Re: Would we welcome a wealthy investor ? Discuss. : Mon Mar 05, 2012 2:14 pm
SaleSlim wrote:
I'd happily take a wealthy backer but only if his/her plans were to build the club from within. By that I mean spend his/her money on restructuring the whole of the marketing/administration/youth set up etc. I don't want someone akin to Sheikh Mansour/Jack Walker who is just going to buy success. I'd like a Salford team built around youngsters, sprinkled with the odd top Aussie import for that 'wow' factor. Saying that I'm more than happy if we can continue to recruit lesser lights like Moon or McPherson, who may not quite be Aussie test standard but are bl00dy good players in their own right. As a Utd fan the one thing I love about the club is how they bring the youngsters through & fans can relate to the local lads more than a lot of the big name signings. Building a Salford dynasty would be my main hope rather than a circus show full of egos & sports cars.
Couldn't agree more.
The main problem with a sugar daddy style approach is that you're reliant on one man, or one consortium alone. Is that a good business model? No, of course not. We've been reliant on JW keeping the club afloat for 30 years and now, with him not getting any younger and no one else willing to step in, we're looking at a very uncertain future without his input. If someone comes in who's just throwing cash around at the club then we could well find ourselves in the same position in the future - it's very easy to come crashing back down to Earth from there.
Any influx of cash would need to be used to build a solid business plan and foundation for the future of the club as a whole. Turning the club into a sustainable, self-sufficient business is what we should be aiming for and what any new businessman coming in should be looking to do. Unfortunately, looking at some of the methods used by other clubs to do this, we'd need to be in control of the ground as well to give ourselves a good chance of that comfort without relying entirely on building a consistently successful team.
We can only hope the team continue their good vein of form and put us in a good position to attract positive investment and build a bright future for Salford RLFC.