Nice lessons may help Ratcliffe at United

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s deal to buy a 25 per cent stake in Manchester United is built on a crucial assumption: that the chemicals billionaire and his team have a better idea of how to win football matches than those currently in charge.

His experience in European football has the most direct relevance to United. His time as owner of French top tier club OGC Nice charts a steep learning curve, costly mistakes, sporting underperformance and bad luck, but some more recent signs of promise.

Football has been part of the Ineos empire since it acquired Swiss club Lausanne-Sport in 2017. The team was relegated soon after. Bob Ratcliffe, Jim’s brother who was then in charge of Ineos’ football interests, admitted afterwards that as owners, the company had been naive by overspending on big name players and “not getting advice from the right people”. Yet some of those mistakes were repeated following the €110mn takeover of French club Nice OGC in the summer of 2019.

The new owners arrived to find a club lacking structure and run largely on longstanding personal relationships, according to those working in French football at the time. Instead of overhauling the set-up, Ineos chose to stay loyal to those already at the club, taking a hands-off approach. “They quickly realised they didn’t have the experience,” said someone who has had dealings with Nice in the past who described Ineos’ early time in charge as “chaotic”.

The club is on its fifth permanent head coach since the takeover, a symbol of frequent changes in direction, personal dramas and lacklustre results.

However, Nice’s trajectory appears to have shifted since an audit of its operations in the summer of 2022 by Ineos’ director of sport and former cycling coach Sir Dave Brailsford, which led to a clear-out of executives and a number of important hires. Brailsford is set to be a central player at United.

The French side also appears to have found its rhythm on the pitch for the first time since the takeover under new head coach Francesco Farioli, who was virtually unknown before being hired in the summer by Ghisolfi. The 34-year-old Italian had only been a manager in the Turkish league for two years before his move to France. After 17 games, Nice sits second in the table — just five points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain and well on track for next year’s Champions League.

It remains to be seen how all these lessons will inform decision-making at United, a far bigger club, or how Ratcliffe will navigate his partnership with the Glazers. But the rocky years at Nice have at least provided the Ineos team with a valuable education in European football.

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month. He was approaching ninety, but still went to games. Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules. Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000. The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts. Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day income is

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen. There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere: https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/

The Political Economy of Football V2

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