Blackburn Rovers News 24/7Writer: Walker 
Date:Monday March 26 2007
Time: 7:55PM
UK time is: 04:52:45
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Blackburn Takeover Possibility?
Could Blackburn Rovers become the next Football Club to be purchased, and maybe by an overseas Sugar Daddy?
With the wave of new investors into Premiership clubs increasing all the time Blackburn Rovers Football Club could be one of the next subjected to such a move.
Chairman John Williams has confirmed that the club has received some interest from parties (so from the sounds of it more than one group are looking at the club!) possibly interested in taking over at Ewood Park. Speaking in the Lancashire Telegraph Williams said:
"We clearly set out our stall when we made the board changes a couple of years ago saying that new investment - or a new owner - was on the agenda.
"It's not the sort of business where you hang a 'For Sale' sign out, and the pressure for selling has also changed.
"We have had a number of expressions of interest, both from home and abroad, and there have been preliminary meetings.
"But, ultimately, that decision will come down to the trustees, who are the shareholders. As I said, to move the club from here to the next level is going to need a very serious investment and that would take a very special type of owner.
"Blackburn Rovers would be available if the right quality of owner, in terms of financial clout and wishes for the club, were to step forward. It is difficult for the seller to demand of a buyer 'you must do this, and you must do that'.
"But I think the current owners realise they have a duty of care to the club. By the same token, they also realise that everything moves on, and it might be time for them to move the club on.
"However, they would want to do it in a way that was right for the next generation of fans. There has been interest and preliminary discussions have taken place, but we haven't gone any further than that as yet."
Rovers could, if the are even taken over at all, fall into the hands of an overseas backer which Williams doesn't see as being a problem. He added:
"I don't think nationality itself is an issue. I think it's more about the quality of the purchaser, and the direction in which they wish to take the club."
In an ideal world (but it is FAR from ideal as we all know) this would happen and would happen with Rovers being taken over by someone similar to Uncle Jack, but he was one of a kind really wasn't he.
Is this something you would like to see happen to Blackburn Rovers, would you mind if the investors were from overseas? Have you say below…
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Your Comments
Lets be honest if we could have a backer with the money of an Abramovic (we probably wouldn't get that lucky, if you would even look at it that way?) wouldn't we take it? So long as ANY move is in the best interests of the club and it's fans you can't oppose it can you?!?! So long as the fans are still rewarded then why not, if we can step up to another level this would be a good thing wouldn't it?!?!
Hughes Da Man
I would love to see an Abramovic sort of guy here. Yet, when he'll come I bet all the clubs will raise the value of their players, in order to get more money from us. (Cant forget we gave 4M for Ward, Dailly, Davies etc.)
IsraeliRover
as this not come out of the blue? I know the TV money will represent a incentive for any investor but the way our club is currently financed is unique.
Ex Ewood Resident
Word doing the rounds that the late Lamar Hunt's son is looking into the possibility of buying into a Premiership club! Personally, i would be opposed to this, primarily due to the fact that nearly every thing price wise, would increase, tickets etc and can someone tell me what happens when Abramovich gets bored with his premiership play toy, who will be payting for the wages for all those world class players? A club has to stand on its own 2 feet and be "relatively" profitable. If Roman left, Chelsea would be having a fire sale, much like what occurred over the pennines not 4-5 seasons ago! We could've been in the same boat when Jack died, if it was not for his love of the club and his foresight to leave a trust fund to help the club after he had gone. No more sugar daddies for me thanks!
BomBom
I agree with BomBom on this one, besides wheres the satisfaction of finding a Friedel or an Admiral if we can just go and buy whoever! ok it was fun in the past with cries of 1 nil to the millionaires but where ultimately did it get us! ummm relegated i believe with wasters on top dollar. Jack was 1 in a million and i don't see those lottery numbers coming around again so soon.
govtpros
The problem is that Rovers could get left behind a lot of clubs in the near future. Besides the money the big 5 or 6 clubs have we also have Pompey and West Ham with big bucks to spend & Lerner at Villa. You could always end up with a Hearts type situation where money ruins the club because a tirant is at the helm.
As for Abramovich - I reckon he will be gone within a few years. I think he has lost his love for football (If he ever had it!)
Wellsy
Yep 1 in a million alright. now for the next 1 in 2 million yes thats right I am to be the new foreign owner and all fans will be forced to wear corks from their hats, our colours will be changed to green and gold halves and the mascot on match day will now be a giant boxing kangaroo ;) haha
OK so its only in my dreams - owning Rovers rather than the colour change etc.
Unfortunately i really feel that there is the chance that there will be those clubs who have a major backer i.e. Chelsea, MU, WH etc and those that dont. i know there is that already but even the occasional highs we get from a cup run (god I am bursting for it to be the 15th already) will be a thing of the past. We are a small town club, yes we have the trust fund which is a god send and we may be able to hold our heads above the water line now with the increased television revenue but i really fear for what will become of us and other clubs without big backers. it is too late to shut the gate now as we were one of the first to go down this path and it gave us such pleasure at the time. To bemoan others for doing the same isnt right, not necessarily from those on this site but I have heard complaints about Abramovic etc elsewhere. I know Jack (god rest his blue and white soul) was different from the others because he had a love for the club but what he did, by raising us up to premiership winning standard cannot be turned back (and would we truely want it to?) so we must I feel go forward from here. Hell if Man city can look for a buyer then why cant we? If it's the right one. I just hope Williams is right "I think the current owners realise they have a duty of care to the club"
OK have rambled enough now....back to work.
