Why Don't Billionaires Buy Non-League Football Teams?

[@JohnSmith-rw2yn]

If I was a billionaire, I'd buy the local team who are conference North, it would literally be real life video game. Ground upgrades, staff hiring, budgets for sqauds. Love it.

[@Kushagra.j]

That's why you'll never be a billionaire

[@716_ハディくん]

@@Kushagra.j he can't differentiate between sport and business minded

[@JohnSmith-rw2yn]

@@Kushagra.j I won't be a billionaire because of a fictional scenario on a KZbin video 😂 OK pal.

[@JohnSmith-rw2yn]

@@716_ハディくん thank you for your assumptions.

[@716_ハディくん]

@@JohnSmith-rw2yn no I'm saying that you really believe that billionaire buying football club for satisfaction and not for money laundering and investment ?

[@steel4o]

Just a cool fact from a lesser known competition : In Bulgaria, the richest man billionaire Kiril Domuschiev bought a 3rd flight team for just 25.000 euros worth of investment. In their debut season in the Bulgarian first league, achieved after back to back promotions, they won the championship. They have still not been dethroned, having won it 11 times in a row. 4 more and they break the European record, though Bayern are on their heels with 10 in a row for now. Check Ludogorets Razgrad FC for more info.

[@jlkanne8330]

yea, everyone in Bulgaria hates them...

[@FozzQuaker]

Hasn't Alfie done a video on this already

[@barbarian92]

@@FozzQuaker He has, but explaining why Ludogorets is hated in Bulgaria

[@gandalfgreyhame3425]

Somewhat similar story with Hoffenheim FC in the Bundesliga, stuck in the fifth division of German football until Dietmar Hopp, a software billionaire, bought the club of his youth and pushed it into the Bundesliga after 8 years with Ralf Rangnick at the helm. Not an individual billionaire, but the Red Bull cmpany finally broke into the German Bundesliga by buying the sports license of a tiny fifth division side SSV Markranstädt for 350,000 euros and turned it into RB Leipzig.

[@xBatboys4]

Ludogorets is the most disgusting club on earth

[@almchendolf]

A Greek example of how hard it is to build a fanbase regardless of success: The mayor of Volos, Greece (city of around 150k people), Achilleas Beos created his own club, Volos FC, and lead them to the Greek Superleague within 3 seasons. The only problem: they have literally 0 fans. They play against the best Greek teams in a 20000 capacity stadium with no one in the stands. Volos inhabitants mainly support two historic clubs (now in the lower leagues), Niki Volos and Olympiakos Volos, and no one wanted to change clubs just because of the success Beos' money can get.

[@drago939393]

Sounds like he should have bought one of those clubs instead... Or both!

[@almchendolf]

@@drago939393 The best thing is he did try to get them both. He wanted Volos to have one strong club that competes in the Superleague, so he firstly tried to get those two (rival) clubs to merge. When no one agreed to this he said fuck it and created his own.

[@drago939393]

@@almchendolf Ah, I see. That's kind of a shame then since it's a good idea on paper, but I understand those clubs refusing.

[@sziklamester1244]

I played both teams in fm 2015. Basically to make a fan base you need time, investment both in the place you wish to make your team and in your team. You can have star grade players of team if you have no audience you will just throw out a lot of money. There is no problem with newly created teams because sometime need to refresh or make something new but you need to consider how fast you want reach something. Basically Felcsút in Hungary is a very small city or town with 1688 inhabitants and their team was represented usually in lower divisions till our current Governor Orbán invested into it and now it is a first class team filled with legionaries. The team was rebranded in 2012 as Puskás Akadémia with a 3 816 capacity stadium. Ironically the major of the town is Orbán's friend so he is involved into the football too. At least for this capacity that settlement should have at least 10-15k people so it could give some basement for fans but here things work different because our leader likes football and makes unnecessary spendings on stadium project around the country with basically no backings.

[@bloodspartan300]

According to your logic nobody should create anything.

[@sheldon97sheldon]

Buying a Non League team and slowly building up to the top sounds so much more satisfying than just buying a PL club. It's like playing FIFA, there's much more satisfaction playing with a League 2 club and taking them to the CL than using a 'Big 6' (Soon to be big 7) club from the start.

[@onyxt3589]

Yeah but... Nobody cares about Luton Town besides the people there irl...

[@sheldon97sheldon]

@@onyxt3589 I get what you're saying, but I'm a Man United Fan, yet the thought of buying the club in the small town I grew in (Thetford) and taking them from an insignificant team most people haven't heard of to European Champions, sounds better than buying Man United and taking them back to glory. Man United will get there again one day anyway, be it 5, 10, 20 or 50 years, it will happen again eventually. But a small Non League club will likely never even come close to such heights. That's why it sounds so much more fun.

[@bricktop.]

I used to do that all the time in FIFA career, it does get boring fast and seems a bit silly when you defend the Champions League trophy for the 4th time with Forest Green Rovers. These days I just play as the super clubs and have more money for the top players straight away.

[@shawklan27]

Very very true

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

Fifa video game is not real life, you really think billionaires want to wait to take a non-commercial non league club to premier league with no ROI

[@Tom_Star]

21:55 one of the big reasons Hoffenheim and Hopp are hated in Germany is their PR following the promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2007. Claiming to be just a normal promoted Club (by Ralf Rangnick) they spent over 20 million € on new players. That was more than any other club in Germany spent on new players except Bayern (and, for comparison, nearly the transfer fee of Thierry Henry on his way to Barcelona).

