From rags to riches?

Middle Eastern Consortiums buying football clubs? Something that is becoming more and more popular these days with investors seizing the opportunity to become local, and probably national, heros as soon as they step foot through the front gate of the football club they have purchased. With the current recession hitting football teams quite badly, most of the big four in millions of pounds of debt due to overspending but still making a huge income from their popularity, foreign investors are much sought after personnel.  

I suppose the first major foreign investment in an English football club was Chelsea’s Russian billionaire, Roman Abromvich, and the vast sums of money he ploughed into the West London club but, more recently, foreign consortiums have been popping up with more frequency. Firstly it was Manchester City, now officially the richest Club in the world, under Sheikh ownership and now Portsmouth are soon to be taken over by Middle Eastern folk, too. 

So it probably wasn’t too much of a surprise when news broke yesterday that another Middle Eastern Consortium were to plough money and attempt to change the fortunes of another English Club.  Perhaps it was a mid-table Premiership club again such as Wigan or Bolton? No? Perhaps a Championship club with aspirations to make it to most watched League in the World? A nearly team such as Preston North End? Wrong again? 

With investment in football a familiar thing these days, I guess the actual surprise would be that these Investors were to change the fortune of the world's oldest football league club. Yes, little Notts County from League Two were now the most talked about team in the Country for a few hours. A team who were once in the top flight of English football, some 18 years ago (yet finished 87^th in the Football League last season) were now struggling to stay in the Football League, with gates around the 4,000 mark per season and consistent lower half finishes in the League. This can’t be right, can it? 

As soon as the news broke locally, it spread like wildfire. BBC Radio Nottingham.  BBC Radio 1, East Midlands Today News, Sky Sports News, Setanta Sports News.  Everyone, everywhere, was on it like a car bonnet. 

It seems hard to believe that someone, somewhere, would want to throw their millions into the club we all love. To others outside of the city of Nottingham it must sound incredible.   

Just imagine being a fellow League Two football supporter and reading the following headline on Sky Sports News: “Notts County set for Middle Eastern takeover” and how they must be saying to themselves ‘why cant that be us?!’. We’ve said it often enough and now it seems that it is now our time. Although not officially confirmed yet, with the small matter of dotting the T’s and crossing the I’s or whatever you call it; the approval from the Football League and, more importantly, approval from the Supporters Trust – the major shareholder in the club with a whopping 60 odd % - still yet to be signed, it seems the deal is all but done and dusted, bar ink. 

Two of the investing group from Munto Finance Ltd, have already been appointed onto the Club Board, these being Nottingham born businessman Peter Trembling and Middle East property developer Peter Winnett. 

Is it too premature to suggest that we could be looking towards a new beginning? A new chapter in the long life of Notts County Football Club? I’m certainly buzzing with excitement and I’m sure thousands of others are, too. 

For now, though, no matter what difference Notts County fans have with eachother, we need to unite as one and thoroughly back the players, manager, staff and the potential new investors 100%. Ian McParland may have got it wrong last season but we have seen and heard his intentions, especially at the beginning of the season, of how proper football should be played. Hopefully, if McParland can bring in the right type of players, there’s no reason why that type of football cannot be played all season, instead of 2 months. He has Notts County deep at heart and I’m sure he knows this is his one big, and final, chance to succeed. If the investment goes through, he has no excuses. It’s now up to you Mr McParland - please don’t let us down.