Arsenal just released their latest financials so Geoff and I have put a few comments together about our initial thoughts on what we’ve been presented.
Key points and questions:
- We’re £200million in debt. £130million less than last year.
- What happened to the sponsorship money we received up front? £100million from the Emirates + whatever Nike provided.
- How come the property sales haven’t covered off more of the debt? £95mill to develop, we’ve recouped £200+ million so far with a further 130 odd flats to go.
- What happened to our television money? We earn £50million+ from the EPL and the Champions league.
- What has happened to the transfer budget we never spend? We’re in the black for the last 5 years.
- Pleading poverty when you can comfortably increase the wage bill by £17million seems a little outrageous. This is before Cesc has signed a new deal, so expect it to increase further despite no additional achievement (You know, trophies). This increase is despite losing Adebayor (80k p/w) and Kolo Toure (50k p/w).
- The player sales of Adebayor and Kolo appear to be key to keeping us in profit, despite the fact we lumped £130million off the debt. Will are use this as a stick to beat the fans who want us to spend money?
- Arsenal make £3million a game of of you, the fan but don’t want to give anything back for your investment.
Conclusion:
The club are being frugal to pay off the debt quicker, but why? We have a 17 year mortgage don’t we?
Is it to be able to invest in the world class player that are currently out of our reach or is it to make the club more attractive to sell to an investor who will immediately plunge the club into debt and put us in a Manchester United/Liverpool situation.
If it’s the latter, like Geoff and I have predicted for a while… are you still happy?
More to the point, what is the MO of Gazidis? Is it to make us a world class club or is it to clear the debt for the owner in waiting, Stan Kroenke. I wonder what the bonus scheme looks like for our master of marketing and man of the people?
Is he the trojan horse, has he been employed to use our money to fatten the wallet of a billionaire? Is this the reason Stan hasn’t taken his holding to 30% becuase he doesn’t want to buy the club till it is debt free? No wonder he doesn’t answer questions at the AGM…
Will the fan base wake up and smell the coffee now? Are the debt buster brigade still pleased to see fan money go towards making a hideously wealthy cowboy even richer?
We’re being conned and it makes me sick to the pit of my stomach.
Pedro
That’s like saying I have a exclusive opinion on what Arsene might say!
Pedro, I prefer your version. How the feck can u have redcurrant stripes on yellow?
heh
you answered as I was typing.
So we are also talking about something that is hypothetical, in that if he can’t get 21% (or does he need to get 100%) of the remaining shareholders to sell at that price, his takeover fails, right?
Does he then end up being a say 47% owner but with a Board still intact or do those sales become null n void and he has to revert to 29.9 again?
Interesting debate going on here, even with my near zero command over finances I fail to see why Gazidiz needs to be a double agent and Kreonke be trying to ruin us. One has got a good record as a guy who can get things done and the other has a near spotless record as far as owning clubs/franchises. Now, factor in the board who like you say have it pretty good as things are and for the most part have been loyal to Arsenal, being part of this evil scheme. It doesn’t add up.
Mayank, it becomes all about money when your retire… securing your families future for the next generations.
I’m not saying Stan wants to run the club into the ground… I’m saying he’ll want to earn his investment back.
He’s not in this for love of the club, is he?
I am off, been a pleasure as per usual. Have a great weekend.
Cheers John! I reckon mine has more chance of getting released!
I’m off to do some work!
Have fun debating it out… no calling each other cunts and no picking on Americans… don’t hate their freedoms (JOKE!)
Pedro, send it to Nike. Just think of the royalties
Chicago, let me tell you why people feel that Americans are a bit like you suggest.
I listen to golf a lot, when I listen to the American channel, every course is the best in the world, every American is the best chipper or the longest driver in the world and they always refer the Open Championship as the British Open, which it isn’t.
When Americans stop acting like they know everything about everything and everything they have is the best, then maybe the world would like them more.
Just an observation is all…toodles.
Hey Pedro, just to clarify, I was mixing pounds and dollars. The Forbes article suggested Arsenal was worth $1.2 billion U.S., which is about 800MM Brit Pounds. This 800MM pounds is pretty close the market value of the equity (600MM pounds give or take) plus the net debt (200MM pounds, which is what Arsenal just reported as debt less cash). So to your question, I think Arsenal would be valued at at least $1 billion U.S. (or 600+MM pounds in a takeover).
