Orca
Well-Known Member
I've been in the company of a board member of a Championship club this week and, over a beer or two, we discussed ownership, academies and the state of CCFC.
It was clear that he was aware of the difficulties of our club, but he wasn't fully aware of the perilous state of our Academy. His perspective on Academies surprised me somewhat and I thought I'd share it.
They're an ambitious club and have been in the Premier League more recently than us, but their Academy is also Cat 2 so they spend a similar amount of money to us in maintaining it. His view was that although it is a worthy and good thing to do for the local community, from a business perspective it doesn't really pass the test of being a good investment.
Although it's fair to say they've not had a breakthrough academy star that they've sold on for millions to another club, they've lost several Academy scholars for 'peanuts', much in the same way we've lost Bassala Sambou to Everton.
His point was that if you get one good saleable player a year, it might be worth it, but for the players he talked about that they had lost to other clubs before they'd even played for the 1st team, the compensation didn't cover the outlay for each year they had been at their academy.
Given this, I left myself questioning whether, given all that has gone before, an investment of £600k p.a. might be considered too much of a gamble by our owners?
It's clear that the 'financial basket case' of CCFC might not still exist without the income we received from our transfer dealings. However, as we're owned by a company who gambles with money for a living, could they consider a downgrade or closure of the academy as a purely business decision? Over the life of our Academy, have we recouped enough to cover our investment? I think the answer to this is Yes, but there's no guarantee it will continue. If we banked some of the £600k a year and invested it the playing staff, would we stand a better chance of promotion, thus earning more?
If I were to speculate on whether or not this might be being considered by our board, I'd suggest that if the Academy were forced to close or downgrade because of some other party, it would be an easy 'Get Out Of Jail Free Card' to cease this investment.
Maybe my bias against the current ownership has made me cynical to their true motives, but I've not got any figures to go on as to whether the Academy is a good financial investment or not - but these are the only terms in which SISU will view it. They won't care about the community benefits or the greater good, has it actually made any real money?
I'd love for someone to do an analysis of the transfer fees received versus our outlay on running a Cat 2 Academy - is it worth it from a business perspective? My acquaintance from the Championship thinks not in the case for his club. What about for us?
It was clear that he was aware of the difficulties of our club, but he wasn't fully aware of the perilous state of our Academy. His perspective on Academies surprised me somewhat and I thought I'd share it.
They're an ambitious club and have been in the Premier League more recently than us, but their Academy is also Cat 2 so they spend a similar amount of money to us in maintaining it. His view was that although it is a worthy and good thing to do for the local community, from a business perspective it doesn't really pass the test of being a good investment.
Although it's fair to say they've not had a breakthrough academy star that they've sold on for millions to another club, they've lost several Academy scholars for 'peanuts', much in the same way we've lost Bassala Sambou to Everton.
His point was that if you get one good saleable player a year, it might be worth it, but for the players he talked about that they had lost to other clubs before they'd even played for the 1st team, the compensation didn't cover the outlay for each year they had been at their academy.
Given this, I left myself questioning whether, given all that has gone before, an investment of £600k p.a. might be considered too much of a gamble by our owners?
It's clear that the 'financial basket case' of CCFC might not still exist without the income we received from our transfer dealings. However, as we're owned by a company who gambles with money for a living, could they consider a downgrade or closure of the academy as a purely business decision? Over the life of our Academy, have we recouped enough to cover our investment? I think the answer to this is Yes, but there's no guarantee it will continue. If we banked some of the £600k a year and invested it the playing staff, would we stand a better chance of promotion, thus earning more?
If I were to speculate on whether or not this might be being considered by our board, I'd suggest that if the Academy were forced to close or downgrade because of some other party, it would be an easy 'Get Out Of Jail Free Card' to cease this investment.
Maybe my bias against the current ownership has made me cynical to their true motives, but I've not got any figures to go on as to whether the Academy is a good financial investment or not - but these are the only terms in which SISU will view it. They won't care about the community benefits or the greater good, has it actually made any real money?
I'd love for someone to do an analysis of the transfer fees received versus our outlay on running a Cat 2 Academy - is it worth it from a business perspective? My acquaintance from the Championship thinks not in the case for his club. What about for us?
Last edited:
