Premier League American owners voting as a block

The biggest worry has always been the growing number of Premier League American owners.

Like almost every other owner of a top level club in whatever country, they are in this for only one reason, which is of course to benefit themselves. Usually, money is the driving force, but it can also be other factors / attractions, such as power, prestige, influence, part of a wider investment strategy and so on.

Nothing wrong with any of that, not in terms of modern day football anyway, it is just how it is.

The only country that is the real exception is Germany, with fans having the 50+1 model of ownership, though even in the Bundesliga it isn’t as straightforward as fans having control. It is a lot more complicated than that and massive businesses are usually a huge part of major clubs there.

Newcastle United are no different. I am obviously so relieved that the FCB is no longer here with our club in a perpetual coma, however, you would have to be naive to the extreme if you actually thought the Saudi Arabia PIF, the Reuben family and Amanda Staveley  weren’t simply driven by the brilliant business opportunity that NUFC clearly was. If they sold the club today, they would make a massive profit, even including the cash that has been invested by the owners on top of the original purchase price.

There is nothing wrong with money, power, prestige, influence, part of a wider investment strategy, driving the Newcastle United owners. It is actually a very positive thing, as the only way the NUFC owners get what they want, is if the football club is successful on and off the pitch. Which is what we all want as fans. So our hopes and aspirations meet at that point. Of course, on top of that, you just hope that the owners of your club also do their best to treat the fanbase with respect as well.

With Mike Ashley, safe to say Newcastle United fans lost on every single aspect above! Well, I suppose the only exception to an extent were the fans taking advantage of the cheap ticket deals Ashley bought them off with, so they would keep filling the seats next to his adverts. A bit like going into his shops, most of the product is rubbish but at least it is cheap rubbish.

Anyway, back to Premier League American owners.

With their ever increasing numbers in the English top tier, the fear has always been of them voting as a block. Especially as their numbers grow ever higher. As well as being absolutely rubbish to watch, all the American sports have other things in common. The main one of those is that they are all designed with the simple aim of trying to make all the owners collectively as rich as possible.

They are totally ruthless. If an American Football Club is struggling, just shut it down and move the franchise to another city, maybe thousands of miles away. Fans suddenly don’t have a team at all, it just disappears. The pursuit of money is everything.

That is also why they don’t have the risk of anything messy such as the threat of relegation. It is quite obvious that if they could get away with it, the Premier League American owners would do the same here, make it so none of their clubs could ever be relegated and threaten their finances with such a savage threat.

If you don’t believe how ruthless they can be, just look at the Premier League American owners who twice in quick succession were the prime movers in trying to ruin English football. First of all, the American owners at Liverpool and Man U were the two who tried to force through the proposal they came up with, whereby the ‘big six’ (four of them now American owned, another part American owned and the only exception Tottenham, who are shameless in how they go on) would be given extra voting power compared to other PL clubs, that extra voting power would then have given them power in the future to vote through any changes they wanted to in the Premier League, voting as a block. When that shameful attempt failed, the American owners at Man U and Liverpool were then once again prime movers as they tried to help form a European Super League. Get rid of the awkward matter of actually having to qualify for European football, just invent something where you would be guaranteed to be in it every season with the guaranteed money and power that would be come with that. These Premier League American owners not caring anything that English football and indeed European football would be totally ruined as we know it.

It was a total disgrace that when they were exposed and the Super League idea collapsed, the ‘big six’ were punished with a fine that amounted to less than a week’s wage bill for the six.

They were caught trying to ruin football for their own benefit and that was the punishment! Everton deserve everything they get in terms of punishment but the likes of the Premier League American owners at Liverpool, Man U and Arsenal should have been instantly relegated from the Premier League and banned from European football for five years, preferably ten. The only conclusion you can draw is that because they all work together, especially the ‘big six’, they basically stopped any real punishment coming their way.

Up to the present day and the Premier League American owners are very much still at it. Voting as a block, with some exceptions in this case (explained below).

I am of course talking about the vote on the ban of loan players into Premier League clubs from other clubs where owners also have an interest. Or as the media have termed it ‘Stop the corrupt Newcastle United / Saudis…’

The Premier League American owners at Liverpool, Man U, Arsenal, Palace, Bournemouth, Fulham and Aston Villa all voted for the ban.

The other five who voted for the ban were…

Tottenham – Nothing more needs to be said.

Brentford and Luton are at least in part owned by fans and no surprise they voted for the ban, which is fair enough.

Brighton are also owned by a fan but as Tony Bloom has an interest in other clubs on the continent where the Seagulls regularly loan players to, I bet if the loan ban had been both ways then he wouldn’t have backed a ban. Simple self-interest.

West Ham – Same as Tottenham, laughable owners and will just do whatever is best for them.

As for the eight who voted against the ban…

Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Manchester City, Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Everton, Chelsea, Burnley

The first five of these are NOT controlled by American owners.

Everton aren’t either but are set to be taken over by 777 Partners who have interests in numerous clubs, so there was no way they were voting for any loan ban.

Chelsea also have numerous other club interests and they also stick out as a bit of a maverick amongst American owners, in terms of not necessarily voting as part of the block all the time. However, if ever there was a vote on a closed no relegation league or a new attempt at a similarly closed European Super League, then you know for sure where their vote would go!

That leaves American owned Burnley and I have no idea why they voted against the loan ban. Maybe their owners simply realising how ridiculous the whole thing was, especially with not banning loans both ways, something that could potentially have been legally challenged if the vote had gone in favour of a ban on loans into PL clubs only.