One of the amazing things about football is its ability to drag your emotions from one extreme to another in a second and despite any number of let downs by their side, the hopes and dreams of a supporter will always remain strong and they will keep coming back for more.
Those hopes and dreams have been dashed and resurrected this week at two clubs whose fortunes have been poles apart over the past few decades, but could yet find themselves on a level playing field in the coming years.
Newcastle United suffered the agony of relegation from the Premier League last season and faced with mounting debts and the financial black-hole that relegation brings, beleaguered owner Mike Ashley has put the club and the entire playing staff up for sale.
A rather curious message posted on the clubs website offered the club for £100 million on a first-come-first served basis. I can’t imagine to many investors do their shopping on the internet so rather inevitably this message has attracted a number of jokers offering anything from £10 to a packet of sweets for the club, all of which makes the situation even harder to bear for the clubs fans.
With the future of manger Alan Shearer also in doubt, it is a mystery who will be lining up on the pitch, in the dugout and in the boardroom come the start of next season. The Magpies of the North-East could have further hurt to come – just ask Leeds United fans.
Contrast that with the Magpies of the Midlands and fans of the World’s oldest football League club, Notts County.
The Nottingham based club has spent much of the past 20 years languishing in the lower divisions, often in the shadow of their city rivals Nottingham Forest. But their rich past, which saw them founder members of the football League in 1888, has made them the latest club to attract investment from the Middle East.
A group of businessman behind the Munto Finance group have agreed to take over the 147-year-old club and have pledged to supply enough funds to get the club back into the Championship, the tier below the Premier League, within five years as well as investing in the clubs youth programme and infrastructure.
This deal may spark a trend whereby investors, put off by the millions required to run a Premier League side, will buy lower division clubs knowing they can still achieve success but with a much smaller outlay.
If it works then flush with cash the Nottingham Magpies could soon see themselves passing Newcastle on the way up. Of course all takeovers carry a sense of risk, the fears that they may saddle the club with debt or quickly lose interest in the project are all very real.
But as one County fan pointed out, after a 19th place finish in League Two last season things can’t get much worse.
1 comment:
Pre-season training is about two weeks away and NUFC still don't have a permanent manager. Hopefully new owners will come in sooner rather than later and sort this mess out.
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