As Manchester City prepare to become the latest club to move into the control of foreign investors (Thaksin Shinawatra's buy-out should be completed any day now), the Premiership is being touted as the latest billionaires' playground and serious doubts are being raised about the future direction of English football.

The City takeover will place almost half of Premiership sides in foreign hands and a number of other clubs, including Arsenal and Blackburn, are provoking interest from overseas. But with a government claiming that football is moving away from its grass roots and fears of a Premiership dominated by a privileged few, is there really any cause for concern? Or is this just another case of media xenophobia?

In the mid-1980s English football was at its lowest ebb. Stadiums were crumbling, supporters were faced with poor facilities, hooliganism was rife, and English football teams were exiled from European competition. The old First Division was a selling league with many top players being lured by the financial attractions offered on the continent. Now, more than 20 years on, things could not be more different.

'As more large-scale investment continues to be attracted to the Premiership, prepare to see a sustained challenge to the old order'


The Premiership is the world’s richest domestic football competition. Supporters watch games in vastly improved stadia, hooliganism is a rarity, and some of the top players in the game are plying their trade on English soil. And, according to financial experts Deloitte, the latest influx of overseas investment is providing valuable benefits to the English game.

The new breed of investors are successful business men in their own right, bringing with them experience of operating large organisations, a number in the sports industry. So while the media talk of “boom and bust”, financial constraint and appropriate financial management seems to be the new order of the day. Roman  Abramovich has put the brakes on the Chelsea spending spree; Tom Hicks and George Gillett are keeping a tight rein on the Anfield purse strings; and apart from Manchester United’s recent £50m outlay, and Darren Bent’s £16m move to Tottenham, the anticipated summer transfer gold rush has yet to materialise.

Accomplished businesses invest where there are opportunities for substantial rewards. In the world of football this means success and the winning of trophies, and this can only be good news for the supporters of the clubs concerned. In the short term there may be little change at the top as the new regimes find their feet, putting their investments on an even keel; long term the picture is very different.

As more large-scale investment continues to be attracted to the Premiership, prepare to see a sustained challenge to the old order with Spurs, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Portsmouth, West Ham and Manchester City all challenging to break the monopoly of the so-called big four. A competition dominated by one or two clubs is set to become a thing of the past and that can only be positive for the long-term future of the English game.

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