Can Sunderland show how to win promotion with young players?

‘You can’t win anything with kids is one of the most infamous statements in English football: https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/you-cant-win-anything-with-kids-alan-hansen-infamous-man-utd-rant-aftermath/1gn0os7ix8fp418q3pequhf9j0

Can Sunderland show that relying on youth is the way to secure promotion? It is interesting that a booster article came out in the Financial Times on the day that they sacked unpopular coach Michael Beale after 12 games: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68340952

Sunderland are now 10th in the Championship after recent defeats by Huddersfield and Birmingham.

At 26, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is the youngest person ever to own an English football club. So it seems fitting that this scion of the agricultural trading dynasty is betting on youth to bring Sunderland back to the promised land of the Premier League.

“My family’s been around sports for a very long time,” he told the Financial Times. His late father Robert once owned French team Olympique de Marseille. “Football isn’t new to me,” he added, “it isn’t something where my passion came overnight.”

He took control of Sunderland in 2021, aged just 23, and now owns a 64 per cent stake. The remaining shares are held by Juan Sartori, a Uruguayan senator, who is also a private equity executive, and the son-in-law of Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch who controls French club Monaco.

Championship football, notes the Pink ‘Un, can be a treacherous place for ambitious clubs. Some, such as Derby County, have thrown money at the chase for promotion to the Premier League, only to fall short, leaving themselves financially stretched. Average wage bills in the Championship exceed revenues generated by clubs, according to figures from Deloitte.

Under Louis-Dreyfus, Sunderland is attempting to chart an alternative course, relying on young, unknown, imported players to win matches. Many clubs in the league value Championship experience above all else, said Louis-Dreyfus, but that can mean signing expensive players who are “on the way down”. Instead, Sunderland hunts for overseas players, typically aged between 19 and 21. (Although I seem to remember Mason Burstow at Charlton).

“What we’re trying to do on the football side is invest in young talent and give them the opportunity and the belief,” he said. As a result, Sunderland has the youngest squad in the league this year, with an average age of 22.6, according to figures from Transfermarkt, down from more than 29 when Louis-Dreyfus bought the club.

That compares with 25.6 at league leaders Leicester City and 27.3 for West Bromwich Albion, the team with the highest average age. Louis-Dreyfus, whose twin brother Maurice also sits on Sunderland’s board, is betting on this strategy to overcome the “biggest discrepancy between potential and actual” in football, based on the club’s large and loyal fan base, modern stadium, big online following and past success on the pitch.

Promotion to the Premier League is “an absolute necessity”, he added. “This period we’re going through now is the longest Sunderland has ever been outside the Premier League. So this is not something that anyone is used to,” he said. “We think our strategy is going to get us there.”

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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