There are still plenty of international buyers looking for clubs with potential. Will the war in the Middle East dampen their enthusiasm? Probably not for Americans who are currently the main movers and shakers. They may feel even more 'bigly'.
Bradford City look like one good prospect. Owner Stefan Rupp, a German investor, bought the club with a business partner in 2016 but has been in sole charge since 2019. They were a League One side when he arrived, but were relegated in the year his partner quit and then returned to League One last year. They have spent most of this season in the play-off positions and are now fourth, six points clear of seventh-placed Huddersfield with a game in hand.
Rupp has been listening to offers for years but has showing a bit more leg ever since last season’s promotion, hence the 31-slide “Welcome to Bradford City” presentation that arrived in the inbox.of Matt Slater, football business writer at The Athletic.
The sales pitch is pretty simple. Bradford City are a club on the up from the largest one-club city in the EFL, with the fourth largest stadium in League One and a 145-year history that includes two seasons in the Premier League between 1999 and 2001.
The deck continues with slides on the average attendance (almost 18,000), the club’s player-development record (nearly £2m in academy sales over the last five years) and the fact that Bradford, England’s 10th largest city, was the UK’s “City of Culture” last year.
Sales decks almost never mention price tags but Rupp, who wants out completely, has been telling suitors he is looking for at least £10m, which would give him a profit of about £5m as he would write off the £5.4m he has lent the club. Unfortunately, buying the stadium, which is owned by another former owner’s pension fund, will cost you extra, but the deck strongly suggests there is a deal to be done there.
BTW, Bradford was once a two club city but Bradford Park Avenue are now a non-league club.
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