[@Ninja-gt3zi]

Rangnick a fraud

[@gothicgolem2947]

I don’t get this those clubs and rb are hated for spending that much and yet no one complains about Bayern and they don’t seem as hated as those clubs

[@cameron9385]

@@gothicgolem2947 yeah I've always found that a bit ironic really. It's basically just a complaint about new money despite the clear signs that old money is actually a bigger problem

[@gothicgolem2947]

@@cameron9385 exactly i would have thought they’d be more upset Bayern seams to keep winning anymore rather than some new clubs getting money

[@cribless810]

@GothicGolem29 @Cameron I dont think you guys follow german football at all, Bayern is extremely hated in germany because of their money and rb are now hated for the same reason

[@chimsuaumo]

I remember buying 'Lets make a soccer team'. Creating a local team really appealed to me. Then I saw that the only West Sussex place I could put a team in was Brighton (yes I know) and it was Eastbourne for East Sussex.

[@J_ZD]

A guy named Marc White is doing the football manager challenge. He started Dorking Wanderers from absolutely nothing in 1999. They played in the 16th tier and next season they will be in the National League up against Oldham Athletic, a former Premier League team. That would actually be a good topic for a video.

[@elliottdenton5150]

Yes would love to see a video on this

[@BALHAM69]

a documentary on the afc Wimbledon on the nine promotions in eleven years, how they’re a fan own club and how they have a stadium in plough lane now. The story of they lost the club, how the F A allowed that and won’t allow that anymore. How they were very close to moving to ireland How they went up the English football leagues. It would be a good documentary video if you can do this. #thepeopleschannel

[@alehlete830]

Move to Ireland what

[@alehlete830]

Rmember afc Wimbledon use to be eith mkdons

[@abgy237]

@@alehlete830 In the 90s Wimbledon FC wanted to move to Dublin. However, the theory then became that Sam Hammam was using the Dublin move to inflate the value of the club which was eventually sold to two Norwegian Millionaires / Billionaires. A terrible business deal when you think Wimbledon FC had no ground, trained on a public park (yes really) and had the smallest support in the Premier League. But great to see Wimbledon no longer have the lowest attendance in the PL because of the pandemic. I know all this as I'm an AFC Wimbledon fan who went through it all. It's amazing to think that AFC Wimbledon made it to the football league, and back to Plough Lane, given they didn't have a Billionaire (there were some people putting money into the club). But the resources needed to raise a playing budget and fund a £30 Million stadium through mostly the fan base is incredible. I know Darragh MacAnthony (Peterborough Owner) did bid to buy AFC Wimbledon when they were in the Ryman League.

[@lewisblackwiththenicehair]

Nice nod to Total Club Manager, great game back in the day

[@CrackaPackify]

Will it include them fucking over Kingstonian by selling their ground to Chelsea?

[@m4dm3th0d]

I think that the lower leagues as a whole needs more revenue-generating options aside from the attendances nowadays. That would go a long way in helping them operate. Maybe some sort of KZbin or Twitch or Facebook subscription model would the clubs grow without relying on sugardaddies to bail them out.

[@Scrufty22]

That would then mean less and less fans would go to games if they can simply watch them on Twitch, thus meaning a drop in revenue.

[@laoch5658]

thats not what non league is about..its about fans going to games and supporting their local community

[@MrKioder]

We need less money in football, not more. We need for it to return to its community roots, not getting more and more embroiled in money, politics and corruption.

[@tomshaw5025]

Like Hashtag United then! Perfect example of non-match going revenue building

[@dbz9393]

Or maybe they just need good team management and sound fiscal policy when it comes to recruitment, scouting and transfers like Brentford?

[@OfficialFingazMC]

A video about the success story of Port Vale since Carol Shanahan took over, considering we just won the playoff final.Her charity work, bringing in Darrell Clark, then the things he went through this season. Plus we were on a winning streak and 1 point off the playoffs and she voted to end the first covid season early.

[@MrBlazemaster525]

It's amazing how ownership that gives a fuck does for a club, ANY club

[@RustyVaperGameplay]

Please tell me Kian Harratt has a future in the game. I'm a Huddersfield fan and we have seen nothing of him of any value at Town.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

@@RustyVaperGameplay Mate he's gone to Bradford on loan, and we couldn't keep him with us unfortunately. Even though I think he is league 1 quality....

[@Scrufty22]

No. Sincerely, a Crewe fan

[@OfficialFingazMC]

@@Scrufty22 Amazing performance this season. Shame you couldn't stay up so we could do you over again.

[@bricktop.]

Comments section: " How about a video about the floodlight bulbs they use in the Austrian Bundesliga?"

[@jman1276]

I feel like the only way a billionaire is gonna buy a non-league team is if they are a Football Manager fanatic who wanted to play the game in real life.

[@sidosh2229]

Day 37: Considering that the last player who played in the miracle of Bern died about 6 months ago, I would really like to see a video about the whole story between Germany and Hungary, especially because it meant so much to at least the German population

[@keighlancoe5933]

Gloucester City would be great candidates. They're the largest city in England to have never had an EFL team and play in the National League North; it has a population of about 160.000 so its larger than some Premier League clubs home towns.

