jamamafegan Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I see it's being discussed on the Hibs thread but I feel this warrants a topic of its own. AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley, an American businessman worth $1.6 billion, is in the process of owning a minority stake in Hibernian. Foley already holds a minority stake in French club FC Lorient. Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68142049 From what I've seen their fans appear to be delighted with the news. A football finance expert is claiming this could propel Hibs to "3rd best club in Scotland" status. Foley said earlier this evening on Sportsound that he intends to provide "a few million" for next seasons playing budget. He wants to make Hibs "serial contenders for Europe" and in the long term wants to challenge the Old Firm for Premiership title. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c72g8rx8841o Do the good times lie ahead for Hibs - is this going to bring significant success to Easter Road? Or will they become some sort of tragic feeder club to Bournemouth? Now that the SFA have relaxed rules on dual ownership of Scottish clubs, will we see other Scottish clubs being taken over by billionaires looking to add to their club portfolios? Is it going to change the climate of Scottish football forever? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 When is the P&B collective hivemind crowdfunding a team to the top? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PauloPerth Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 What’s that you say? Spend lots of money on players is it? Become the third force in Scottish football you say? Go on to challenge the Old Firm? Well hell, that sounds incredible skippy, never heard of such a plan in Scottish football before… 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeartsOfficialMoaner Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 The more clubs that take points from they two the better. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathematics Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Remember John Boyle…? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velo army Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 I'm confused as to why the sfa would relax the rules on dual ownership tbh. It would clearly impact the integrity of the league. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theyellowbox Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Difference here to other 'throw money at it' attempts is that this guy actually has a track record on owning football teams. I take the view that a stronger Hibs, probably makes the likes of Hearts and Aberdeen up their game. Not great for my team as could lead to a bit of a gap, but probably makes for a more exciting league overall. I don't see him throwing stupid money at it re players, but for me, how serious he takes it will be shown on investment in other infrastructures. Maybe a slight concern for Hibs over his age and what happens when he is no longer around? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC92 Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 It really depends what "a few million" means. Obviously any money is welcome, but if it literally means a one-off investment of a few million, that doesn't necessarily make a huge difference unless it's spent very wisely. Hearts and Aberdeen have both benefitted from big cash bounties from Europe in the last couple of seasons and haven't really kicked on (to put it mildly in Aberdeen's case). I'm pretty sure those clubs have a bigger base income as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNU_Linux Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Will yer man man Foley bring bottles of superior footballing knowledge & just wanting it more to aid Hibs in their quest? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamthebam Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 A couple of million in terms of the English Premier or even the English League is sweeties really I notice AFC Wimbledon for one just sold a player for (insert Dr Evil gif) a reported one million pounds to Ipswich. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hibee_Hibernian Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 48 minutes ago, velo army said: I'm confused as to why the sfa would relax the rules on dual ownership tbh. It would clearly impact the integrity of the league. I don’t think they have to be fair. Foley is only taking a 24% stake and doesn’t have any plans for more (to be fair most likely because nobody would be willing to sell) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flybhoy Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Investment to make them the 3rd biggest club in Scottish football and challenge for the title you say? When do the 87 players come in on loan from Kaunas then? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 You've got to admire the optimism of having a long term plan at 79. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnydun Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insert Amusing Pseudonym Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I think we can all hope for it to be as successful as Lorient has been, it's been a rocket ride for them towards Ligue 2 glory since he got involved there 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Patterson Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Well this is great news, and a great time for them to rebuild their playing squad. They better start their squad re-build from the back, I hear there's an Australian International Goalkeeper available for almost nothing, who comes with incredible pedigree, a clean sheet in European competition, he's also played under Ange and was A-League Goalkeeper of the Season. What a steal! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 That's our goalkeeper! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handsome_Devil Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Unsure what to make of this. Is he just a guy who likes football and has money to donate? Can we - optimistically - say him and his ilk have looked at the lack of collective marketing, limited tv exposure and concluded Scottish clubs are undervalued? Or is it the thin end of the wedge en route to becoming feeder clubs for average (at best) sides down south? The Motherwell board have been fairly criticised for lots recently but have clearly seen the direction of travel. Do I want us to fight for our share of the pie or maintain our dignity? Being the last independent small club in the top-flight would certainly have some defiance about it, inevitably becoming just another run of the mill side in the championship less so... Football is such an emotive thing it's rare to have genuine 'don't know' moments but there you go! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the jambo-rocker Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 A stronger Hibs tends to lead to an EVEN STRONGER Heart of Midlothian so please, raise that base level. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leith Green Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 9 hours ago, jamamafegan said: I see it's being discussed on the Hibs thread but I feel this warrants a topic of its own. AFC Bournemouth owner Bill Foley, an American businessman worth $1.6 billion, is in the process of owning a minority stake in Hibernian. Foley already holds a minority stake in French club FC Lorient. Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68142049 From what I've seen their fans appear to be delighted with the news. A football finance expert is claiming this could propel Hibs to "3rd best club in Scotland" status. Foley said earlier this evening on Sportsound that he intends to provide "a few million" for next seasons playing budget. He wants to make Hibs "serial contenders for Europe" and in the long term wants to challenge the Old Firm for Premiership title. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/c72g8rx8841o Do the good times lie ahead for Hibs - is this going to bring significant success to Easter Road? Or will they become some sort of tragic feeder club to Bournemouth? Now that the SFA have relaxed rules on dual ownership of Scottish clubs, will we see other Scottish clubs being taken over by billionaires looking to add to their club portfolios? Is it going to change the climate of Scottish football forever? I would say most of us are broadly positive about this. The Black Knights group (its not just Foley, he is just the spokesperson for this part) have several billionaires, and are looking to get exposure across the sporting world. Whats ultimately in it for them? Not sure really, presumably a return on investment one day, but the sums involved are relatively small for them when you look at the wealth of those involved. It could be a huge ego trip. For us, I think it has already shown that the standard of player we will bring in (either on loan, or perm) has improved even in this window. Some people use the term "Feeder Club" as if its a negative..........but lets be honest, we are all feeder clubs and Scottish football is pretty low on the cash food chain as it is. Hibs fans and St Mirren fans have been desperately hoping that John McGinn gets a mega move in order that we get some more crumbs from the EPL table. I dont expect instant success, but enhancing the standard of player Hibs sign can only be good for us - frankly, if we get more excellent players and they only stay for a couple of years and they move on then that works for me. Much of the initial money is being spent on improving infrastructure - An indoor astro dome at East Mains, a fan bar will be built in the East Stand, rail seats being installed in the Famous Five, and more hospitality in the same stand. Outside the top two, Aberdeen and hearts have larger budgets, including donations, foh, Dave C largesse etc - imo all this does is bring us a bit closer to these two. Hibs have clearly been trying to make a big change on turnover numbers for a year or two, we spent £1m on improving the hospitality last summer, it is really great and is bringing in a lot more money already. Foleys interview would excite many, and having stretching ambitions is great - but we wont be challenging the top two unless the sums of money multiplied by about 5. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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