LEEDS UNITED TALE

We lived the dream

- Peter Ritsdale, former Leeds Chairman.

From 1961-1975, Leeds United were a powerhouse in football. A brilliant side firing on all cylinders. A side that was seen as one of the strongest in Europe. In 1969, they won the football league championship and the FA cup in 1972. They won the league again in 1974 and got to the final of the European Championship in 1975. In the 1980s, Leeds declined but would go on to win the football league in 1992 just before the Premier League was formed. In 2001, Leeds were a present day "Chelsea" in the sense that they had a very good "young" squad and this young brilliant side reached the semi finals of the Uefa Champions League in that same year. 

In 2003, Leeds suffered what would go on to become one of football's biggest "financial collapse". Leeds had borrowed too much money to buy the biggest players. "Of the drive for success, we lived the dream" was what former Chairman, Peter Ridsdale said. Leeds had to offload the star players they had borrowed money to buy.

Rio Ferdinand (signed Nov 2000, £18m; sold for £30m to Manchester United)

Robbie Keane (signed May 2001, £12m; sold for £7m)

Lee Bowyer (signed July 1996, £2.8m; sold for £100,000 to West Ham).

Robbie Fowler (signed Nov 2002, £11m; sold for £6m to Manchester City). 

Jonathan Woodgate (sold for  £9m to Newcastle United). 

Woodgate was a part of the Leeds double winning youth side in 1996-97

Leeds were eventually relegated in 2004 with debt of over £100,000,000. A consurtium of local business men took charge of the club, settled many debts, sold more players and even sold assets of the club including their stadium, Elland Road. The stadium was in turn, rented back to Leeds. These business men couldn't handle Leeds anymore and sold the club to Ken Bates and some "anonymous investors" in January 2005. Ken Bates was the owner of Chelsea until 2003 when he sold it to Roman Abramovich. Ken Bates could also not put the club back on track as the club struggled with its wage bills.

2007, Leeds were further relegated to the League One. In the same year, Bates reduced the club's debts by placing the club into administration.

•What's Administration? It's a common term used in the UK for clubs that chose to enter it. This situation arises when they are unable to pay off outstanding debts, so it puts an exterior entity (accountants) to manage the club and its assets to ensure that all creditors are paid (other clubs, suppliers, players, staff etc.)

Leeds played in the League One for three years before gaining promotion to the Championship in 2010. In 2012, Bates sold the club to the Gulf Finance House and in 2014, the Finance House sold the club to an Italian American Investor, Massimo Cellino who was convicted of Tax Fraud. In 2 years of ownership, Massimo sacked 6 managers at the club.

In January 2017, Cellino's compatriot Andrea Radrizzani bought a majority stake in the club for £45,000,000. Then in May, Radrizzani announced the 100% buyout of Leeds United, buying the remaining 50% shares from previous co-owner Massimo Cellino , with Radrizzani taking full ownership of the club.

                     Andrea Radrizzani

About a month later, Radrizzani appointed Thomas Christiansen as the new head coach of the club saying " he wanted to bring back the winning culture at Leeds". Thomas would later be be dismissed after a poor run of form.

On 28 June 2017, Radrizzani completed the purchase of Elland Road, making the stadium property of Leeds United for the first time since 2004.

The turning point for Leeds was probably in June 2015 when the manager that would eventually lead them back to the Premier League was given the job. Marcelo Bielsla will forever be remembered in the hearts of many Leeds' fans, a coach with a deviant tactical approach to the game.

In the summer of 2020, Leeds were back in the Premier League, a competition they used to to belong to until the great financial depression.

From the local business men to Ken Bates to the Gulf Finance House, then to  Massimo Cellino, none could revive Leeds United.

Andrea Radrizzani has indeed proven to be the saviour.

               Leeds celebrate promotion to the             Premier League, 2020

Stakeholders And Premier League Clubs Pt 1

It's Amazing how the FSG has turned Liverpool into world beaters in just 10 years of club ownership.

 - Matthew.

     Today, we take a look into Premier League clubs and their respective stakeholders. 

Arsenal Football Club is owned by Stan Kroenke. The American Billionaire has 100% stake in the club's Ownership. Kroenke's wealth is estimated to be around $10 Billion. Anti-generous(if this word exists) will best describe Kroenke in light of his stingy approach towards the club's finances.

