PRIVATE OWNERSHIP CAN BE SUCCESSFUL
THIS feature isn't a pop at privately owned football clubs. Only a tiny percentage of football clubs in England are supporter owned and there is a reason for this. Some football clubs rely on huge investment so supporter ownership is not realistic. Private ownership can be hugely successful though and there is no more shining example than what Leicester City have achieved this season.
Under their Thai owners they have defied all odds to become only the 6th team to win the Premier League title after having odds of 5000-1 to win it at the beginning of the season. If you ask any Leicester fan, they will pay a huge amount of gratitude to the owners, the Srivaddhanaprabha family. They took over in 2011 after agreeing to take the club over from previous owner Milan Mandaric.
They haven't been rash in their decision making and have kept themselves out of the limelight. After removing Sven Goran Eriksson from his position as boss, they appointed a familiar face in Nigel Pearson who returned from Hull after achieving promotion from League 1 and a Championship play off spot in an earlier spell at the East Midlands club. The owners left Pearson to his own devices and in his second season back, there came the infamous play off defeat at Watford. Some hierachy would have bit the bullet after that but the Thais remained faithful and what a decison that was because a year later the Foxes were back in the Premier League. Everybody knows what happened last season as Leicester somehow pulled off the great escape but it wasn't to be enough for Pearson to save his job in the summer after a number of controversies over the season and a family related incident on a club trip to Thailand.
Leicester were on the lookout for a new man; step forward the unlikely candidate Claudio Ranieri. He has been unbelieavable for Leicester with his charm, knowledge, and success leading Leicester to an incredible triumph.
It's not just on the pitch where the owners seem to have got it right. Off the pitch, they are have a fantastic connection with the fans and regularly treat them at matches with a free bottle of beer, a food voucher, and flags. Leicester are the proof that private ownership can be hugely successful even without the huge financial resources.