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Thread: English football finds EU loophole..... Paul Conway

  1. #1
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    English football finds EU loophole..... Paul Conway

    English Soccer Finds EU Loophole to Keep Access to Young Talent

    David HellierMay 27, 2020, 12:00 AM EDT
    English clubs will no longer be able to sign EU players at 16

    Britain is out of the European Union but, through a series of seemingly unfashionable deals, its soccer teams may have found a way to keep one foot in the bloc as they search for the next Cristiano Ronaldo.

    Pacific Media Group, which controls the U.K.’s Barnsley Football Club, is in talks to buy a lower-division team in France, co-founder Paul Conway said in an interview. The entertainment group also just completed last week its purchase of a majority stake in Belgium’s KV Oostende.

    The negotiations follow a slew of similar moves by owners of teams including Manchester City FC and Leicester City FC. A benefit of these investments is that they offer U.K. clubs a way of retaining access to Europe’s youngest talent when the post-Brexit transition period runs out at the end of the year.


    “Brexit will only accelerate M&A deals in Belgium and France,” Conway said by phone this month. “English clubs will want a presence in Europe, where they traditionally have picked up so many promising young players.”

    Talent Pool

    U.K. clubs have for decades been able to convince soccer stars from the continent to nurture their careers in England. Players from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain make up almost a fifth of those in the U.K.’s top division, according to Premier League figures.

    “The Premier League’s success is partially due to its ability to attract global talent,” said Kieran Maguire, a lecturer on football finance at the University of Liverpool.

    When the U.K. was an EU member state, FIFA transfer rules allowed its clubs to offer contracts to players in Europe from the age of 16, meaning they could secure future stars early without having to part with hefty transfer fees. This enabled Arsenal FC to lure Spanish players Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin from FC Barcelona.

    Manchester United Plc did the same with midfielder Paul Pogba, who arrived for his first spell in England from French team Le Havre. Starting January next year, in the absence of an extension to the Brexit transition period, FIFA rules mean the age at which U.K. clubs can contract European players will rise to 18. By that time, clubs from rival leagues could have already swooped in.

    Deal Flurry

    The sky-high amounts now being paid for the most skillful ****agers has been evidenced in recent years by the signings of French World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe by Paris St-Germain for 180 million euros ($197 million) and Portugal’s Joao Felix by Atletico Madrid for 126 million euros, according to BBC reports at the time of the deals.

    “If an English club has a feeder club relationship with a club in the EU, they can still have access to European players at 16 years,” said Andrew Osborne, head of the immigration practice at law firm Lewis Silkin. “The feeder club will sign players and develop them for the English club, who will probably have right of first refusal to sign players.”

    There has been no shortage of such deals. City Football Group Ltd., which owns Premier League champions Manchester City, said this month it agreed to acquire Belgian team Lommel SK. Talent development was among the reasons it gave for the purchase.

    Owners of Leicester City and Sheffield United FC have also bought into Belgian teams in recent years. The acquisition costs make long-term financial sense, according to Pacific Media’s Conway.

    “The values of some of these clubs compare to the value of a single player,” he said.

    Higher Returns

    The rationale for ownership of multiple teams goes beyond talent recruitment. It can be a way for owners to capitalize on the global reach of soccer and maximize lucrative sponsorship revenues, as well as help smaller clubs grow and become more competitive.

    Controlling several clubs can bring higher returns, particularly if a company’s portfolio is anchored by the visibility of a renowned Premier League team, said Michael Broughton, a sports business consultant and former senior FIFA adviser.

    That idea was validated when U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake agreed last year to pay $500 million to buy just over 10% of City Football Group. The Abu Dhabi-backed company owns teams in the U.S. and Australia in addition to its European investments.

    Conway said club owners will increasingly look to follow the successful model of Red Bull GmbH, the energy drinks company that’s a backer of soccer teams in Austria, Germany, the U.S. and Brazil, and implement synergies across their organizations.

    “You’re seeing the end of the independent football club,” he said.

