Posted by Unbelievable Geoff on 9/2/2023, 12:13 pm
Whatever the outcome of the legal battle between Manchester City and the Premier League, we should not lose sight of the risible rules that govern football investment. The case for a regulator has been made on the basis that asset-stripping owners must be stopped from ruining clubs and communities. Yet in Manchester there are two models.
At United, owners have championed extractive investment on an industrial scale, with a leveraged buy-out and no investment in the ground, facilities or training – never mind the locality or community.
At City, the owners have spent their own money, not just on the club and players but on a whole infrastructure, which has transformed east Manchester and has extended well beyond football. For City, read County.
The Premier League is oblivious to the first mode! and desperate to stop the second. I hope City wins is case, but whatever the upshot there is something deeply wrong about the governance of football.