擁有一個足球俱樂部通常是很多人的夢想，但當你真的手握俱樂部所有權時，情況往往與人們的意向有所出入。作為一個企業，每個足球俱樂部雇傭的員工,往往是這個俱樂部的核心,員工們會對俱樂部注入自己的感情與激情，而一旦俱樂部的老板們不顧員工們的意見與想法，往往會激起員工們情感上的反抗，不再認同你。因此，人們常說,一個足球俱樂部的老板只是俱樂部的暫時保管者。
所以，對于那些想要買入一個俱樂部的潛在投資者，在向我尋求建議和幫助時，我總是首先指出投資消極的一方面，以確保這個人或這家公司是真的想要進入此行業的。然后我會問他們,為什么他們想要擁有一個自己的俱樂部,因為這將決定哪一個俱樂部或哪一些俱樂部是最適合這位投資者的。
當然，相對歐洲人來說，在尋求適合的俱樂部時，中國投資者通常有著完全不同的原因。中國投資者總是希望購買一個著名的俱樂部，但盡可能花最少的錢。這在當代足球領域里幾乎是不可能的。歐洲各個較大的俱樂部都有著極高的價值,其投資空間也是巨大的。不過許多俱樂部都背負大量債務,新主人在擁有俱樂部的同時也必須承擔債務,因此這些俱樂部不再有吸引力,投資者們往往會選擇潛力小一點的俱樂部和不那么著名的俱樂部。
說到此,得益于英超的電視轉播大合同，英超中的大部分俱樂部將很快在現在或將來實現更大盈利,而這也使得各俱樂部越來越有價值。因此，西班牙、意大利和法國的俱樂部會越來越有吸引力,因為在一般情況下,它們的價值遠遠低于英超俱樂部,但是他們通常都有較大的債務問題,在未來幾年的收入潛力有限。這使得投資者們的選擇空間變小。
在俱樂部投資上，投資者們還有另外一個選擇,我稱之為“項目”。作為一個概念，想要將它賣給中國投資者是有一定困難的，因為中國的投資者注重短期收益，都想要立竿見影的投資,而作為一個項目，顧名思義并不會是一個短期的盈利。英國的俱樂部中不乏具有良好潛力的俱樂部，一旦能夠提升實力，球隊有可能進入英超。關鍵在于，找到那些運作良好但缺乏資金購買球員從而提升實力的俱樂部。這些俱樂部也需要一個強大的粉絲群和穩定的現場上座率，因為球迷是每個俱樂部的盈利基礎;他們會在球場買票、買球衣、喝啤酒和吃東西。
萊斯特城和伯恩茅斯從低級聯賽俱樂部脫離，正式加入英超,這是因為他們有著良好的管理層，球隊擁有者愿意為他們的球隊謀求發展。相反的，我們所看到的團隊，像布萊克本和博爾頓，曾經英超頂級俱樂部的管理層，其球隊從聯盟沒落的原因在于：管理不善和球隊擁有者不懂如何運作。錢不能解決所有問題，真正的關鍵點是要有良好的管理以及球隊老板的大力支持，球隊才可以實現可持續發展。
關注中國足球近況可知，其市場主要以中國個人資本投入和企業購買為主,有時還會直接購買歐洲足球團隊,比如著名的馬德里競技俱樂部，這些投資者們都知道的好的俱樂部。而其他俱樂部卻不適用,因為他們的老板在各自的行業也許是非常成功的商人，當他們以不相同的工作方式，將其業務策略應用于足球俱樂部時,不用說，其結果是可想而知的。
最近，由于前任老板的長期缺席，俱樂部處于無運營狀態，從而導致球員大量缺失，阿斯頓維拉俱樂部自然而然的易主了。為了止損，球隊老板選擇廉價出售。新老板是否真的了解這次交易的意義，以及能否讓這支曾經的偉大的俱樂部重回英超，都還有待觀察，但這是一個大項目，需要老板投入激情。
對于目前中國每一個足球投資者來說，其面臨的挑戰是要有足夠的資本和激情，以及在如何運作俱樂部的問題上，知道什么時候承認自己比別人了解的少。
英文原文
Owning a football club is often a dream many people have especially a famous one, but the reality of ownership is often far from the initial vision. Football clubs are businesses, they employ staff, and are often at the heart of a community that has an immense emotional attachment to the club and that can often be very abusive toward the clubs owners if they think that the owner is ignoring their views. It is often said that the owner of a football club is just the temporary custodian.
So when I am approached to advise and help potential investors buy into a club I always start by pointing out the negatives of an investment to be sure that this person or business really does appreciate what they are getting into. I then raise the question of why they want to own a club, because this will determine which club or clubs might be a suitable match to the investor.
Of course Chinese investors are usually looking for a club for quite different reasons than those of Europeans. The Chinese investor always wants a ‘famous’ club but wants to spend as little money as possible. In the modern world of football ticking both these boxes is almost impossible. The big European clubs are very valuable, so the investment is huge. Many clubs are burdened with large amounts of debt that a new owner must take on, so they stop being attractive and tend to make the choice of potentials smaller and far less famous clubs.
Having said this, the TV money in the EPL is now so large that most of these clubs are now or will be profitable very soon, but this also makes them valuable. So then clubs in countries such as Spain, Italy and France become more attractive because in general, they are worth far less than EPL clubs, but their debt is often significant and earning potential in the coming years limited. The choices get smaller for any investor.
But there is another option, the one I call ‘a project’. This is a difficult concept to sell to a Chinese investor because they all want instant gratification and a project as the name implies isn’t a short-term win. However, if I just look at English clubs for the moment, there are many that have good potential to get promoted to the holy grail of the EPL, the key is to find the ones that are well run but lack the cash to buy in players to move them up the leagues. These clubs also need a strong fan base and consistent regular attendance, because the fans are the foundation of any club; they buy tickets and shirts, drink beer and eat food at the club.
We have seen clubs like Leicester and Bournemouth rise from the lower leagues to join the EPL because they had good management at owners willing to find their development, and we have seen teams like Blackburn and Bolton which were once top EPL clubs slide down the leagues for the opposite reason; poor management and owners who do not and did not understand how to run the club. Money does not solve everything but it helps, what is very important is good management, supported by the owner so that consistency can be delivered week after week, year after year.
The focus on football in China has lead in recent years to Chinese individuals and companies buying into and sometimes buying outright European football teams, some like Athletico Madrid have flourished as the investor leaves the club operation to those who know best, while other clubs have gone nowhere because their owners who maybe very successful businessmen in their industry try to apply their business strategies to a football club which doesn’t work the same way; needless to say the results are predictable.
The recent purchase of Aston Villa was no surprise to many because the previous owner was absent, detached from the club operations and didn’t invest enough in players. He cut his losses and sold it cheaply. Whether the new owner really understands what it will cost to take this once great club back up to the EPL remains to be seen; it's a big project and one that requires passion.
The challenge for any Chinese wishing to invest in a football club is a requirement to have the cash, have the passion and to know when to admit that you know less about running a club than others do.
作者簡介：Ken Grant 鴻俊，體育業內人士、投資人和觀察家；國際主席俱樂部(IPC)及亞英體育俱樂部(AASC)董事；The English Football League中國區官方商務開發代表。在足球、高爾夫、馬球等體育領域擁有廣泛的國際關系。
聲明：文中觀點僅代表作者本人觀點，不代表懶熊體育。
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