              Stan Kroenke

Nassef Sawiris and Wesley Edens are the major stakeholders of Aston Villa FC, the club that narrowly escaped relegation last season. They seem to be supportive given the way they have invested in the club.

Brighton's Tony Bloom has 75.6℅ interest in the club. He is also acting as the club's chairman. He deserves credit for bringing the seagulls back to the top-flight as he has spent over $250 million of his personal wealth on the club's facilities.

Burnley has two major stakeholders, Mike Garlick(49.3℅) and John Banaszkiewicz(27.5℅). Anyway from a fan's perspective, the major figure of the club is their manager, Sean Dyche. His tactical acumen has kept the club going in the League.

          Burnley's Sean Dyche

Russian Oligarch and obviously a close associate of Russia's President, Vladimir Putin owns Chelsea football club since he purchased it in 2003. His name is Roman Abramovic, a very controversial but engrossing figure. He has invested very well in the club but probably derives pleasure in sacking Managers.(Don't tell Frank Lampard).

      Russian Oligarch, Abramovich

Crystal Palace is owned majorly by Steve Parrish, Joshua Harris and David Blitzer who have a combined fortune of $4 Billion. Crystal Palace most valuable asset is probably Wilfred Zaha, the team's best player. Of course, he wants to leave the club.

British Billionaire Farhad Moshiri owns 77.2℅ stake in Everton FC. He is a committed person to the club as he contributes steadily in moving the club forward. Everton just added James Rodriguez, Allan and Doucoure to the squad and that has added positively to the squad dynamics.

Newly promoted Fulham belongs to Shahid Khan. Khan is worth over $7 Billion. A story Khan wouldn't want to remember again is probably when the club spent over £100 million and still got Relegated in 2018. They are back in the top division and guess what,  they have said NO to big money signings.

Leeds United as a club has a very scintillating story and hopefully I write a piece on Leeds soon. Italian Andrea Radrrizani owns 90℅ of the club's interest and yes, the club has a very distinguished manager, Marcelo Bielsa who lives in a single Bedroom flat above a sweet shop and doesn't forget to bring his bucket along with him to the touchline. Where will Leeds finish on the table this season?

Let's take a trip down the memory lane. 2010, a club is in desperate need for a change with so many frailties leaving it in the mud. The fans are sad, the manager is confused and the owners are willing to sell as they run into debt. George Gillette and Tom Hicks are ready to handover the club to whoever would come forth with £300 million. 

American Sports Company, Fenway Sports Group(FSG) indeed came forth with the sum of money and acquired the club struggling in a bizarre situation. Henry is FSG's principal owner with 40℅ shares and Michael Gordon owns 12℅. 

They try to handle the situation with all commitment and determination and as the result would be, they succeeded. Their success would come from making shrewd signings and hiring a manager who fits right into the tactical philosophy of the team.

Let's fast forward to 2018. They make it to the champions league final. They are Champions of Europe in 2019 and would go on to win the English Premier League in 2020.

It's Amazing how the FSG has turned Liverpool into world beaters in just 10 years of club ownership.

Visit sm10s.blogspot.com to get more of fabulous football writings.

Drop your comments if you would love to.

Gracias, Adíos.

Chelsea and Kai Havertz

As a football lover, diving into football journalism is immensely fascinating. Do well to enjoy Matthew's piece on Kai Havertz and Chelsea. 

 Kai Havertz joined Chelsea from Bayer Leverkusen in the 2020 summer transfer window. Many believed the window would be greatly affected by the effects of the covid-19 pandemic, but that doesn't seem to be the case as transactions In Europe's top 5 leagues is over £2Billion (as at the time of writing) coupled with big money transfers including that of Kai Havertz to Chelsea. 

Chelsea's Kai Havertz chase started a year ago while they were banned from making transfers by FIFA. Havertz at the beginning of his transfer saga didn't have Chelsea in mind as much bigger clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich showed signs of interest in him. Obviously, Madrid is a club many players long to play for. Bayern had even tried to give Havertz a sneak peek into where he would fit in the squad, but Bayern's interest began to die out as they publicly announced interest in fellow countryman, Leroy Sane. How then did Chelsea beat other clubs in bringing the 21 year old to West London?