[@johnmorris1009]

I'm an Oxford City fan (conference south). A few years ago, we were bought by some rich Americans, who then pumped money into the squad and built a new stand. Their goal was to take city to the Premier league (I'm not joking! And we're a team who've never played in a higher division than now in our history). The Americans soon bailed though, and were arrested and jailed for fraud and corruption related activities, which left the club massively in debt. We've only just recovered from all this, several years later. The moral is: millionaire owners ain't necessarily the answer, even at non league level.

[@history-maker]

I like this comment (but know nothing about Oxford City). The biggest problem in the game today is not really the billionaires who want to buy success and use the club as a plaything, but the millionaires who bite off more than they can chew, use highly questionable accounting, plunge their clubs into debt, and leave their very existence in danger. Having said all that, I'm lucky enough to follow (and part-own) my local fan-owned club and we've just won promotion to Oxford City's level, albeit in the National League North, not South.

[@ry_jayy]

Ah yes Oxford City. Fond memories of travelling to watch our playoff final against them in horrendous conditions that would result in matches being called off in literally any other league or country on the planet, on a pitch more suited to scuba diving, with a local referee because the actual ref couldn't make it for kick off because of the weather.

[@johnmorris1009]

@@ry_jayy We've got an AstroTurf pitch now, although I miss our old pitch :)

[@jonathonbrooks8949]

Alfie's football knowledge and research eclipses all in this space he is unmatched

[@fedrikrose2277]

16:18 attempted to buy St. Pauli. He must be crazy or very ignorant about the club for doing something like that.

[@MrJessedg]

Saw the cool skulls, not the degenerate fanbase lol

[@fedrikrose2277]

@@MrJessedg I wouldn't call the fanbase degenerate there is much much worse. It's just they would never want their club to be bought by a billionaire not even if it was facing financial collapse.

[@archstanton6102]

@@MrJessedg Degenerate? Or just against the main stream? Having seen St Pauli play in their stadium and also seen Hamburg I know where the best atmosphere is.

[@MrJessedg]

@@archstanton6102 St. Pauli are one big shill for main stream, supports pretty much everything the Reichstag puts out.

[@archstanton6102]

@@MrJessedg And that makes them degenerate as opposed to other fans? How?

[@MrDavidFitzgerald]

One blocker would be stadium I suspect. You're never going to get planning permission to build a premier league stadium in Chipping Sodbury or anywhere nearby. At least buying an already established team usually brings with it a decent stadium, often in a well-populated area.

[@GenialHarryGrout]

Three millionaires that come to mind in the UK are Dale Vince at Forest Green Rovers, the late Brooks Mileson who took Gretna from non-league football to the Scottish Premiership and Granham White who tried to buy Colne Dynamoes into the EFL.

[@davidking9222]

Rushden and Diamonds too.

[@AmokCanuck]

And Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhaney with wrexham

[@pjkerrigan20]

Dammit Alfie that’s Rob McElhenny! Tbh I would’ve expected Alfie to be an Always Sunny fan. Legit a little surprised he’s not.

[@vitbot9883]

I'm from chipping sodbury and I am absolutely stunned that I've heard you say chipping sodbury more than 5 times, fantastic stuff ❤️

[@adamlennard1828]

As a Havant and Waterlooville fan I approve of Alfie using the Hawks as an example. Though to be fair I’ve always respected the Hawks owners as they’ve never spent beyond their means putting the club at risk.

[@ChunkiEgg]

was listening to this video and my ears pricked up as soon as he mentioned the Hawks 🤣 I live 10 mins walk down the Petersfield Road from them and can hear the fans cheering if they're feisty enough!

[@luketidbury7551]

@@ChunkiEgg I clicked on this video not expecting it to be about the hawks, was a pleasant surprise though

[@ChunkiEgg]

@@luketidbury7551 it's been a while since the hawks had any major mention, still remember going to the liverpool game at Anfield. I think the gate receipts from that must have brought a level of financial comfort for a bit at least. And us Pompey fans usually pack out West Leigh Park for the preseason game 😁

[@luketidbury7551]

@@ChunkiEgg yeah always gotta go to the pre seasons to help them out, always worth it

[@JoDyMa]

Random fact for anyone interested, the image on 1:20 This is a picture from the 90's I would presume. It's taken from Burgess Park in London (unless somewhere else in England has the exact same layout of park and housing behind ofc). I know this because I lived here ofc, not in the 90's, merely 5 years ago, in the building closer. The closest of the three sections to the park and camera, in the top left corner, that was my living room balcony. You may also recognise it of course from the popular programme "Top Boy" as a lot of it was filmed here. These buildings are gonna be knocked down soon, they already started on the indentical ones down the road and they're all gonna rebuilt into new builds. Which look horrible btw. I'm honestly gonna miss these blocks, are horrible as they were.

[@kingfield99]

Woking FC, from non-league to European champions in 12 years, my greatest Championship Manager achievement.

