An unfortunate casualty of this outcome is Yank manager Abroad Jamath Shoffner, who was hired after the winter break when the club was dead last with just 10 points. Jamath went 7-2-7 across all competitions, and his 19 points in the league saw the club narrowly avoiding relegation while simultaneously making an unexpected run in the SF of the national cup. Honestly, it was a pretty good performance considering the circumstances, and he deserved to get an extended run.
The cards keep falling for the 777 Group. Standard has received over 6 million Euros since the beginning of May. What follows is a durect quote from the article. " It is obvious that this is a loan of money from 777 Partners to the Standard. In the event of a capital increase, a visit to the notary is required and this inevitably takes time. This seems therefore unlikely. If this is the case, there will be a publication on the monitor But, we are certainly facing a new loan in a hurry ,” tells us a source who is helping us in this matter. This means that Standard will have to repay these loans. Another question then arises: at what rate? The answer could be worrying, according to the Norwegian investigative media Josimar, 777 Partners regularly offered loans to its own companies with rates between 12 and 50%."
It's so rad that they're still technically allowed to underwrite people's life insurance plans in America...
Finally a ray of hope for Oostende. It looks like a deal is almost in place with KSV Diksmuide to merge. No idea what role the current US ownership group will have.
"Merge?" To me it looks like they're taking over a 7th level regional amateur team and moving them 30km. But I could be wrong.
I don't think the people of Diksmuide will care too much. It seems to be an adult team associated with an academy. The town council may want a replacement team to help pay for their stadium.
Update on the Vitesse Arnhem. It looks like a Dutch buyer has emerged and Coley Perry will be bought out.
Standard de Liege has their transfer ban removed. In a club statement they also said this "The club also wishes to confirm that the process allowing potential investors to express their interest in a potential takeover is progressing as planned."
It would be tragic if historic clubs around the world that have survived through thick and thin, mainly thin, were brought down by speculators trying to dig up global talent gold-mines.
Very enlightening podcast from Belgian Football Podcast about KV Oostende. They spoke to three people associated with the club so it is one sided. Pretty harsh criticisms of Paul Conway and the Pacific Media Group.
Europeans are going to find out that being owned by American private equity firms is very different to being owned by American sports owners. Buy club, sell assets (your best players), abandon investments (academies), find a fool to sell on to. France's fourth biggest club goes boom!
An American Fund have opened talks with #Berlusconi's Family to try to buy #Monza. #transfers— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) August 8, 2024
Updated List I am keeping the 777 Group teams on this list, until this craziness is fixed. Australia Melbourne Victory - 777 Group Belgium - Juipler Pro League Club Bruges - Orkila Capital (Minority Ownership) Royal Charleroi Sporting Club - David Helmer and Catalytik Group (Minority ownership, but three, of which Helmer is one, now own 95% of the club) - avoided relegation. Standard de Liege - 777 Group Belgium - Challenger Pro League Beveren - David Blitzer Molenbeek - John Textor Patro Eisden- Common Group (Coley Parry) - RFC Liège - David Kirsch - Finished a surprising 7th place. Brazil Botofogo - John Textor - "controlling interest" Vasco da Gama - 777 Group Denmark - Superliga Sønderjysk Elitesport - Robert Platek (MSD Capital) Denmark - 1st Division AC Horsens - Binnie Family Esbjerg - Pacific Media Group Denmark - 2nd Division FC Helsingor - Jordan Gardner/Brett Johnson England - Premier League Arsenal - Stan Kroenke Aston Villa - Wesley Edens Bournemouth - Bill Foley Chelsea - Todd Boehly Crystal Palace - Josh Harris/David Blitzer/John Textor Fulham - Shahid Khan Ipswich Town - Mike O’Leary/Gamechanger 20 Liverpool - John Henry/Tom Werner/LeBron James Manchester United - Glazer Family West Ham - Albert "Tripp" Smith (8%) MSD Capital has loaned money to West Ham, Burnley, Derby County, Southampton and Sunderland England - Championship Burnley - Alan Pace/ALK Capital/Watt Family Leeds United - 49ers Enterprises (Denise DeBartolo York, Jed York and John York) Millwall - John Berylson/Richard Smith Norwich City - Mark Attanasio 18%-33% . Plymouth Argyle - Simon Hallett Portsmouth - Michael Eisner Swansea City - Stephen Kaplan/Jason Levien West Bromwich Albion - Shilen Patel and Dr Kiran C. Patel 87.8% ownership. England - League One Leyton Orient - Common Group (Coley Parry) Wycombe Wanderers - Rob Couhig . Wrexham - Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (RRMcReynolds Company) England - League Two Gillingham - Brad & Shannon Galison England - National League Rochdale - World Soccer Holdings France - Ligue 1 Olympique Lyonniase - John Textor - "controlling interest" Marseille - Frank McCourt Toulouse - Red Bird Capital France - Ligue 2 Lorient - Bill Foley - "significant minority" Red Star - 777 Group France - National Nancy - Pacific Media Group Germany - Bundesliga FC Augsburg - David Blitzer Germany - 2 Bundesliga FC Kaiserlautern - Pacific Media Group (10%) Germany - Regionalliga MSV Duisburg - Capelli Sport (40%) Greece - Super League Athens Kallithea F.C - Andrew Barroway Panetolikos - KAM Sports LLC - Finished 4th. Ireland Dundalk FC - Brian Ainscough Italy - Serie A AC Milan - Red Bird Capital Atalanta - Stephen Pagliuca Bologna - Shilen Patel - minority owner Fiorentina - Rocco Commisso Genoa - 777 Partners (Steven W. Pasko and Josh Wander) - Inter Milan - Oaktree Capital Parma - Kyle Krause Roma - Dan Friedkin Italy - Serie B Spezia - Robert Platek - not MSD Capital, but family owned Venezia - Duncan Niederauer Italy - Serie C Ascoli - Matt Rizzetta/North Six Group Campobasso - Matt Rizzetta/North Sixth Group Mexico Necaxa - NX Football USA (Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Eva Longoria, Kate Upton and Justin Verlander amongst others) Cancún FC - Jeff Luhnow Netherlands - Eerste Divisie ADO Den Haag - David Blitzer Den Bosch - Pacific Media Group MVV Maastricht - World Soccer Holdings LLC Vitesse Arnhem - Common Group (Coley Parry) Poland - 1 Liga GKS Tychy - Chien Lee - Pacific Media Group Portugal - Primeira Liga Casa Pia - Robert Platek (MSD Capital) Spain - La Liga - Spain Athletico Madrid - Ares Management Mallorca - Andy Kohlberg/Steve Nash/Stu Holden/Kyle Martino/Steve Kerr Sevilla - Josh Wander (15%) - 777 Group (Minority Interest) Switzerland - Super League Grasshopper Club Zurich - Los Angeles Football Club FC Lugano - Joe Mansueto Yverdon-Sport - Jamie Welch Switzerland - Challenge League FC Thun - Chien Lee - Pacific Media Group
Covid brought most big clubs to trouble, not just because the fans couldn't attend, but also because the Asian sugar daddies lost interest in the Euro clubs and moved their investments somewhere else. That left the empty space where American firms swooped in and invested, paying huge prices for big clubs. See: https://theweek.com/sports/american-soccer-football-premier-league-owner European fans are not happy with the situation, but beggars can't be choosers.
As I said above there's a difference between a KSE and FSG, who are interested in developing world-class sports "franchises" and private equity, who are essentially asset strippers. I don't think European regulators or politicians have worked out the difference yet. Beggars can be choosers by the way. Bordeaux could have chosen FSG.
Kevin Durant buys stake in Ligue 1 champs Paris Saint-Germain - ESPN invested a few millions dollars of his own money to join the club, a source told ESPN. He did so via Arctos Sports Partners, the American investment fund which bought a 12.5% stake in the club in 2023, with PSG valued at $4.6 billion (€4.25bn).
Delia Smith to step down as Norwich director - Yahoo Sports Delia Smith and husband Michael Wynn Jones will cut their stake in Norwich City to 10% and step down as directors next year. They have reached an agreement with American investors Norfolk FB Holdings, who currently match the 40.4% owned by the couple, to increase their holding to around 85%.
Lots of news today. Coley Perry, who used to own Vitesse is looking to sell Patro Eisden. The asking price is 5 million Euros. Anyone check their couches recently?