The Covid-19 pandemic might not have hit the transfer market as a whole, but it has hit some clubs real bad. Some clubs dim it unwise to pay a couple of million pounds in this period as shown by the Liverpool Board when they were tipped to sign Timo Werner. Conversely, Chelsea had sold Hazard to Real Madrid for over a £100 million last summer and were unable to sign any player within that time frame. The FIFA ban was a blessing in disguise after all as Chelsea unknowingly saved for the rainy days. This alone had put Chelsea way ahead of other teams who had interest in Havertz who was desperate to leave this summer after Leverkusen failed to qualify for Champions League football. A young lad desperate to leave this summer, the big teams unable to meet his transfer fee and Chelsea, the underdog amongst others knew this was the right time to strike. 

Chelsea signed Timo Werner, a young German Footballer with loads of potentials(just like Havertz) and that sent a message to Havertz. Frank Lampard had a conversation with him telling him he was going to be a huge part of his project at Chelsea.A project full of ambition, attacking football and young talents. Havertz knew he has all it takes to be a part of this project and at the end of the tete à tete, Havertz was convinced Chelsea was the missing piece of his puzzle.

There was one more hurdle for Chelsea, convincing Leverkusen to let go of Havertz at a reasonable price. This was clearly a job for Chelsea's chief Negotiator, Marina Granovskia who is dubbed the "Iron Lady". She met with officials of Leverkusen in the South of France. Granovskia is a very engrossing person and Leverkusen had to develop a thick skin in order not to get carried away by her  fascinating attitude. Leverkusen's asking price was £100 million but we are made to believe Chelsea will pay  less than that. Chelsea have paid an initial fee of close to £70 million and Leverkusen believe they will receive the reminder of the fee later on.

             Marina Granovskia

At the end, Chelsea weren't just pragmatic in their approach for Havertz, they were indeed lucky.

Quick Fact: Timo Werner(Havertz teammate) is pronounced "Timo Verner". I know it's off topic but pardon me. As a football lover, it pisses me off to hear football names pronounced wrongly😂. Visit sm10s.blogspot.com to read more on insidefootball'sdeepest. 

Au revoir😂

QATAR 2022: THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL WORLD CUP TO BE

Hi, I am Matthew and I own this blog.This blog was created using the Google blogger app.

So, today we are looking at what would be the most controversial world cup ever, "QATAR 2022".

 

The 2022 world cup is going to be held for the first time in the Middle East. Way back in 2010 with arguably the most corrupt FIFA president in charge, Sepp Blatter, Qatar won the rights to host the 2022  world cup. This for sure sparked tonnes of controversies and ultimately led to the resignation of Blatter in 2015 after being charged with "corruption". Even, several members of FIFA have come out to say the decision to award the rights to Qatar was a mistake.

Let's go through these controversies.

• HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES

     The final of the World cup would be held in the Khalifa Stadium, Qatar. This is supposed to be a joyous occasion but would definitely be marred by the knowledge that the supporters are standing in a stadium built by the "systematic abuse of migrant workers" and in most cases, forced labour. Reports have it that about 1200 migrant workers might have died since 2010 in Qatar and that about 180 Nepalese workers have died in 2018 building the infrastructures to be used to hold the world's biggest stage. Some have estimated that about 4000 migrant workers would have died by 2022.

These workers are forced to live in unfavorable conditions, unpaid for months and some have had their passports confiscated. In defence, FIFA said" it wasn't their job to be involved in the internal and political affairs of host countries" which is true to an extent. The long list of human rights violations continues in Qatar.

•LGBT FANS

       LGBT is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.

In Qatar, homosexuality is a crime, domestic violence is not a crime and freedom of speech is questionable. This definitely exposes the high level of hypocrisy of the Qatari Government.

Since homosexuality is a crime in Qatar and football is open to all( including the LGBT fans) this definitely means LGBT fans would boycott the World cup, thus denting the image of FIFA.

   In defence, Blatter said" I would just advise them to restrain from sexual activities".

•WINTER WORLD CUP

      Due to the hostile summer climate in Qatar, the world cup had to move to November/December period where the climate would be cooler. This is yet the biggest controversy. Imagine the world cup interfering with almost all local football leagues of the world. Imagine having a winter world cup,so degrading. Former Chief Executive of the English Premier League promised to sue FIFA if the world cup interferes with the League's popular Christmas and New year fixtures. In defence, Former UEFA president promised to re-arrange all European fixtures to facilitate the world cup.