[@snuggstcg]

My old local club Hemel Town recently posted about how they can get more people down to club. Fans were brutally honest with them saying they have Watford, Luton, Arsenal, Spurs, Barnet ect in the catchment area and prices are too high and parking is terrible. No one actually suggested a decent way to combat it though 🤣

[@cravenmoorehead8]

I think you missed out my hometown team of St Albans in that list! 😉

[@snuggstcg]

@@cravenmoorehead8 well of course they don't count 😘🤣

[@trunter20]

LITERALLY EVERYONE! Look up "Diamond Geezers" by Mike Paul, it's an amazingly written saga within Champ Manager 01/02 wherein the dude takes control of Rushden and Diamonds at their lowest ebb, I reckon fans of Alfie would all love it 💎

[@thegloriouspyrocheems2277]

Day 12 - The Fall and Rise of FK Velež Mostar From a Club that has beaten Borussia Dortmund, Twente, Derby County and many others to a club that was forced from their own stadium, reduced to nothing during the Bosnian War, becoming a mediocre top-level team in the 00s to nearly being forced into folding in 2016 to its amazing rise back to the top-level football which culminated in return to Europe after 33 years which has seen elimination of Coleraine before a suprising win over AEK Athens before exiting 3rd Round against Elfsborg IF and recently continuing in the Cup win this season which has ensured another European summer next season

[@gentleken7864]

Hoever? 😀 Eddie Howe called.....he's upset that his name is not being used anymore....

[@AntoniusTyas]

2:33 fun fact: That Merc guy next to Lewis, if I remembered correctly, is Gilles Pironi. Mercedes-AMG enginer, and son of late Didier Pironi, named after Didier's arch-rival, the (also) late Gilles Villeneuve.

[@Ese96Agboaye]

In short, if billionaires did buy Non-League teams, the fifth tier would turn into a pint-sized Premier League.

[@timshaw9525]

Surprised Rushden and Diamonds didn’t get a mention.

[@abgy237]

I'm frankly still amazed that MK Franchise have not become MK Red Bull

[@dan5974]

Don’t give them ideas

[@brucemedley635]

That would upset the traditional big boys

[@leehaseley2164]

You forgot reason number four: the drive to win one of the greatest willy measuring competition.

[@mikeywinstone8525]

That ki jana however joke was lovely

[@johankrausse9026]

The ending is classic Thanks Alfie!!!

[@erickaguilera3479]

Putting out banger after banger. You deserve to get to that 7 figure mark!

[@ThreeRunHomer]

If I was rich, I might invest in a club in Cymru (Wales). All of the clubs are tiny so outspending the competition would be super easy, barely an inconvenience. There’s little glamour in winning that league, but it would be a very cheap route to competing in Europe! It’d be amusing to take Cefn Druids or Penybont to Europe to compete with much bigger clubs.

[@MrTaktic121]

Yeah the rugby needs the help aswel

[@pjkerrigan20]

I might do the same but for Ireland. Especially in the Conference League, I could see a billionaire-backed Sligo Rovers or Cork City or Bohs or whatever actually having a little bit of European success with some investment. I think in both of our examples, a single team getting big backing would be great for the leagues as a whole. Leagues like Ireland and Cymru will likely only ever raise their standing in the world if one or two clubs make that first (admittedly massive) step. Sure, domestic competition might become a one-horse race for a few years, but realistically it’s the best way to raise the level of play league-wide.

[@andreatommasi3287]

Look at Sheriff Tiraspol it's literally that :)

[@drago939393]

@@pjkerrigan20 Or 2-3 billionaires buying a club each and pushing each other for success lol.

[@ThreeRunHomer]

Now that I’ve thought about it more, TNS already did this in the Cymru. They spent more than any other club in the league, dominated the standings for years, and regularly competed in Europe (benefiting from that extra source of revenue).

[@lancashire468]

Really enjoyed this video, cheers Alfie

[@johnwhittaker311]

I definitely do want to start going to more matches for my local non league club, it’s just difficult to find the time to. Shout out to Middlewich Town Football Club of the Cheshire League Premier Division, hope to be there next season

[@fjnemo]

You can't buy a team that's not in a major city and expect the stadium to be full

[@pjkerrigan20]

Villarreal? Burnley? Saint-Étienne? Outside of the beautiful game, the Green Bay Packers?

[@jackansley746]

18:02 Alfie Alfie Alfie... I'm strongly suggesting Rob's show 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'. It's central to my American culture, as well as being a cynics dream show.

[@pjkerrigan20]

I can’t believe he’s not already a Sunny fan tbh. Given Alfie’s sense of humor and general outlook I would’ve thought he’d already be really into Always Sunny. Hopefully he sees some of these comments lol.