Isn’t the board system somewhat monarchistic? The shares can be passed on in a will, as can the status(not in a will of course). Of course the kids might not want to go into the business but it doesn’t mean they can’t have the perks.
Also like some have said here, how does removing the debt help the buyer he has to pay lesser as a lump sum.
The language of the headline does suggest that both Stan and Ivan are trying to harm the club. At their age it will seriously tarnish their reputation.
Geoff, I don’t know everything. If I did, I would have a blog to share my knowledge of everything.
Just an interesting passage from an article I found from 2007 when this whole Kroenke things started:
——————————————
Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, said in an interview with the UK’s Guardian newspaper that he and three of the club’s majority shareholders — Danny Fiszman, Nina Bracewell-Smith and the Carr family — had “no intention of selling to some stranger”.
“They are independently wealthy and do not need the money,” Hill-Wood said in the interview published on Wednesday. “Having a few extra million pounds in the bank is of no interest to them. We’re here for Arsenal Football Club, not to make a few bob. We would be horrified to see it go across the Atlantic.”
————————————-
Message to Tim from the other blog:
Firstly, we don’t write for a link on Arseblog… that’s not a badge of honour. Sad times when you base your success on something as trivial as that.
Secondly, slagging off our formula is pretty weak, it works and I don’t think anyone would disagree.
Thirdly, we write for the people who comment and read the site everyday. No one else.
Have a nice day.
Really off to work now!
Quality reading BG
Anyway toodles from my side as well…
BG after reading that I think Stan is running the show already. The rest of the board just have to play ball
Would Arsenal have gone for Gazidis as CEO to replace Dein if Kroenke wasnt here?
Slowly but surely all would unveil
Gazidis and his team increase non football revenue substantially next fiscal onwards, he would have earned his salary.
Arsechicago – Arse are valued at around $1.35b
Yeah, but I wonder with Usmanov now there with a chunk and Bracewell-Smith still there with a chunk, are they roadblocks to his every being able to get a majority (or 100%…Im still not clear on if he has to get 100% for a successful buyout) or will Usmanov bow out once he feels he has ‘lost’ and will the Lady ever sell?
listen american sport is run completely different than anything over in the uk,
The salary cap, and the draft system tries to keep teams on even competitive ground.
They call it parity, IT Works for them because they have never had any thing different for decades.
The real game of football is totally different, americans dont understand the passion that real football fans have,The travelling Fans, the obsession with watching reserves and youth team games if you can .
Silent Stan is just another glazer type waiting for the right time to take us.
Funny how hill wood has taken to him now.
this isnt the NFL, OR NBA, MLS , this is the Game of the world i’m sorry but dont ask me to listen to americans who dont understand the culture of football.
They love to use the word the franchise, memo to the yanks we are called ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB FOUNDED IN 1886.
Goonerman, really?? And how does it compare to other clubs of similar standing?
Isnt Gazidis technically English?
Enterprise valuation is a black art. Not as simple as number of shares multiplied by highest value of shares last sold. How do others compare:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/129291
What is going on with arsenal’s financien??
Simon,
The Cleveland Indians were founded in 1894, and last I looked we have 7 minor league teams (affiliations with)that die hard fans watch and follow prospects grow and rise through.
True, the systems are different for most sports (economics,contracts, ownership, etc) and most American sports have mainly American fanbases, but football doesn’t have the market cornered on history, tradition, emotion, or generational fanhood.
Rohan – I’ve seen tables where only man U are above at around $1.8bn and Madrid at about $1.5bn. These figures are from memory. barca are around 1.3bn also.
Dutchman
Same old story. Good profits, loads in the bank, over inflated wage bill…..and a lack of experienced world class players.
Arsenal is all about contradictions, lies, fallacies, smoke and mirrors and shit like that these days.
so gambon, it is another thing where you can see that wenger is the man who will not spend?
spurs virus epidemic? haha well if you employ shitmunchers…
In less then 2 hours I’ll be on the sunny fairways of Valderama playing the round of my life.
In reality I’ll be in a simulation booth getting crunked on Corona and trying to hit my ball towards the blurry screen in front of me……
THE WAGE BILL IS BIG BECAUSE IT INCLUDES ALL EMPLOYEES AT ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB…LIKE SCOUTS, DIRECTORS ETC. Most clubs present only players salaries, that is not the case at Arsenal
Adebayor 4 game ban!! Ha ha, cosmic!!