  2. #2
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    Wish we were seeing end of you and your consortium quicker the better

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by DOOALI View Post
    Wish we were seeing end of you and your consortium quicker the better
    I wish sometimes Dools you'd explain your hatred towards our owners.You call them arsoles,Charlatons etc but never give a reason why.
    It is your prerogative to view them as you like but I can't recall you ever giving a valid reason.
    If its anything to do with owning other clubs it shouldn't be a problem to you like I said last week there are loads of owners in the UK who own more than one club.Pacific Media group are a massive organisation who will have employees at all there clubs so it won't be any detriment to the running of BFC.
    I've said a few times my view is it should be one owner one club but until its illegal I'm afraid it will carry on.

  4. #4
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    Hi Bill, you know me I try to give a balanced view. On Pacific Media what makes you think they are a massive organisation ? As far as I know they only employ a handful of people and don’t have anyone at the clubs apart from Conway and Hung every now and then

    Pacific Media are a different company to Mr Lees companies obviously

  5. #5
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    Our club is run day to day by Dane and Robert, theres no need for Conway and Chein to be here all the time and I would imagine the other clubs they are involved with will be the same.I was reading last week about El Mansour who's company had just bought there 11th club or was it 12 and hes rarely seen at any of them but they've all got Ceo's ,financial directors etc the same as we have. Until the EFl and Premiership change the rules to one club one owner this is how football is.Its not the way I'd do things but that's the way it is.
    I still think a lot of suspicion comes from the fact that Barnsley are run by overseas owners but I would imagine about 60%/70% of owners in the UK are foreign.There was certainly no interest from Barnsley folk in taking over.I always put my trust in P.C and if after lengthy talks these were his chosen group to run us I've no reason to doubt it.
    They've pretty much kept to there word on how the club would be run which was the same or very similar to what PC did.I honestly believe if we were half way up the table a lot of angst would disappear unfortunately in football theres no guarentee on performance or results.
    In the summer Luton for example spent what they could on basicly a team of journeymen who they pinned there hopes on.It now looks they too will be relegated and are having to let players and managerial staff go for financial reasons.
    I'm possibly more relaxed on some football matters and at this moment in time I'd rather have a Conway than a Chansiri.
    I hope that explains my views nothing more nothing less it's just my opinion on what I see and I appreciate others have different views.

  6. #6
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    I know that Bill and agree with most of your points, I was asking why you thought Pacific Media was a massive organisation who would have employees at all their clubs though
    Last edited by EastStandRed; 27-05-2020 at 05:55 PM.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by EastStandRed View Post
    I know that Bill and agree with most of your points, I was asking why you thought Pacific Media was a massive organisation who would have employees at all their clubs though
    Sorry EastStandRed ,I don't know where Pacific Media came from,I meant New City Capital.Check there Wiki page tells you all about them and there financial affiliations.

  8. #8
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    [QUOTE=bill46;39502056]I wish sometimes Dools you'd explain your hatred towards our owners.You call them arsoles,Charlatons etc but never give a reason why.
    It is your prerogative to view them as you like but I can't recall you ever giving a valid reason.
    If its anything to do with owning other clubs it shouldn't be a problem to you like I said last week there are loads of owners in the UK who own more than one club.Pacific Media group are a massive organisation who will have employees at all there clubs so it won't be any detriment to the running of BFC.
    I've said a few times my view is it should be one owner one club but until its illegal I'm afraid it will carry on.[/QUOTE
    Reasons bill, Do I have to put it simply, I can't stand them or their way of running my beloved BFC which has already killed a lot of the die hards. If you or anybody else are happy with how the clubs run fair play but sorry it's not for me

  9. #9
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    Fair enough .

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by bill46 View Post
    Sorry EastStandRed ,I don't know where Pacific Media came from,I meant New City Capital.Check there Wiki page tells you all about them and there financial affiliations.
    Newcity Capital isn’t a massive organisation either, Newcity is basically just Chien Lee and his investments in various companies. He doesn’t have a workforce working for Newcity as an organisation would

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