[@pjkerrigan20]

New video suggestion for Alfie: take a day off and binge the first couple of seasons of Always Sunny

[@slips.]

every time i see the cover art for football manager 2005 i literally cry, grew up on that banger of a game

[@razvanmazilu6284]

In Romania there was an interesting case of a guy who was a billionaire at one point - Ioan Niculae - though his fortunes have decreased, who took over a club with a pretty long history, but very little in the way of support or achievements: Astra Ploiești, a club very much in the shadow of former Romanian champions Petrolul Ploiești who dominate the town. Despite establishing the club as a pretty consistent top league team, this did little to boost local support, as the locals continued their support of (a struggling) Petrolul rather than change allegiance. I think there was even a short lived merger between the clubs that didn't work out. He eventually moved Astra about 120km South to Giurgiu, on the banks of the Danube. Giurgiu is much smaller than Ploiești (220,000+ vs about 60,000), has virtually no footballing tradition and, at the time, had no club with even a remote chance of getting to the top league or with any level of support from the locals. He set about expanding and modernizing the local stadium so that it would be able to host European cup matches. Eventually Astra won the title in 2016. It also won the cup once and the (largely irrelevant) supercup twice. They also reached three more cup finals (ironically all hosted at the ground of former neighbor Petrolul). Despite this success and the much improved stadium, Astra didn't receive much backing from the Giurgiu locals and even their biggest matches would usually fail to fill the roughly 8500 seat stadium. Eventually Mr. Niculae's fortunes started taking a turn for the worse and he even landed in prison for corruption and tax evasion. With dwindling financial support, Astra got relegated in 2021. A doping scandal that same year also didn't help matters. They were docked points for both financial irregularities and for the doping incident. This meant they would start the season with a large points penalty and a transfer embargo. They got relegated again. I have no idea if they'll compete in the third league, though their owner is back out of prison on parole. I haven't really kept track of the story.

[@uselessmonk2081]

LMAST! this was my favourite game of all on PS2. Couldn't afford a PC in 2006. Brings back so many memories. T.Langerak and A.Bruno 👌

[@MonzennCarloMallari]

"Ryan Reynolds and the other person I forgot" ❄

[@benedictjephcote6815]

I've been waiting for someone to do the perfectly natural, here's how financial football could well play out if legislation to prevent this madness isn't put into place sometime reasonably soon - which is beautifully illustrated at 25:40 - 26:50 - thank you, that was wonderfully cathartic

[@Gallasso]

Amazing to see Chipping Sodbury Town featured here! I’ve scored on that pitch and used to play for Chipping Sodbury RFC

[@travislevison6074]

Hi Alfie, absolutely loved this video. I’d love to see a “what on earth is happening at Valencia?” Video, in light of their president resigning and gattuso being hired.

[@martinmcwilliams]

Excellent work as always Alfie.

[@JohnnyPeacock1959]

I'm a season ticket holder at Leeds United but when I go to London I enjoy going to Dulwich Hamlet which makes a nice change. I can stand and watch the match drinking a pint which I can't do at Elland Rd. Billionaires stay out of non league because we like it how it is.

[@manuarebeast]

Could you do a video on 7 of the most improved national teams based on Fifa rankings. For example Curacao were 188 and are now 79 with a lot of players coming through playing at a good level

[@ally_crawford]

Alfie I reckon you'd enjoy the work of the other Wrexham owner...It's Always Sunny if you gave it a chance... it is almost as satirical as you can be!

[@sandiledhlamini6297]

I came here for the football insights. I stayed for the meta-verse tangent😂

[@fin-ed6oj]

If I was a billionaire, I'd buy the nearest National League South team and try turn them into UCL winners. I'd have a 30,000 seater stadium in League Two

[@spookyghost7524]

if you asked Pablo Escobar he would say "to do laundry"

[@caseyimiller]

Loved the ending 😂

[@calumhollington8028]

This is by far my favourite channel on KZbin. You deserve serious recognition for the quality and consistency of your uploads man. Legend keep it up 👏🏻

[@cookthehaggis9154]

Please can you do a video on Charlton, love your videos

[@ggrimm2118]

Alfie going off about modern football always floors me 😂

[@pjsmith2744]

Cool video man. Your research is always top notch!

[@tixchicken]

this makes me wanna do another playthrough of fm manager

[@joepoolman94]

Alfie, you're such a fucking talented writer and your videos are a pleasure to listen to, even more so recently. Keep up the good work x

[@guessundheit6494]

4:30 - "Lived locally until the age of 4." Sadly, it is still living.

[@matthewsmith6176]

love seeing Southport being used in the video

[@integrito3323]

You are a very smart, informed and well researched guy! Well done!

[@faenwulf7540]

Mateschitz also went for Markranstädt, because they where in the highest tier that allowed this total re-packaging, because the upper Regionalliga was then organized by the national federation DFB, and the Oberliga Markranstädt was in, is operated by the regional federation NOFV. While DFB and DFL-rules striktly forbid to take the league-spot from another club, the NOFV-rules didn't.

[@shaunsmith7668]

Your Hoever and Watmore transitions completely send me reeling

[@surinamesechicken9780]

Erm Billericay Town or Lewes are examples of why this idea is hit or miss However if a billionaire wants to invest in Hereford FC then we would love it If you want an example of what happens when investment goes bad, look up what is going on at Staines Town

[@jdjphotographynl]

15:21 If football clubs in Germany aren't allowed to carry corporate names, then why does Bayer Leverkusen exist? Or were they formed before this corporate name law came into effect?

[@billykuan]

The rich teams buy all the best players and potential players, then because they can not play them all, the players are loaned out to teams in other leagues. This also prevents lesser teams from buying these players and competing in the league. Big money buying and controlling the best talent. For the fan of a mega team, this is fine, but for the local, the real fans of football not so.

[@evansnyamesah1755]

Capitalism affects everything

[@a.k8069]

this is the future. They passed regulations against this shortly after you posted this comment. It's no longer that much of a thing (chelsea has closed down the player farming)

[@billykuan]

@@a.k8069 Assume, thanks for the update.