TAIG: there’s always something going on in football to put a smile on your face…cosmic indeed!
Why, what did Ade do?
Re all this finance shit. I cant fucking wait til Wenger releases his autobiography after he retires and we finally know the truth. He will tell the truth…wont he?
I just took a look at the accounts and I don’t see how Gazidis is a con-man. It’s his job to make the business that he runs as profitable as possible – if that means we follow Wenger’s policy of not shelling out lots on player registrations and coming in 3rd/4th but without silverware then so be it.
Personally I think this is a flawed policy since it reduces the Goodwill that the club has with its fans but since this isn’t even recognised on the balance sheet I guess it isn’t considered.
If you’re that disgusted by the policy then I suggest you vote with your feet – something I’m contemplating doing myself.
Stu: or accept a bung to keep shtum..your call!
RAMA USE YOUR INSIDE VOICE! USING CAPS IS POINTLESS!
Rama you are clueless to think that. Wage bill is wage bill. Accounts cover for the whole club not just the outfield players. So clubs release seperate accounts for their non playing staff
Absolutely spot on, one comment from a fan was, would you prefer us (Arsenal) to be a billion pounds in debt , he does not understand , the people that borrow the one billion pounds to buy the club from financial institutions ,does two things, move the billion pounds onto the shareholders and then put a huge debt on our football club ,a football club that will then have been raped by hungry money people,a club in reality belongs to the supporters , without them you have nothing.
Rama for you a line from a January article about Manchester’s accounts
Manchester United’s accounts also show their chief executive David Gill was paid £1.8million last year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jan/20/manchester-united-glazers-debt-ronaldo
A lot of Arsenal fans are thick
Stu – I haven’t seen it but he apparently swung his arm at Shawcross when going up for a header.
You know my biggest problem with all of this?
We’re once again celebrating a balance sheet.
Well it was only Shawcross, 4 games seems excessive, but then again i havent seen the incident either.
Open bus parade
billiken sorry mate , but the whole sports mind set of americans is so far different to us in the uk and our european neighbours.
traditionally we dont need marching bands and cheerleaders like in cf, nfl, or a guy playing an organ like in the mlb.
yes while the coverage of FOOTBALL (the real game) has gotten more exposure in america itis regarded as a minority sport.
I’m sorry but i have been to the states several times, even seen nfl games .
the majority of average american sports fans do not and never will understand the culture of a football fan.I do not trust kronkeor his americam marketing puppett.
Honestly i dont give a shit about the clubs finances as long as we arent in trouble. We dont seem to be so all is well as far as im concerned. I just wish the profits we make year on year would be put into improving the squad instead of just increasing the wage bill without adding numbers.
I dont know the full story about Bayern but didnt they move to a huge new stadium just before we did? They spend loads of money and dont seem to be affected negatively by it. Trust the Germans to get it right huh.
Alan Hansen in generous mood. Says we would escape with a draw.
Pedro – Its like its their main objective. Regardless of if its achieved or not, that is wrong.
Nothing wrong with celebrating the balance sheet,as long as On-field success is given highest priority
Pedro one part that got me is that Hill Wood said they dont know what they were going to do with the future surpluses
i thought all this was done so that we can afford the future kaka’s and messi’s
and thats the bottom line pedro, as a fan the most important thing is we beat stoke and win theleague. we arent broke,good stuff ivan now buy some players like henry, make arsenal about being the best team again not the best business
The thing that worries me the most is that a quick look at MLSnet.com shows you that mid table mediocrity appears to be the order of the day for Colorado Rapids. Add to that the fact that their own website describes them as “the franchise” (admittedly a common phrase in US “soccer”) and that they play at “Dick’s Sporting Goods Park” and it doesn’t augur terribly well for the future. On a grander scale this all feels a bit like Spurs in the 80′s and the whole Irving Scholar experience – and look where that got them! I wish I could teleport back to 1986.
Sabeel
Have ESPN pulled our match? I am sure i saw the match at 11.00 live in schedule a few days back.
How about ye use the surpluses to figure out why we get so many injuries. If we arent going to buy the very best we might as well have the ones we have fit.
