Aston Villa top the Premiership owners’ league
Cheer up James, at least you have the league’s best board
Things may a little bit pony on the pitch for Aston Villa right now, but according to a study published today, Martin O’Neill’s side are top of the league when it comes to their owners and board members.
A “not-for-profit” research think tank called Tomorrow’s Company had nothing else to do, so they ranked the Premier League’s clubs according to something called “Stewardship”. Spokesman Mark Goyder explains:
“Stewardship means handing something on to the next generation in better shape than you inherited it, and not just the next quarter’s results.”
Essentially measuring whether owners consider their clubs a short term cash cow or a long term asset, Stewardship is assessed by five criteria: putting the club first (are owners using the club to make a quick buck or are they planning for the long term future?), long termism (youth policies, debt management, stadium improvements etc), clarity of purpose (can the board be trusted not to meddle with the team?), respect for fans and local community and passion (are the board doing the right thing for the club and the game in general?).
This all sounds like an incredibly subjective test that supports itself with pithy business jargon, but you can check out the Stewardship league table after the jump…
1. Aston Villa
2. Arsenal
3. Wigan Athletic
4. Everton
5. Blackburn Rovers
6. Stoke City
7. Birmingham City
8. Hull City
9. Burnley
10. Bolton Wanderers
10. Sunderland
10. Wolverhampton Wanderers
13. Manchester United
14. Manchester City
15. Chelsea
16. Fulham
17. Portsmouth
18. Tottenham Hotspur
19. Liverpool
20. West Ham United
There’s some highly contentious stuff going on here, such as Tottneham’s relegation finish – The Spoiler was under the impression that the club are usually on top of things in terms of financial housekeeping, and the Naming Rights Arena will be with us in a few years. Surely self-professed Arsenal fan and Tomorrow’s Comapny spokesman Mark Goyder would realise this?
[BBC]
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