[@OfficialFingazMC]

Salford are despised in League 2. I've never spoken to a single fan from a single club that doesn't hate them.

[@SD_BRFC1997]

Salford tbf bought their way through non league so that’s a extra reason not to like them Wrexham ain’t made many friends either as they are gonna do the same Arrogance doesn’t help either Salford aiming to be in the championship in what was it 10 years after promotion well they have 5 years to get it done doubt it seeing as they sack managers each season when they don’t go up Wrexham fans and the club complained the playoff final was on the same day as the wales game arrogantly making it sound like they was already in the final Grimsby of course punched them right in the mouth AFC Fylde probably the funniest of he lot aiming for the football league by 2022 it’s 2022 and this season they are gonna be playing in the national league north again 😂 also their owner is a mega conservative fan 😂

[@derred723]

Building a club from nothing is not the dream of a billionaire. It's the dream of a fan. I'll take it from the perspective of the greatest investor in history, Warren Buffett. Buffett buys two types of businesses. The first, is a well run profitable business (obviously one not in a dying market), with good management. That's why he owns stuff like Coke. Profitable business, nobody's going to start not liking Cokes, and good management. It's stable. The second business he buys is a good business with bad managers that he can replace with good managers. And this kind is riskier. the first you buy and just leave them alone. It's already profitable and working. A lower league football team by and large is neither of the two. It's not profitable, stable, people very well could stop going like they won't stop buying Cokes and most football teams already have bad management.

[@PingoUTFG]

Chipping Sodbury is just what people from Yate say they are from when they inevitably leave the disgusting place

[@Alphoric]

I was so good at the football manager games that I took Woking from The Conference to the Champions League in 6 seasons

[@RomaInvicta202]

Taking Swindon Town all the way to CL finals would be beautiful :)

[@ijat2aizat]

Well, I remember playing Championship Manager those days and brought Charlton Athletic becoming Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League, Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup in the matter of 10 season..

[@SeanDJames]

The last 2 minutes of this video was golden

[@joepoole7807]

Surely to deal with the fanbase issue billionares could target "phoenix clubs" or "protest clubs" which have established support like wimbledon or fc united of manchester

[@MrBlazemaster525]

You do know that majority of phoenix clubs represent fanbases that have been screwed by moneybag idiots right?

[@jldch26]

@@MrBlazemaster525 Literally. FC United of Manchester hated the idea of the current ownership lol

[@christophercopley6474]

I used to play the lma manager games until they stopped making them until after 2007 so sad that game was stopped

[@ClubSoda98]

@22:17 fair point but What if you have the mighty Robert Huth and Wes Morgan at the back??

[@chrisb4350]

My local team was Rushden Town which become Rushden and Diamonds which became a car boot sale site. Did you do a video about them?

[@wafudave6041]

Ah yes, the amalgamation of Rushden Town and Irthlingborough Diamonds by Dr Marten himself, Max Griggs.Two fine traditional clubs ruined. Oh how I giggled when R&D went down the tube. No place for plastic clubs. Oh I should add I'm a poppies fan.

[@chrisb4350]

@@wafudave6041 Interesting how quickly Kettering jumped into Nene Park after it was all said and done, I mean until they noticed the club had no cash to turn the lights on. Then off to a pub car park in Raunds but at least you still have the same club to be fair.

[@chrisb4350]

@@wafudave6041 This video has to happen now, could be joint thing you know as Kettering Town had a mini false new dawn with that bloke owning them for a bit and Gazza in charge for a week.

[@wafudave6041]

@@chrisb4350 Oh! Chris what a nightmare that was lol. Having Ladak at the helm did kettering no favours.

[@wafudave6041]

@@chrisb4350 Yes it should Chris. Crazy Gazza days, and apparantly he still hasn't paid his bar tab at the Beeswing !!

[@kkm969]

One simple answer: It's about money and not some passion and That's not good for the business.

[@michiadams]

There is one little point you forgot about Rb Leipzig: They're easily the most hated team in Germany, even ahead of Hoffenheim. Sure, Redbulls investment would've mainly been tied to permanent Champions League qualification and eventually sucess. But the price they paid for not even having achieved that yet, is extreme unpopularity among all german football fans plus fan protest against them at every opportuninty. Even the DfB Pokal they won recently didn't give them any kind of legitemacy, it just furthered the hatriot against them. So, to sum it up, Redbull are actively hurting their brand in Germany through Rb Leipzig. Thats why no one else would try such a thing in a really big league. It just doesn't work.

[@heyah1447]

I think FIFA should ban conglomerate groups

[@snk_private]

I think you underestimate the value extraction from being present in a mainstream stage. And, while I am not proud to admit it, I kinda like every team except Bayern, for the very reason that every success is bought in modern football and I'd prefer success being spread in my league - thus low key "supporting" any team that could conceivably win the title is something I am willing to do to stop Bayern dominance. Yeah I'm not a fan of bought success, but the fact that Leipzig is in Eastern Germany and stories like Yusuf Poulsen's are in a way them building a history - sure only baby steps, but nonetheless steps towards a true history.