•COST

      By some estimates, the event would cost Qatar approx. $220 BILLION which is about 60 times the $3.5 BILLION South Africa used in staging theirs in 2010

    Lastly, as Alcohol is banned in stadia,( Part of football rules) Hassan Abdullah Al Thawadi, Chief Executive of the 2022 world cup bid said that the competition would allow Alchol consumption as it is a Muslim State.

      FIFA compromised just too many things as the event faces threats of boycott. Sepp Blatter after years of resigning said the event could be changed and could still take place in USA.

   What could have caused a sudden change from Blatter?

     Visit sm10s.blogspot.com for more of "insidefootball'sdeepest.

BREXIT AND ENGLISH FOOTBALL

Hi, I am Matthew and I own this blog. This blog was created using the Google blogger app. 

             You are about to read on Brexit and the effects of Brexit on the English Premier League.

        • WHAT IS BREXIT?

"Brexit" is the combination of the words "British" and "exit". To make it simple, Brexit is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. It means any political ties between the UK and other European countries would be cut off. 

      • MORE ON BREXIT

The withdrawal is a process and has entered into a transition period that started on the 1st of February, 2020 and will end on the 31st of December, 2020. Negotiations are still ongoing to determine if it's going to be a HARD Brexit or a SOFT one. The HARD Brexit makes connection between the UK and EU stricter while SOFT Brexit makes the connection less strict.

        •HOW WILL BREXIT           AFFECT THE ENGLISH PREMIER   LEAGUE

     No one really knows how this Brexit would affect the EPL but there are foreseeable consequences of this deal.

• MIGRATION: All countries in the European Union have a deal on migration which allows the free movement of people into any EU country. International movement within the EU doesn't require a special form of VISA as movement is free. But now that the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the EU, restrictions would be surely placed on the migration of people and goods between the UK and other European countries. To make this simple, UK citizens would need the same VISA requirements as African Migrants that want to migrate to any EU country.

       Hence, Matthew( footballer for Tottenham, UK) and Matthew ( footballer for MFM Utd, Nigeria) would need the same VISA to join Fc Barcelona, Spain.

• THE FA THEORY: The Football Association of England ( The FA) have seen this Brexit as a nice idea. Why? In the 1992/93 premier league season, 70% of the players that started for their respective teams were English players (UK citizens). But in the 2018/19, just 33% of the players that started for their respective teams were UK citizens. That's something any National FA wouldn't want to have in their leagues.

         So, the Brexit deal would by far increase the percentage of UK footballers in the EPL.

• POUND DE-VALUATION: The Brexit will also cause a sharp reduction of the value of the pound £ against the Euro € in the foreign exchange. This devalue would inflate the transfer fees an EPL club would pay in getting a player from any other European Football League. This means the EPL would have to pay more than they should while bargaining for players from the EU.

        i.e Matthew (Arsenal FC Director) would pay 70 million pounds for a player in La Liga (Spain) rather than 40 million pounds. NB:This example is nothing but an illustration.

• WORK PERMIT: Football players around the world are not immune to work permits. A Work Permit is an authorisation given by the Government of a country to enable an individual work legally in that country. So if an EPL player wants to join the Bundesliga, he is now subject to tighter regulations surrounding the issuing of the work permit.

          When too much regulations are on the work permit issuing, premier league players would shy off joining other leagues in Europe.

• IMAGE DAMAGE: If the Brexit deal eventually ends up being a HARD BREXIT, the Image of the British Government would be greatly damaged hence passing it on to several sectors of the economy. Forget not that the EPL( sports industry) is part of the British Economy. From ban on free flow of players, to tighter regulations on work permit, to the financial implications, to the discrimination from other European Leagues.

• CONCLUSION: The Brexit deal has happened. All that remains is to know if it's going to be a HARD Brexit or a SOFT Brexit.

   A HARD Brexit will have more implications than the SOFT Brexit, so let's keep our Hope high and believe it's going to be a soft one.

You just read a 700 word article from sm10s.blogspot.com. Hope you liked it and visit the above link regularly to know more about football's deepest. Thanks.

                       ~ Matthew