Brown Nose
Well-Known Member
Well yes, you will answer, obviously. King Power have been the custodians of Leicester City for more than a decade now. For the first few years, they poured money in rather haphazardly. In 2014, they hit the jackpot - the Premier League (PL). Vichai wrote off more than £100m turning loans into equity and we were off on a wonderful journey.
Over the last seven seasons, they have overseen us as we have invested mainly prudently and occasionally badly. We've tried and failed to live within our means because we've been ambitious to challenge the bigger boys. We are challenging those bigger boys so in that sense overreaching has worked. In 2016, we achieved an extraordinary thing. For the last two seasons, we've found a manager and playing group that have made us consistently be able to compete. It's a fabulous time to be a City fan.
But the reality is that what we're doing is totally unsustainable. Our debts are accruing at relentless rates. Once the accounts are tallied up for the end of this season, those debts could well be pushing a quarter of a billion pounds. And we want to spend potentially another fortune on the stadium and surrounding areas.
Our only realistic hope is that Top turns these massive debts we owe (largely to King Power) into equity too. There is no way we can ever pay them off. There is no way we can afford a stadium expansion. It's utter madness to even consider it. We spend more on our player salaries than we make in total revenue in every aspect of the club. If we make the Champions League, we might be able to afford to sign some players and sell one only of our main playing assets. If we don't make the Champions League, surely our market will be to sell and only sign free transfers and loans.
With the focus on the European Super League (ESL) attention has been drawn towards the ownership models of our clubs. You can't really be a PL owner and not be a billionaire. It's a very, very, rich persons play thing these days. Once a billionaire has control of your club, you are completely at their mercy. They are either good people or not. We got lucky, we got good* billionaires. Some of our competitors got unlucky. They got bad billionaires.
*when I say good, I'm referring to their role in leading Leicester City. There are some very serious and undeniably awful claims about their exploitative role in Thailand.
We also got very lucky that we had Top when Vichai died. If Leicester City was only Vichai's play thing, goodness only knows where we'd be right now. Southampton lost a billionaire to death and have been drifting now for years, for sale and surviving on selling assets. But we had Top. Top was alongside his father and could pick up the reigns and the commitment. So there was some continuity for us and we could continue almost as if nothing had happened.
But what happened on that fateful night in 2018 shows just how fickle things can be. King Power are a vulnerable company, at the whim of the Thai regime and under constant threat from protesters and legal challenges. The pandemic will have hit them as hard as any business. What if Top cannot justify the cost of maintaining Leicester City to his shareholders? What if other members of his family understandably want the family to put the English football thing in the past? If Top cannot write off another massive set of loans to us, how do we manage this debt? What happens to us without King Power propping us up?
Make no mistake about it though, King Power have made a fortune out of their purchase of Leicester City. Their investment is now worth much more than everything that they've paid out. They've also got worldwide publicity and advertising that money couldn't really buy them. It's been a phenomenal business success.
However, the ESL has brought on a government enquiry which will look into the ownership of football clubs. There are new protests going on against several billionaire owners. And that doesn't even include the dramas at clubs like Newcastle.
All this places a spotlight on clubs like ours. Clubs owned by billionaires who could do anything with 'their' club. Is it really okay that we just cross our fingers and hope that Top retains his interest and his commitment? Is that really enough? We don't have the first idea about how King Power really feel. Top never does interviews. Neither does Susan Whelan or Jon Rudkin. There is a wall of silence from everybody at Leicester City with the exception of the manager. And he isn't accountable or responsible for any of this.
We don't know what the King Power board are thinking about the debts the club is in. We don't know how they would react if a ESL took off and we were left behind. If the TV deals dry up, what happens to us? A fire sale of players?
All this talk about the ridiculous nature of football ownership in this country has made me wonder. We are so vulnerable. So dependent on one young man from the other side of the world. And it really shouldn't be this way. It is frankly absurd that our club is that vulnerable. It is less than 20 years ago that we experienced what it is really like when the money dries up. When the pain of going bust rips the heart out of the club and threatens its very existence.
A start for Leicester City would be more openness from King Power and senior executives at the club. Another good option would be a fans representative on the board of directors. An even better option would be for some element of the ownership of Leicester City to be split up a bit. Some dilution of the exposure to the whims of one man and one company would surely be welcome?
