Imagine
the Premier Soccer League had a progressive club owner whose single-mindedness stretched
beyond running his team with autonomy and cared to make a meaningful
contribution to developing South African football before making money out of
the game. I reckon if I was a football club owner in the PSL, I would get my
accountants in, get my books in order, do my research, prepare a knockout
proposal and then make a call to Abu Dhabi, to the owners of Manchester City,
inviting them to invest in my club.
The
Manchester club has launched an ambitious project where it aims to create a
network of football clubs based in the world’s most iconic cities. In the past
week it was announced that a Man City led consortium had purchased Australia’s
Melbourne Heart Football Club. The deal sees City acquire a controlling 80%
stake in the club and National Rugby League outfit Melbourne Storm the
remaining 20%. It is a similar agreement to the one City entered into in May
2013 with the New York Yankees to secure ownership of the newly formed New York
City Football Club who will join the USA’s Major League Soccer when it expands
in 2015.
The
Man City CEO said they chose to branch out into those two cities because both
have a strong sporting culture and it helps that both clubs are in emerging
markets as an important attribute of this project is to be successful both on
and off the field. The MLS has developed into one of the best league outside of
Europe and is able to attract quality players and football has great potential
for growth in the States. So too with the venture into Australia and the Asian
market which City hope to infiltrate.
On
the field, NYCFC have already hired one of the best young coaches in America as
their manager and begun scouting and recruiting operations and the expectation
is that they will have a strong line-up when the 2015 season starts. Having a
new and powerful club with the ability to attract players of high calibre will
undoubtedly increase the quality and strength of the MLS. Melbourne Heart on
the other hand is currently in last place in the A-League standings having won
only three of their 18 games this season. Their sale has come with the pledge
from City that they will improve youth coaching and teams as well as the senior
squad which already has a few coaches in the League predicting they will be
genuine contenders next season.
It
should be evident then why having Manchester City buying into your club would
be an attractive idea for club owners over here? City would bring a wealth of
resources both on and off the field, would help to develop our coaches and
talent; and the buzz generated by City investing in South Africa would create
interest from, among others, the locals who mainly support international football.
And again, like with the MLS and A-League, having another strong team that can
seriously challenge for title honours will improve the standard of the PSL.
Would
City be interested in buying into a South African club? I think so. They have
been here twice in the last five years on preseason tours; they have had a chance
to experience what we are capable of producing off the pitch and the level our
clubs are at on it. This past preseason they lost 2-0 to Supersport United and
narrowly beat Amazulu 2-1 and in 2009 they lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates. We have
iconic cities in Joburg and Cape Town both with rich sporting history and
culture and if there was anywhere to invest in African football it would be in
SA. We have the richest and arguably strongest league and certainly the most
watchable and as a product can compete with international leagues.
However,
it would take a bold, ambitious owner to even think about making a call and
asking to talk to Man City’s representatives. Our club owners aren’t always
forward thinking and it seems to me that many like things the way they are.
They enjoy having nobody to answer to way too much to give away their power.