AustRover
I was dusting down the inflatable Kangaroo then AustRover in order to be one of the first to bow at your feet in the hope of getting a FREE season ticket... then you ruined the illusion! It's a tough call, you want Rovers to be successful, but you want this off our own back but if the billionaires keep pumping money into the big boys (which hats off to Arsenal they don't as yet have that backing like the others and they are still standing tall) then they will contiune to pull away and the gulf between them and the rest will conitune. As this continues they make yet more money with us (and others) left behind. IF and WHEN these investors get bored things will come crashing down for these teams but there isn't always and if and when, if teams are successful someone will always come in when they go, there are enough millionaires let alone billionaires in the world to keep things going. If investment can be found to move us forward without risking our long term future we have to go with it to compete don't we?!?!
Hughes Da Man
Like most of you agree, the buyer needs to care for the club or else we could find a situation that Chelsea may well have to cater for in a couple of years. We do run the risk of being left behind without major investment but I wouldn't want us to lose our small time club feel just for the sake of money.
roversman
I do wonder how some media viewpoints ever arise around this sort of thing. For us Rovers (and now Chelsea), it's a strange one, as we've had a fan come in and gift the club cash without ever wanting it back - The idea of an "Investor" doing this is as sensible as feeding a yoghurt to a dog. Any inverstors from here on in will be looking to finance the club under debts/covenants/possibly even a share issue. It will certainly not involve "being given some cash to throw at new players", merely a new finance mind looking after the cashflows and income streams, possibly making more funds available from the club. We currently have a fantastic internal relationship, and a superb chairman using the purse strings wisely. I see no benefit whatsoever in going down the same route as Liverpool, Man United, West Ham etc - Nothing has been done in those clubs that could not have been arranged under the old ownership.
Head Rover Heels
We do not need a big money investor taking over the club. Whatss there money gonna do, finanance us for a few years. Say we dont win anythin, then what they leave us with all these players on high salaries. How we gonna pay them. We have a solid financial history, the trust fund and the new payments by the Fa is sufficient. By using the brains of Hughesy and his signings, we dont need to be financed by some1 who does not care about the club.
sasman
I agree with what HRH says and will take that example one step further. When Glazer bought united, he financed basically everything the United had, Ground, etc. and de listed the club from the stock market. The moment he did that, the club was technically in debt to the tune of a cool 300 million. Glazer is basically betting that United can make that money back over the long term AND be a financially self sustaining entity. Thats a bloody big gamble in any sport, but united do have a global brand and massive marketing appeal. Compare that model to rovers and tell me that scenario would EVER work with us? You all know the answer! As regard to being left behind in the money stakes, so what? Every fan of every club int he world from pro down to Sunday league wants their team to be successful, but at the risk of the club disappearing forever due to financial mismanagement? its not as far fetched as it seems! I would take Rovers being in the conference and being self sustaining and being able to go watch them on a regular basis rather than any other options. Finally, compare all the clubs currently owned by rich millionaires, they all have one thing in common, they all have large stadiums which are being filled week in and week out and they have a fairly large fan base and catchment area, again something Rovers cannot compete with, the term "punching above their weight" has been used on many occasions in the past to, accurately IMO, describe us. Granted if it wasn't for the "Rich millionaire" financing the club in the first place, we wouldn't probably be where we are today, but Jack was unique, insomuch as he paid out on transfer fees and ground and youth facility renovations without a concern for profit margins and profitability, he was living the dream, as they say. You think some rich American or Arab or Russian will be willing to do the same? We are a likely target at the moment as we are performing well, being moderatly successful and have a crop of good players. If that changes, would we still be equitably viable to one of these guys? I would rather a businessman, who preferably be a fan, with some moderate finances run the club akin to how it has been run since Jack's passing by John Williams and before him, Robert Coar. Gee, i guess i feel kinda passionate about this eh? Diatribe complete!
BomBom
Might look like a rant, but makes perfect sense BomBom - It's the fan/investor link that people misunderstand. An investor only buys... yep, "Investments". IE, something that somewhere along the line, will make him money. We are at the moment pretty much being run as a charitable trust, and therefore not for profit - By maintaining that, we are ensuring more cash goes into the football product of the club, as opposed to the coffers of an owner planning his public domain spacewalk. Money comes into the game from Sponsorship, TV coverage, The FA itself, and last but not least, the fans. Money from owners, goes to the old owners (or new retirees)
Head Rover Heels
How many football clubs can be run as an investment?? Not many.... Lerner will make no money from Villa, the Pompey guy will not make any money and I doubt that Eggertson will make any.
It is debatable whether the new Liverpool owners will make back much even with their huge marketing potential if they want to be successful again. I am not even that sure of Glaziers market plan.
Nobody could come into Rovers and expect a profit - that will not work - it could only be a fan or someone with to much cash to splash. Hopefully the former!!!
I don't think the club would be handed over to anyone who does not have the best interests of the club at heart.
I don't want us to have a mega-billionaire in control paying daft salaries and fees - I think that breeds under-commited players - just someone to finance the odd multi-million pound deal here and there.
Wellsy
another club going non british disgusting
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