THE PREM ERA 39MANCHESTER CITY TAKEOVER
Welcome to Manchester...Sheikh Mansour greets the Manchester City supporters at Eastlands“brands”, with a proven steadfast fan
base and 48,000-seater stadium,
the takeover is not so improbable in
reality. It reflects the global televised
reach of the Premier League, the vast
fortunes being paid by the TV companies,
and the fact that England’s clubs, unlike
those in Spain and Germany, are
companies available for sale. In that
context, the takeover of City by a group
calling itself, somewhat inappropriately,
Abu Dhabi United, is a logical
development, although it signifies
a move away from US businessmen
buying clubs to make money and
towards a trend for clubs to be “trophy
assets”, playthings of billionaires.
Sheikh Mansour, a member of
the emirate’s ruling clan, is apparently
funding the group, and given that they
gazumped Roman Abramovich’s
Chelsea to sign Brazilian forward
Robinho from Real Madrid, the
City purchase immediately rocked the
balance of power in English football.
Sulaiman Al Fahim, fronting the deal,
talked feverishly about the star names
he wants to buy, like a boy poring over
a Panini sticker album, and nobody
doubts that City’s new owners have
unlimited cash with which to indulge
themselves.
But why City? Well, their arch-
rivals Manchester United have been
bought by the Glazer family, Chelsea by
Abramovich, Arsenal’s English majority
supporter-shareholders insist they are
not selling and Liverpool were acquired
last year by North Americans Tom Hicks
and George Gillett, frustrating Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum,
the ruler of Dubai.STADIUM BUILT
Outside those four, City are one of
the biggest English clubs and, crucially,have a large stadium already built- unlike Everton, West Ham United
and Tottenham Hotspur, who have
still to expand or move. Perhaps
only Newcastle United – from a big,
one-team city and with a large,
developed stadium – match City’s
marketability, a fact of which
their owner, Mike Ashley, is no doubt
well aware.
And City were for sale – madly,
urgently – because of the travails of the
club’s Thai owner, Thaksin Shinawatra.
Now that, truly, was an improbable story.
Thaksin took over inJune last year when
the club were desperately seeking a new
buyer. The golden potential of promotion
coupled with the brand-spanking new
stadium had been largely blown on a
rash of overspending under Keegan.
City had bank debts of £60 million,
the major shareholders,John Wardle
and David Makin, had loaned the club
more than £20m, and in late 2006
City borrowed a further £10m against
the following season’s TV money.
Crowds, dispirited by grim football
under new manager Stuart Pearce
and grumbling about a lack of
atmosphere at the new stadium,
had fallen by 20 per cent.Ray Ranson, the former City player
turned entrepreneur, made a bid to
buy the club in April last year but
the board would not entertain him.
Instead, they turned to Thaksin.
Shinawatra had popped into English
football’s consciousness before when,
as the prime minister of Thailand, heCitywereforsale–madly,
urgently –becauseofthetravails
oftheclub’sThaiowner,Thaksin
Shinawatra. Now that, truly,
wasanimprobablestory