[@michiadams]

@@snk_private I completely get the point that you like everyone who can challenge Bayern, if I wasn't a Bayern I'd probably support anyone but Leipzig too. And while I'd even agree that Bayerns dominance is an issue that needs fixing, it needs to be fixed systematically, not by a new "club" magically coming into existance to challenge them. And on that east germany thing, geographically that might be correct. But if we in what used to be the BRD speak of "the East", that usually means the actual DDR, a State that collapsed almost 20 years before Rb Leipzig was founded. In fact, there's a good reason why Redbull picked Leipzig (or the former DDR in general) as their location. When the BRD and the DDR merged, the Football leagues obviously had to be merged as well. And just like that entire transition in general, the west royally fucked it up. Only 2 teams from east germany were allowed to enter the Bundesliga, meaning the lower ranking clubs that used to play in the DDR's first division ended up in the third tier. All of that was never fair in the first place, and you then have to add the fact, that all west german clubs were in much better financial situations than their eastern counterparts. As you might imagine, all of the DDR's best players left DDR clubs very quickly, most of them leaving for west german teams. Thats what lead to the institutional imbalance in german football we have today, where huge DDR clubs are often stuck in the third or fourth tiers, with the 2. Bundesliga often being the best they can do. Redbull not only acknowledged that fact, they saw it as their way into legitmacy. Leipzig as a city has 2 massive clubs with huge tradition in Chemie Leipzig and Lok Leipzig. But both of those clubs haven't been above the fourth tier in ages, both of them have big fanbases (even though Lok has a Nazi problem, but thats a different story), and thats why, as this video actually states, Rb tried to buy both of them initially. They spoted a gap in the market by location in east germany, and obviously they were never fucked over during the merger, because the drink Redbull didn't even exist at that time. And thats why, in my opionion, Union Berlin is the only actual east german club in the Bundesliga today, because they actually played DDR football, even though they weren't sucessfull whatsoever at that time.

[@snk_private]

@@michiadams wow what a reply, I love the fact that for once I am not the biggest idiot in that I always have the longest comments and or replies in any thread ever (at least it seems like it) As I am from Germany, too, I actually have a pretty good grip on the matter myself, but I would be lying if I said I was as well versed in it as you. I also agree with everything you said in principle, and honestly can very well see myself fully agreeing with you, were it not for a brief stint ca 5 to 10 years ago where I developed a taste for US sports (mainly American football, but baseball and basketball, too). Afterwards I was in my 20s and had realized that everything in pro sports is about money (at least if you break it down enough - in fact Alfie helped me get to that conclusion and back to football in general, so if you are so stupid as to read this, cheers Alfie). As such I follow sports more as a source of entertainment and not as much as a genuine fan that is part of football fan culture in Germany. I admire all of you that are part of this cultural phenomenon - I like to watch it, but I would never go to the lengths true fans go to. But that was my point - I think that the casual football fan is the fan the product is made for and this type of fan does not care as much about RB branding, especially since they at least run a half decent operation. Is that sustainable? I don't know, I can very well see it not being a sustainable thing and I think that we would miss genuine Fans, were we to manage to scare all of them off. But I think that the die hard fan has a sort of weakness, too. He will follow his team pretty much whatever and under the current rules of the game in Germany, he will continue to do so for quite a while before we have reached that point (else Bayern fans could not support their club anymore since it's run by a convicted felon (Ehrenpresident, I know I know) and has very questionable ties to Qatar).

[@Richard-ib1ry]

premier league is full of many leipzig like teams but there are no protests..but why do they protest in Germany?In my words leipzig should spend more money and dethrone bayern by winning the bundesliga..that would make the league more watchable and bring more overseas tv deal

[@BigSmokeMUFC]

Video on the 22/23 PL teams, where were they during the inaugural season of the PL (like what division were they in)

[@chrismr5851]

In Germany buying a non League Team is almoust the only option for investors for investors. Examples are Hoffenheim and Leibzig.

[@bamidelepeter9448]

Yo Alfie 😂😂😂😂, the last few minutes were really funny. It's you explaining a different form of a dystopian future. Tesla Torquay United! Virgin Curzon Ashton!

[@thefootballtales2924]

Odd you say it would be easy-ish to get promoted from non-league to Premier League. Salford would have done it if it was easy! Completely glossed over it. The wage cap is a major issue, as is only one automatic promotion place is NLS/N and NL. Would have been good to have heard that covered. Should have looked at Dorking too and what they’ve achieved (sorry if you did this later on, stopped watching 18 mins in)

[@Kiev_The_Great]

Milton Keynes COULD have been a place where someone could have built a team from non-league, but it was decided they should just uproot and existing team as it was easier. The trouble is most places with decent populations already have a league team because they had enough people to sustain a bigger football team. Also fitting to compare Ipswich and MK Dons. MK's biggest attendance for their average was 15k, 6.5k of which were Ipswich fans. Pretty sure if you correct to get just home fans they'll fall significantly more than other clubs.

[@TOTN17]

Wimbledon was going to get wound up regardless no matter what

[@d4v1do]

@@TOTN17true

[@jimtuite3451]

If I make a short video, And use five word lines, Upturning every last word, And downturning the end paragraph, It makes it easy to follow. Hopefully this drags it out, And adds on needless minutes, So the viewer doesn't notice, That the subject of the video, Could be summed up in a minute. Rich people have bought non-league sides before, And taken them to high positions. Like Rushden and Diamonds and Gretna, So there's not really a question, For the video to answer (Please like, subscribe blah, blah, blah...)

