Autobiography

But that misses the point, because whether
something else would have given me anywhere
near as much excitement and satisfaction is
another matter entirely. I say ‘satisfaction’
because I am equally proud of what the club
achieved during our period at the helm as I am
with the financial outcome of the adventure.
Following the extraordinary upsurge in the
game’s popularity at all levels of society,
mirrored by the billions of pounds which have
come into the Premier League from TV and
other off-the-field sources such as sponsorship,
advertising and corporate hospitality, David,
Ralph and myself are by no means the only
businessmen to have made money through
buying and selling a football club.
But one would need to be absolutely crazy to
buy a club just to make money. It never
ceases to amaze me to hear of professional
football being described as a ‘business.’ It is a
misnomer if ever I have heard one because
there are far too many unpredictable elements
in football for it to really be viewed as such.
You only have to look at the annual balance
sheet of the vast majority of Premier League
and Football League clubs, at their losses and
debts, to appreciate that football does not
provide the most solid and reliable of
investments. One of the reasons why few clubs
make a profit is simply that most fans will not
allow them to do so. They demand that
whatever money is made is then spent on
improving the team and taking the club to a
higher level of achievement. Indeed, even if
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