The perilous state of Bolton Wanderers - one of the great old clubs - is very sad. Whilst WFC is on an upward curve and have a totally different setup, the BW situation does rather highlight the madness that is the Premier League, and I write this mindful of where BW were about 3 years ago. Relegation from the Prem is a near death sentence especially for those clubs like BW where crowds have fallen as transport links have improved -and the magnetism of Merseyside/Manchester clubs has drained their traditional support. Are we in a similar predicament with regards to crowd levels and other clubs nearby ? Does crowd size matter ? Probably not. But staying in the Prem matters quite disproportionately. The selfishness and greed of the FA and a few club owners have brought us to this depressing state of affairs. Currently WFC is in the best position it has ever been in, possibly, and with owners who seem to know how to make longevity work. I sincerely hope that their Italian/Spanish experience works well for us, and does not blind them to the lunacy that is the hallmark of football economics in the top 2 divisions of England. Don't take this as a sign of unhappiness - I haven't had as much fun watching WFC since 1976-1985 (with a couple of other years thrown in along the way). It's just a note of caution.
I know where you are coming from on this topic and feel the same way . Really enjoying Watford's current success and long may it last . A pozzotive path could lead us to European football , a sniff at the title and a wonderfully upgraded enlarged stadium drawing supporters away from the big London clubs ...Equally I would not be surprised to see us in the third tier within 5 years . Sadly even if we consolidate and achieve mid table prem status for a decade , we will lose the buzz and increasingly moan ..that's just human nature . I wonder what the true intentions of the Pozzos are ... Their worldwide scouting model is now being widely copied , so they will eventually lose that competitive edge . Did they buy Watford , not merely as a finishing school / shop window for their talent ...but could it be that we were a club they could buy relatively cheaply , fatten up to sell at a vast profit to wealthy Arabs , Yanks , Chinese , Indians or whoever ... Only time will tell , but I'm enjoying this midlife distraction .
A good post, I think it says to us all to "carpe diem!" We just don't know what's round the corner so just make hay while the sun shines!
No idea what's around the corner but we are heavily reliant on the Pozzos personal intentions. With improving links to the ground I see us growing in match day appeal and ever the optimist hope they are keen on keeping Ude, Grenada and Watford as a trio of clubs..
If Mr Pozzo is a mad keen , passionate Udenese supporter at heart , who would blame him if at some time into the future , he took say £200 million clear profit on his dealings with Watford , to plough back into the Italian club . The Pozzos have been great owners to date ... But they are business people ...very different owners to Elton John . If they get an offer of huge investment they may dilute their stake or uproot ...the Premier league is nothing more than big business. One concern I have is that football in general might have peaked ...look at the crowds at Prem games ...loads of the supporters are 50 plus , although it was good to hear plenty of youngsters sing from the family stand on Saturday ( reminded me of my trips to Wembley for England schoolboy Internationals ) .....Football also has priced out a significant number of traditional supporters . also in general , many of the games are dull and atmosphere poor ( need to rip out 50% of seats from grounds ) . There are so many more distractions for youngsters today ... fewer will become keen supporters in this multi media / digital world ... fewer play football today . Things like the BBC televising American Football are also a potential future threat . I know several young lads who cant stand football , but love the American game .
I share concerns.... but there is one thing I will say. The Pozzos, any decent owner, want a successful business.. Watford are now in the most profitable, potentially, football league worldwide. Revenue streams come in the main from TV.... and the income streams are going up and up. So we stay in the top division we generate income and the business is profitable. Why sell it.... and the Pozzos are a family...
I think Gino has built a relationship and hopefully affection for the club. Yellow tinted specs but I like to think that a real return can be made by a multi franchise owning family in different countries than separate ownership that 1+1+1=5 effect and the best way forward for the Pozzos will be continued expansion of clubs owned with Watford and the Premier league being the flagship. Access to player factories in all the major leagues has to be an effective way and the future can bring development of those high value home grown players. The big threat would be a change in UEFA rules on ownership then I wouldn't like to call it where they'd settle.
I think the fact that they have owned Udinese for nearly 30 years shows that they are not the sort of family in to make a short term buck. There is no reason to believe they will not see Watford in the same vein. OF course if regulations change it could affect things - but I suspect they would find ways around it
I think you'll find that the ownership "question" has long since been resolved in legal terms. The triumvirate have three different de-facto owners. Puma and adidas are the same family and ne'er the twain meet (until very recently) and just because the names are the same a court of law would be very hard pushed to prove family members with different businesses cannot be involved in the same area. And should the teams meet in Europe then it will be the case of "may the best team win", no more, no less.... some of the players have kicked lumps out of each other in the pre season friendlies! I think there's that (the 30+ years) and the kudos of what they do to continue on. And they have the acumen to keep it in the family.
What worries me, not too much, is the size of the Vic. Gino has said that the capacity could be enlarged, but by how many he hasn't said. When you see that Stamford Bridge is too small and a new stadium in effect is required you realise that match day crowds are still needed to provide some of the revenue. I doubt that the plan is ever going to be go out and buy top international players, but we have already seen just how much a wage bill can go up with some success. It has to be a break even situation at the very least for the family, and I feel that our small ground is a disadvantage to achieve that. When they arrived crowds were around 13,000 and now they are 20,000 , so be successful and you attract more people, but you have to have somewhere to put them.
I suspect a "horses head in the bed" approach from the Pozzos to Watford Borough & Three Rivers District Councils is in the offing for a new ground on part of the old Leavesden Aerodrome with links off the By-pass.
Match day revenues are insignificant compared to TV money and potential from player trading. I don't worry about that side. Sure the vic could extend to about 35,000 but that would be it.
Having been half-way up the Vicarage Road End when we played ManUre in front of 34,100, the last thing I would wish is a return to the "old days". It was positively dangerous that evening on the terraces with that amount of people in. As I recall a woman was severely injured during a "surge" down the concrete and many barriers ended up bent and contorted. No, a stadium with a capacity of 30k, with the majority of folks seated in comfort, would suit me fine. Where that extra 8k would come from, I leave to better expertise than mine.
The problem is as I see it, is that since Simpson sold off the corners etc and the flats were built behind we are very restricted on how we can expand the stadium. I have a vague recollection that the SEJ stand can't go any higher because of the houses behind ( planning permission rules ). We may not be happy about that, but may not be able to do anything about it. I guess there are ways of putting another tier on without much additional height, but what can we do then? Is there the same potential of another tier at the Vicarage Road End? I am not a great fan of the out of town stadiums. The Vic feels part of Watford being where it is, or is that just sentiment as I have been going there since 1967 as an 8 year old? It is true though that gate revenue is nothing like as important as it used to be. TV and prize money, plus sponsorship dwarf the traditional gate receipts.
There are only so many people that would support Watford, no point in having a massive stadium and no one in it!
I do worry that one day a truly big, historic club (like a Bolton Wanderers or even a Leeds United) will go bust and drop out of existence. If and when that happens, you think surely, SURELY things would have to change. But maybe not, if you were a Premier League club, why vote to share more revenue with the Football League? Turkeys don't vote for Christmas.
Television revenues are obviously very high at the moment but I'm not convinced they'll stay at this level indefinitely. Some of the global revenue may decline as the football industry grows in other countries. TV audiences can be fickle...snooker was watched by millions once. From the point of view of an individual club the level of TV income may ultimately depend not so much on the club's success but on other factors which drive the numbers willing to pay for TV sport.