None of this is in any way a criticism of King Power and their essential role in our club developing over recent years. However, it just feels wrong to me that it is all dependent on Top signing cheques and staying committed. A major football club should have a lot more depth to it than that. The events of the last week have, yet again, proved this to be the case.
Over the last seven seasons, they have overseen us as we have invested mainly prudently and occasionally badly. We've tried and failed to live within our means because we've been ambitious to challenge the bigger boys. We are challenging those bigger boys so in that sense overreaching has worked. In 2016, we achieved an extraordinary thing. For the last two seasons, we've found a manager and playing group that have made us consistently be able to compete. It's a fabulous time to be a City fan.
But the reality is that what we're doing is totally unsustainable. Our debts are accruing at relentless rates. Once the accounts are tallied up for the end of this season, those debts could well be pushing a quarter of a billion pounds. And we want to spend potentially another fortune on the stadium and surrounding areas.
Our only realistic hope is that Top turns these massive debts we owe (largely to King Power) into equity too. There is no way we can ever pay them off. There is no way we can afford a stadium expansion. It's utter madness to even consider it. We spend more on our player salaries than we make in total revenue in every aspect of the club. If we make the Champions League, we might be able to afford to sign some players and sell one only of our main playing assets. If we don't make the Champions League, surely our market will be to sell and only sign free transfers and loans.
With the focus on the European Super League (ESL) attention has been drawn towards the ownership models of our clubs. You can't really be a PL owner and not be a billionaire. It's a very, very, rich persons play thing these days. Once a billionaire has control of your club, you are completely at their mercy. They are either good people or not. We got lucky, we got good* billionaires. Some of our competitors got unlucky. They got bad billionaires.
*when I say good, I'm referring to their role in leading Leicester City. There are some very serious and undeniably awful claims about their exploitative role in Thailand.
We also got very lucky that we had Top when Vichai died. If Leicester City was only Vichai's play thing, goodness only knows where we'd be right now. Southampton lost a billionaire to death and have been drifting now for years, for sale and surviving on selling assets. But we had Top. Top was alongside his father and could pick up the reigns and the commitment. So there was some continuity for us and we could continue almost as if nothing had happened.
But what happened on that fateful night in 2018 shows just how fickle things can be. King Power are a vulnerable company, at the whim of the Thai regime and under constant threat from protesters and legal challenges. The pandemic will have hit them as hard as any business. What if Top cannot justify the cost of maintaining Leicester City to his shareholders? What if other members of his family understandably want the family to put the English football thing in the past? If Top cannot write off another massive set of loans to us, how do we manage this debt? What happens to us without King Power propping us up?
Make no mistake about it though, King Power have made a fortune out of their purchase of Leicester City. Their investment is now worth much more than everything that they've paid out. They've also got worldwide publicity and advertising that money couldn't really buy them. It's been a phenomenal business success.
However, the ESL has brought on a government enquiry which will look into the ownership of football clubs. There are new protests going on against several billionaire owners. And that doesn't even include the dramas at clubs like Newcastle.
All this places a spotlight on clubs like ours. Clubs owned by billionaires who could do anything with 'their' club. Is it really okay that we just cross our fingers and hope that Top retains his interest and his commitment? Is that really enough? We don't have the first idea about how King Power really feel. Top never does interviews. Neither does Susan Whelan or Jon Rudkin. There is a wall of silence from everybody at Leicester City with the exception of the manager. And he isn't accountable or responsible for any of this.
We don't know what the King Power board are thinking about the debts the club is in. We don't know how they would react if a ESL took off and we were left behind. If the TV deals dry up, what happens to us? A fire sale of players?
All this talk about the ridiculous nature of football ownership in this country has made me wonder. We are so vulnerable. So dependent on one young man from the other side of the world. And it really shouldn't be this way. It is frankly absurd that our club is that vulnerable. It is less than 20 years ago that we experienced what it is really like when the money dries up. When the pain of going bust rips the heart out of the club and threatens its very existence.
A start for Leicester City would be more openness from King Power and senior executives at the club. Another good option would be a fans representative on the board of directors. An even better option would be for some element of the ownership of Leicester City to be split up a bit. Some dilution of the exposure to the whims of one man and one company would surely be welcome?
None of this is in any way a criticism of King Power and their essential role in our club developing over recent years. However, it just feels wrong to me that it is all dependent on Top signing cheques and staying committed. A major football club should have a lot more depth to it than that. The events of the last week have, yet again, proved this to be the case.
