Excellent article on the influence foreign investment has on a club's fanbase on 12:10 - Dec 20 with 3232 views | _ | """We sneer at them; they aren’t really football supporters, they’re just trophy enthusiasts who want to clap along to a predetermined happy ending.  In some cases that’s fair, in other it’s very much not — regardless, though, that is the very real downside of Abramovich’s patronage: Success has come at the cost of perception and, probably, both the way a fans see themselves and how tightly-bonded they feel to their club. Because of the way the modern game is formatted and because of how much emphasis has been placed on finance, the trained response is to welcome a billionaire benefactor with open arms. It doesn’t matter where he or she comes from, how his or her money was earned, or how much affection they have for the sport or your club, just so long as you, the fan, gets to breathe a lung-full of that rarefied air at the top of the game. As time goes on, however, the more obvious it becomes that success isn’t actually more important than a club’s soul and that it isn’t something which should be coveted above everything else. It is possible for a club to be the beneficiary of investment without weakening the ties with its supporters, but that involves a very delicate balance which is rarely managed. Sometimes, it really is better to fail on your own terms than to succeed on somebody elses""" | ![](/images/avatars/8715.gif) |
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Excellent article on the influence foreign investment has on a club's fanbase on 12:21 - Dec 20 with 3204 views | ApeShit | This will be ignored by the Ostrich-like posters on here. | ![](/images/avatars/9240.gif) | | ![](/images/icons/ignore-user.png) |
Excellent article on the influence foreign investment has on a club's fanbase on 13:04 - Dec 20 with 3174 views | NOTRAC | There are however two distinct types of foreign investor. There are those who who do it for non investment reasons, who are so wealthy that their intentions are purely personal. They don't invest to make a quick profit, but do it for personal glory or even political motives. The owners of Chelsea and Man City fall into this category. Then you have the more dangerous types of foreign investors. Usually wealthy-yes ,but there to eventually make money.Examples of this type are far more frequent and they can cause havoc. The American investors attracted to Swansea obviously fall into the latter category, and that's why they should be opposed at every opportunity. | ![](/images/avatars/0.gif) |
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