Quotas Not The Answer Claims Villa Ceo At #sibc
Greg Dyke’s proposal to increase quotas for English players at Premier League clubs will have a negative impact on the national game, according to Aston Villa CEO Tom Fox.
Speaking at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club, sponsored by CWM Cyclone Promotions, alongside football icon Gianluca Vialli, the pair discussed a range of topics from the implications for clubs from the FIFA fallout to the advantages and disadvantages of pre-season tours.
Commenting on the possibility of a new system being implemented that would increase the number of home grown players, Fox, the former Arsenal commercial chief, commented: “A quota system won’t work and I don’t think I’ve spoken to a counterpart who thinks it does. It will have a negative impact long-term on our academies. We won’t be supporting it.”
“What could happen is some of our best players at 13, 14, 15, 16 years of age get poached because it’s much easier to take them at that age than to buy them as a fully formed star, decimating the academy system and making my academy system not financially viable.”
As manager of Chelsea in 1999, Gianluca Vialli fielded the first ever foreign XI in the Premier League, admitting: “I had no idea until I read it in the newspaper the next day! I was just trying to win the game.”
However, despite disappointing against European clubs this season, Fox claimed the Premier League was in great condition: “One of the strengths of the Premier League is perhaps one of the reasons we didn’t do well in the Champions League, we share more revenue as a league than any other in Europe. The gap between our lowest team and highest is no where near other major leagues, who push all their funding to the top.
“At Aston Villa, who finished 17th this season, we are the 22nd biggest club in Europe in terms of revenue – that’s down to the share in revenue, and that’s why it’s the most competitive league. Anyone can beat anyone, because there’s enough quality throughout the table. The smaller teams can beat the bigger teams, and it’s happening more and more.”
Vialli and Fox were also favourable of the globe-trotting pre-season tours occurring amongst football clubs, provided they have value.
Referring to his time at Arsenal, Fox commented: “We always tried to give the players their four week break, and as long as the value in it was clear, Arsene (Wenger) became very supportive of the tours. He loved the heat, when players have only been back a week but they’re playing in the warmth of Malaysia, for example, it’s great for the muscles.”
“It’s critical to compete at the top, but you just need to plan it with sensitivity to the manager and the players.”
After it was revealed earlier this week that Aston Villa had entered into exclusive negotiations with a potential new owner, Fox commented: “Randy Lerner has said that he has other things that he wants to do in his life, so if he can find the right kind of bidder he’ll sell the club. It’s as simple as that.
“What I also believe, in the current structure of the Premier League and financial fair play, is that it’s almost immaterial who owns the club provided you have the right plan. The ability to do what owners have done historically – coming in and overfunding the purchase of players that clubs cannot afford – is just not allowed anymore. A new owner would be hard-pressed to invest as much money as Randy has over an eight year period.”
Following the recent FIFA fallout, which saw a number of senior figures arrested by the FBI on corruption charges and the re-elected president Sepp Blatter step down just days after securing a fifth term in charge, Vialli hoped that the changes will have a positive impact moving forward.
“We need a leader who is interested in making football a better game,” said the UEFA Champions League winner. “We need people with integrity to run the sport we love. Integrity is the main issue at that level.”
Fox added: “It needs someone who has a bit of a vision, it’s a difficult remit. They need to understand the political environment and be able to communicate very effectively. Whoever they put in there is still going to have the same system of governance to deal with. It’s a massive job.”
The Sport Industry Breakfast Club, powered by CWM Cyclone Promotions, is the industry’s number one networking event series with four content-led networking breakfasts over the course of the year. Find out more here.