Players I miss:
Tony Adams
Thierry Henry
Dennis Bergkamp
Wrighty
Freddie Ljungberg
Bobby Pires
Lauren
Paddy Vieira
The Romford Pele
Martin Keown
Dave Seaman
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ivan-gazidis-video
The Club has announced its half-year financial results for the six months ended November 30, 2009.
For an insight into the latest figures, we spoke to Arsenal’s Chief Executive, Ivan Gazidis.
All visitors to Arsenal.com can now watch our FREE interview with Ivan by clicking on the PLAY button in the image above. Below is a transcript of the interview:
Ivan, in the current climate this is a very positive set of results. Can you talk us through them?
It’s a good set of results for the Club. We have delivered a profit before tax of £35million for the first half of the year. But it’s important to note that this isn’t our primary objective. The reason we run a responsible, profitable and self-sustaining business is so that we can deliver success to the Club and invest in the Club and ultimately deliver success on the pitch, something that our fans can be proud of. That’s what we’re after. So while we’re satisfied with the results, that’s not the end objective.
What stands out most is the revenue from Highbury Square. What’s the position of our property portfolio?
Well, Highbury Square has been selling very, very well and we’ve reduced the debt on Highbury Square from £123million as of May 2009 to around £13million today, so that’s on its way down very, very rapidly as we sell those flats, and we’ll soon be delivering a profit back into the football side of the Group.
We’ve also sold the affordable housing development at Queensland Road on the south side of our stadium and that means our property business going forward is debt free. So the property developments we are still engaged on – and there are a number of them – again will be delivering pure profit back into the Club and that’s very healthy for the next two or three years.
Will any of those proceeds be available for further investment in players?
The Club has never taken dividends out in recent years, so all of the money that’s generated by the Club is available for investment – investment in players and also investment in long-term assets like the stadium and other infrastructure. We’ve actually been investing quite significantly in the existing playing squad – we’ve signed 17 existing players to new, long-term contracts since the end of last season. While that goes under the radar screen, it’s a very significant investment. We have the youngest squad in the Premier League and tying down those players to long-term contracts ensures the stability and security of our playing squad going forward.
On top of that, we have money available to invest in the transfer market when we can identify the right players to add into the mix that add something to the squad. So we’re in a healthy position.
What can you tell us about Arsenal’s debt as a whole and what’s your view on the level of football club debt in general?
Arsenal’s debt position is very healthy. We have reduced our net debt from £330million in May 2009 down to significantly below £190million today. So that represents tremendous progress, largely through the sale of flats at Highbury Square. The debt that we’re left with is what I would call ‘healthy debt’ – it’s long term, low rates, very affordable for the Club, and it’s effectively a mortgage on our stadium which generates revenue for the Club. Not all debt is bad and I think Arsenal’s debt delivered an asset to the Club that will be an asset for generations to come in our stadium, and we’re very comfortable with that.
I think it’s important that clubs act responsibly with respect to debt. The important things that everybody needs to ask are: Is the debt affordable? Can the repayments be met? And provided clubs act responsibly then it’s not true to say all debt is bad.
Taking all of that into account, how do you think the broader football landscape would have changed once we’re through the current financial climate?
I think those clubs that act responsibly, who consider their duties as custodians, who take care of the fundamentals and think of not just the short term but also the long term, will be well-placed. We’re in a very difficult economic climate at the moment, but as we emerge from that I think the clubs that have been run responsibly will find themselves well-placed. Certainly I count Arsenal in that category.
So lots of positive results off the pitch in financial terms; hopefully positive results on the pitch to in the months to come.
That’s what it’s all about. We’ve got a very young squad and we’ve had some setbacks and disappointments along the way this year but we’re still very much in the race for the Premier League, we’re very much in competition for the Champions League. Every single game for us now is a Cup Final, we’re going to be giving everything we have to deliver the results we need, and who knows? The end of the season could get very interesting.
Gazidis if he is to be believed answers a lot on here
bnsb
Nopes i think our match is live…i will check from home,some stupid sites are blocked
Leaving office,and successfully alone completed work requiring more than 5 peoples effort,
Add to that the repetitive syndrome Fallacy here,to my hectic day..
will check from my sources,let u know mate..
Keep it Goonerish..ciao..
bsnb.. star sports!
check espnstar.com,and tv timings,with the right location,
as choy said..gotto be star sports
really off
Has Arsene employed some kids from Asia,to rant about him and defend his crazy financial policies?
