2021 was all about the European Super League and the shockwaves that some of Europe’s top clubs sent across the continent as their greedy owners tried to carve out an even bigger slice of the footballing pie than they already have. Their plans were derided by many down the football ladder as pig headed, but it shone a light on just how little regard big club owners have for fans and the history of the game.
But big money is not just something that has infiltrated the Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1, and La Liga, because the English non-league system has also been getting a generous shot in the arm from wealthy investors, many of whom are not quite as rich as the owners of Newcastle and Man City, but who nevertheless have the sort of wealth that can match the GDP of a small country.
Here we take a look at some of the non-league system’s most wealthy owners, whose deep pockets could well see their teams leapfrog their way up the non-league system and into the Football League and beyond.
Teams lower down the league system are always on the lookout for a helping hand from a wealthy owner or benefactor, but such ties can sometimes come with a hidden price
Wrexham A.F.C. – Hollywood Comes to the Valleys
Welsh football has a rich history and a strong fanbase, which turns out for clubs across the country in droves. Such is the case with Wrexham, who despite not setting the odds lines and betting tips columns alight in recent years they still attract thousands to their beloved Racecourse Ground. It was this dedication as well as a rich history that dates back over 150 years that drew Hollywood hotshots Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney to bet on Wrexham by taking a controlling stake in the team. In no time at all this Vanarama National League side had non other than TikTok as their shirt sponsors, as well as promises from their new owners that the takeover was more of a philanthropic venture than a hard-nosed business one. No doubt that the internet’s top betting tipsters and footy experts will now be backing the Red Dragons to start ascending the UK football pyramid.
Reynolds and McElhenney were apparently convinced to invest in Wrexham due to the spit and sawdust nature of the club as well as the fact that relegation and promotion make the result of each and every game all the more important, unlike the fixed nature of most American sports leagues. Who knows, perhaps this could be the beginning of a famous rags to riches story of overcoming insurmountable odds; that could one day be transformed into a Hollywood epic!
Ebbsfleet United F.C. – Investment Doesn’t Always Equal Success
In 2013 Ebbsfleet fans rejoiced as it was announced that their little club would be taken over by a group of wealthy Kuwaiti businessmen who wished to pour cash into the non-league club. Supporters of The Fleet were already well versed in the vagaries of strange ownership structures because they were previously controlled by the pioneering MyFootballClub consortium, which ran the club in a hyper democratised manner, whereby individuals who owned a share of the club as well as players and regular fans could all vote on a regular basis on all matters regarding how the club was run.
The Kuwaiti influx of funds brought this interesting football experiment to an end and promised big things in this leafy Kent enclave. However, things have not quite gone to plan for Ebbsfleet, because almost a decade later they are still languishing in the non-league system; even having their noses rubbed in it by a controversial relegation that saw them drop out of the National League in 2021.
However, that seems not to have deterred the Ebbsfleet owners, who have taken it upon themselves to appoint the highly rated German coach, Dennis Kutrieb. Perhaps under Kutrieb the club can finally deliver on the expectations of its owners and fans, who would have expected so much more.
It’s the authenticity of non-league football which has wealthy sports purists from across the pond and around the world flocking to UK shores
Dagenham & Redbridge – In Tim Howard’s Safe Hands
It is all the rage for retired Premier League pros to buy themselves a share of a football club, with the likes of David Beckham going even further and founding a brand-new club from scratch. Everyone also knows about the Man Utd players connected to Salford, but there is another non-league club in the form of Dagenham & Redbridge who have an ex-Premier League goalkeeper to thank for keeping them afloat.
That safe pair of hands belongs to Tim Howard, who having starred at Everton for years is now part of a consortium of US businessmen who bought into the history and pathos of Dagenham & Redbridge. These investors did so much for the same reason that Reynolds and McElhenney got involved at Wrexham: because they wanted to be part of a genuine sporting experience that transcends markets and money, to build a bond between owner and supporter that just cannot be found anywhere else in business.
Indeed, this appears to be a reoccurring theme amongst non-league big money investors, with many less interested in launching their respective club towards the bright lights of the Premier League, and more focused on being respected custodians of an ancient club with deep roots in a community. Perhaps this is because that sort of ethos has been completely wiped out in American sports leagues, where franchises can be moved from one city to another at the drop of a hat, just as occurred to the Raiders in the NFL, who left Oakland natives bereft as the franchise upped sticks and sold out to the big money that was available in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Fans of English non-league football support their teams precisely because money is not the be all and end all of their existence, and it is ultimately that sporting utopia that businessmen from around the world are being attracted to.
