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Wanna Argument?
Falling out of love with football?
The Sugar Daddy route
'New car, caviar,
four-star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team!'
Many people have no doubt flirted with this thought, only to decide that it depends on their winning the lottery. Sometimes, though, a person has sufficient wealth to put these ideas into practice. There's a tradition of private business people trying out their entrepreneurial skills in the football industry. Steel company tycoons, sports shop magnates, property developer
millionaires, media godfathers - they've all had a go at running football clubs.
Unfortunately, for many of the football clubs involved, time and again success has proved to be elusive. Sir Jack Hayward and Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sir Rodney Walker and Leicester City, Milan Mandaric and Portsmouth, Robert Maxwell and Oxford United are just a few of those who have had their dreams of football fame dashed season after season.
It is impossible to say how much money these football entrepreneurs put into their clubs, but most of the above list have seen millions of pounds of their personal fortunes go on expensive player signings and wages. The exception is probably Maxwell at Oxford Utd, who may have taken out more than he invested, and
anyway was recommending the merger of his club with Reading FC, to produce Thames Valley Royals - a development that never materialised, to the joy of fans of the two clubs.
