviously taking over an entire sports club with 200,000 members, all rooted in the history and traditions of the club, is a daunting prospect for any entreprenour. I can say that if you go looking for clubs in Germany which have gone bankrupt, or gone into liquidation, or into administration then you will have a long fruitless search. I dare say that the fans of Man City or Chelsea would have zero interest in German style ownership - Liverpool or Man utd would be more interested (because they have large numbers of club members), Coventry or Sunderland fans may be very interested, and for Bury, Bolton or Luton it could have been a lifeline.
This is not what is happening. The EPL is more open at the top in the last few seasons with Leicester, Burnley, Sheffield and Leicester again displacing traditional top teams. There is also nothing wrong with a football club making a profit. Supporters were quite happy in the past for local businessmen to pour their fortunes into vanity projects. When / if, the Pozzos want to end their association with WFC I would not begrudge them making a huge financial profit. They had the skill and guts to invest in WFC when others failed to see the potential. The EPL is a fantastic spectacle, yesterday and Norwich on Friday showed how good it is. It is understandable why the EPL is in such demand around the world.
The 'top six' in the EPL this year could conceivably include Leicester, Wolves and Sheffield Utd, it does not support your 'money men' theory.
Man U given the benefit of a VAR call again! Everton winner ruled out for offside which was pretty harsh.
Villa did well defending wise and will rue the wrongly awarded corner but Man C deserved to win . Great save by Bravo at the end to prevent penalties.
I can say UK fans are not interested in German type set ups because there is no perceivable appetite whatsoever unless a club is so desperate it has no other possible options. Even then fans are not interested in raising sufficient capital. They are quite happy for others to invest and take the flak. Can you see Liverpool fans raising over a billion pounds to take over the club, it is with the fairies.
I think that where you and I differ SH is that I am far more inclined than you to want to see football at all levels played and enjoyed. I want to see clubs everywhere that the kids can go to, get out in the fresh air, take some exercise, and learn to play a game fairly with others. I want to see clubs for adults for very much the same reasons, as I would like to preserve the tradition of all small towns and villages having their own team to play the national game. During the football season many games get put off because of the state of the pitches, and this is getting worse because of councils being unable to fund some basic maintenance. Most of these clubs exist on a shoestring applying for grants wherever available simply to buy kit and balls. The price of your cheap season ticket is enough to kit out a team for an entire season. Let there be a levy on PL teams that is to support grassroots football. We see clubs such as Watford doing their bit in the community which I applaud, and other clubs have their own ways of trying to help. With some of the largest clubs such as Man Utd having income of £627 M in a year I don't think that being asked to pay a fixed percentage of that income would even be noticed, and I doubt there would be any reduction of the standard of play. I would rather see the kids in England enjoying the game rather than know that money was leaving the country to repay the debts that an American has loaded onto one of our clubs.
I was one of the many thousands of Watford fans who bought shares in 2001 that money disappeared with the next takeover of the club, I invested a couple of hundred pounds others may have invested much more Without doubt the best thing that happened to Watford since Elton John in 1977 was the Pozzo takeover, without that we would be playing Stevenage or even worse How any true Watford supporter can argue that that was not the best thing for our club is totally beyond me At least it was not a Middle East or Far East takeover
I can only remember one person who no longer comes to this forum wishing that the Pozzo's hadn't taken over the club, and that was a very long time ago. You said " At least it was not a Middle East or Far East takeover." Should that have been a Middle East or Far East takeaway?