[@memofromessex]

I took Salisbury Town to the Champions League final beating Juventus 7-1. After that I never really played any football manager game after that. I was done.

[@robmontier3770]

Quit while you were ahead!

[@mmmcounts]

The dream, for me, involves a billionaire taking over at ASDV San Marino. Set up the best possible facilities and get the best coaching staff that money can buy. Own and operate multiple teams that compete at different levels for the purpose of establishing and developing a San Marino talent pipeline. You might need to bring in some ringers that are willing to become naturalized San Marino citizens, but for the most part the goal is to elevate the talent level of San Marino natives. See if you can bring the professional team to the top of the Italian pyramid, and at the same time get some improved results for the San Marino national team. That's the dream- see what you can do with San Marino and take them as far as you can.

[@tigerstripey4885]

Faroe Islands

[@mmmcounts]

@@tigerstripey4885 Yeah, that's a pretty good one too, but what league are you going to plug them into? The Scottish pyramid? Places like Monaco, San Marino, or Luxembourg are better positioned because they're microstates, they could potentially have a national team and a professional team that are virtually one and the same, and they can plug that professional team into the league system of a larger country that's right next to them. That's the trifecta.

[@DimBeam1]

I played for Beverley Town!

[@simoncaton1226]

Alfie. People don’t understand how kit deals manufacturers and deals work. I also genuinely wonder why Nike, Puma and Adidas are the main kit people. Remembering Liverpool’s court case against new balance

[@dev0nSA1nt]

always think it'd be funny if our local village club (1000 people live here) won the champions league or something

[@theadventuresofshaunperkins]

In fairness the harrods owner took a lowly Fulham up to the premiership and bought them players like van da sar, saha,boa morte etc tho this was at least 20 plus years ago

[@blueal1878]

what happened with gretna? Wasn't that an extremely rich fan who bought them, took em right up to prem then went bust mid-season....it was something like that??

[@robinhazell6019]

The Red Bull Billionaire: Not only him, but probably NO ONE would be able to buy St Pauli of Hamburg. The club is more than about football. They are probaly the most Left wong / Anarchist club in the worlds and being Anti Capitalistic is part of the club's indetity.

[@rbnz3286]

Every leftwing loser is just a failed capitalist. There always a price.

[@dmur.]

What a club ☠️

[@Eibarwoman]

Also might be a bit tricky to buy out Eibar's 11,000 shareholders, which is a novelty of fan ownership forced by circumstances of claiming to own a La Liga club and a fairly large population of mountain village dwelling Basques. There was enough of the latter to carry the club into what's La Liga 2 in the 1990s before but not enough to avoid the need to sell shares to the former group once in La Liga almost a decade ago creating more fans. The odds of a club in Spain repeating the Eibar situation would be fairly improbable.

[@scooter21ba]

most left wing club in the world is probably livorno

[@ffbear8078]

What about teams like Portsmouth and Wimbledon though where they have a lot of established history and fanbases but are lower league teams, would that not fix the normal issues associated with buying a lower league team (yes I know they're in league 1 rather than the national league but still interesting why pick premier league teams instead of them)

[@drago939393]

It would be a solid move to pick those and slowly build them back up.

[@gm2407]

Any club with a large urban area, reasonable size stadium in a lower division than PL is a good bet for the billionaires or millionaires. At varying times large PL teams have dropped to league one. Bolton, Sunderland and the like. But the main issue would be in cases like Bolton (now league 2) the debts. Sunderland have a top ten stadium in England for capacity and only were just promoted from League One. Sheffield Wednesday play in league one with a 39k capacity stadium ans has been a well supported team, the definition of a sleeping giant, still getting up to 27k attendance after 20 years of underperformance. League 2 has Bradford City with a 25k stadium. National League has Notts County with by far the biggest stadium in that league. Tragically upended as a club by the fraudster who bought it in 2009 and falling out of league football. Potential returns are there from non top flight clubs, but the potential owners still need to put people in charge that know what they are doing.

[@LeedsunitedfanRyan]

League 2 Salford have owners worth in combination 2.9b League 1 Portsmouth owner has a worth of 1b. Championship Barnsley 9b Bristol city 2.6b Fulham 7.9b Preston 1.4b QPR 15.5b Stoke 9.4b West Brom 2.8b Premier league Norwich City even though now relegated their owners are worth 30m owner worth means suprising little as Norwich has spent and spent quite a bit of time in the prem yet teams worth over 500x more haven't.

[@drago939393]

Quality of management and level of actual investment matter more than just net worth.

[@Eibarwoman]

​@@drago939393 Spain's littered with better quality of management even with meagre investment punching the same weight as Malaga if not higher. Malaga has a disinterested oil billionaire of the sovereign wealth fund type and almost went down to the 3rd Division to Amorebieta, a team which is the exact opposite of decent management but there's no resources or stadium capacity.

[@Boredoutofmywits]

In 1995 you could buy a controllong stake in a very traditional, highly supported middle of the table LaLiga team for a million quid. The cheapest team you could by 100% for half of that. LaLiga had some of the best value for money elite foorballers back then. I was only 21 yo back then so the people I pitched the idea laugh me of the room.