Daydreaming if money was no object..

I spend a lot of time daydeaming about footy. About being a player, About being a manager, about being an owner and what I'd do. In the small world of my own head, I've socred some unbeliveable goals, singled handedly won fa cups, world cups. I've managed some great sides that've dominated English football.
It was a slow, slow day in work yesterday, and I started thinking about what I'd do to turn the whole of the North-East into a football powerhouse, if I were a multi-multi trillionaire owner of NUFC and money was no object. So...

I own NUFC - all the stuff about paying off debts, wage caps, salaries, who'd be manager, which players would I go after - that's all specific to NUFC and is obviouslly a thread all of it's own. But assuming I've sorted NUFC, I was thinking what would I do on top of that for the whole of the region, for now and the future, to make the North-East the 'hot bed' of football it's so often been described as?

I would:

Buy up all football fields and recreational grounds all over the NE to ensure they couldn't be redeveloped for housing / trading estates etc.

I'd buy up lots of land and build lots of pitches, indoor and outdoor and modern facilities to go with them, so that everyone had easy year round access to play footy.

I'd have a crack team of world class financial whizz kids working in tandem with proper football people who really understand the game and the unique problems that come from running a club (ex managers, chairmen, players, coaches). These would be sent to Darlington and Hartlepool, Bylth and Gateshead. Darlo and 'Pool would get 20m each, to be spent under the supervision / with advice from my team. They wouldn't run the clubs, but would be in the background to ensure that a sustainable and progressive strategy was implemented. Heed and Spartans would get 5m each.

Wallsend Boys Club would have any debts paid off, and state of the art facilities built.

All the way down thru the footy pyramid in the region, Confrence, Northern League, all clubs would be have access to the above mentioned team. I'd wipe out the debts of every 'little club' in the NE, and give them 100k on top.

(NUFC wouldn't have a say in the running of these clubs, or owe favours, or be expected to hand over talent. I'd want all the clubs to be sucessful.)

I'd go abroad and employ as many UEFA A badge coaches as I could find. (Apparently 90% + of all A badge holders in the UK work with adults / pros. Abroad, especially Spain, 90%+ work with kids.) These coaches would run soccer schools all over the region, working with ex players aslo employed by myself.

I'd have an agreement to sell tickets for Darlo, 'Pool, Gateshead and Spartans through the NUFC Box office - if NUFC supporters went to miniumum 10 games at these clubs throughout a season, they'd get 50% of next years season ticket, an incentive for Newcastle fans to increase the gates at these smaller clubs, generating more income.

I'd make sure that NUFCs scouting network accross the NE was the best and most comprehensive, so that regional prospects didn't slip thru the fingers of regional clubs and stayed, wherever possible, in the NE.

Part of players contracts would see them expected to visist schools, kids hospitals, youth clubs etc on some of their time off every week, to build strong bonds between the club and the community for the future.

This'd all be a 10 or 20 year long term plan to build up the whole of NE football into a regional powerhouse.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, you were right - Sunderland and Boro would get **** all, they can look after themselves!

 

I think Barcelona pretty much do all of this.

 

Buy Sunderland and **** them up. It's easier than getting right

 

This is a lot of money we're talking here?

 

i think about such things daily aswell

Realistically i would do everything the same

and also build alot, alot of different business's within the north east for higher job vacancies=higher happiness= more little georides

but first

Anybody a genetacist who has a feasable proposal for reversing or halting aging, please give me a ring, cryo genetics does not cut it

 

I'd spend all my money trying to clone Tioté.

 

This! Would be insane.

 

My dream has always been to build a 'Football Academy', not only filled with top quality coaches but a full teaching staff to help get the region's young footballers through their GCSEs. 'Work experience' would involve trial periods at clubs from different countries, a prior agreement would be made with a few select lower-league clubs around Europe.

I definitely like your idea of selling tickets through the NUFC box office. Perhaps along the lines of 'buy a season ticket card with your local side and get a discount am NUFC discount card (20% tickets and merchandise).

At non-league level it's important to encourage players from outside the area that the North East is a great area to play in. Access to great training grounds would help with that but here's an idea. Sponsored pre-season matches. Pay for players to travel pre-season!

So the same clubs connected to the academy would play host to local sides pre-season.

So for example all these matches with travel and accomodation paid for pre-season.

Cardiff Corinthians v Bedlington
Spartans FC v Durham
Glentoran v Whitley Bay
Bohemians v Blyth Spartans
Paris FC v Gateshead

It'd be an opportunity for players to experience travel and possibly a different culture, all expenses paid. Depending on how rich you are, maybe pay for upto 100 fans of each to travel with the club. This would certainly get more people interested in their local club.

As well as this, NUFC to send an XI to a few regional clubs each pre-season to help raise funds and interest.


Your point on schools, definitely! Send players to give assembly talks at schools around the area. It wouldn't just be a treat for the kids seeing the likes of Leon Best but send out the academy kids too to give talks or partake in PE lessons with the kids. It'd teach them responsibility within the community and good conduct. Maybe arrange funded school trips to St James Park and the Football Academy.


Your article is spot on with the ideas, money in football is so much more than just spending millions on players, it's about improving the local community.

 

i dream about owning gillingham fc but will never happen
i wouldnt even mind owning a non league team it would be fun someone like maidstone utd or dover or even chatham town