The game is on Sky in the UK
Pedro,
I wish we can spend some amount on investing on quality squad. Some part of the blame should goes to Wenger as well. He spends obscene amount in paying salaries for mediocre players. And decent amount on investing on kids.
I am not the one cribbing paying off the debt. Who knows what happens in the future. What if we don’t even able to generate interest payment in future. They are just trying to make use of good situation.
I do not know much about Kronke. But he does have some experience in running sports clubs. He looks decent.
another worrying trait from our cousins over the pond,
what the hell is arsenalization!
didnt see it all the years i went to highbury,never remember the team coming out to a shit elvis song.
I know that must be the arsenal fight song, FUCKING JOKERS ….
choy
No its not on Star either
Fran… I don’t blame Gazidis, he’s just doing his job.
However, 17 new player contracts + £17million additional wages.
Wow.
it is bro.. i just checked!
Simon, speaking of the Elvis song, how effing shit is that ! Surely we could have found a better song to come out to.
Not on mine (: 20.30 sunderland vs fulham, 22.30 GP2 asia series…
At least for now we are not in Portsmouth situ’
another thing they sure have a soh! Hehe!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73j30gJJhS0&feature=youtube_gdata
that is sundays game!
Pedro a whole new post should be dedicated to that
im beginning to loose interest in all this bullshit
its becoming like religion where they tell you just to believe for everything that you cant comprehend with
When the waiter is captain we should have
send in the clowns …
Fran, it’s crazy… especially the amount of people who actually get genuinely excited about it all…
Success on the pitch is what it’s about…
Like someone said earlier, how successful is stand soccer team?
choy
Thanks. I found out the problem, its already Saturday in Hong Kong or Singapore where ESPN/Star is based.
Am I relieved
Pedro when our wage bill was quoted as £100m we all said it should have reduced with the loss of hleb, gilberto and flam. even after then ade and toure have left yet we managed to increase it by £8.5m in 6 months. Something is not right
Whats 600MM??? 600 milliom??? is that like a thousand zillions???
I rephrase
Pedro when our wage bill was quoted as £100m in 2008 we all expected it to reduce with the loss of hleb, gilberto and flam.
Since then, koolaid (toure and ade) have left yet we managed to increase it by £8.5m in 6 months. Something is not right
or are we employing extra stewards for matchdays????
haha, koolaid.
There is no justification for £17mill on the wage bill.
Pay should be related to performance… not potential.
Theo, 60k? My gosh…
Edwin VanDeSar contract extended until 2011. Fergie must know something Wenger doesnt
Geoff, remember me? From eastlower?
Good to see you’re still shit-stirring around here. I think this is the only blog which is unhappy that our debts have reduced!
And I fail to find logical explanation as to why PHW , and the rest of the long term board members would want to act like slaves to Stan Kroenke!
gnarleygeorge9 et al are you legends, I love the Aussies!
Edwin VanDeSar contract extended until 2011. Fergie must know something Wenger doesnt
—
Old chicken make better soup?
Sajit why are u happy to get raped by Chelski and Manure on your own turf??? Hope its not a fetish!!!
Sajit, do you think long term Liverpool supporter David Moores thought H&G were going to put Liverpool in the shit?
No he didn’t and he regrets his decision greatly.
Interesting that Dein was sacked for introducing Kroenke and Hillwood said he didn’t want his type… what changed?
and ur captain Ricky Ponting is a great player of cricket!
Pedro I think Sajit has put his head back where the sun dont shine very often.
Shit peds that was quick….. I mean the edit.
Put simply, Dein apparently supported a takeover by American billionnaire Stan Kroenke, while the rest of the board were against it – at least for now.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6571099.stm
—-
So never say never
Mr B, the assumption that the board know Kroenke’s intentions is ridiculous.
Do these people think the Glazers, G&H and the Pompey investors shared their real plans when they bought!
Did Kraft tell Cadbury they’d close down the UK factories when they bought the shares?
I was wondering today…. why is it that Australian Women are better looking that their British counter parts??? Seems like they shipped out a lotta working women.
I think a football fan obsessing over the financial state of a club is just sad. Fucking go watch the stock exchange every weekend and read the financial journals. Stupid!!!
what a shame geoff and pedro modifying my comments
bye bye then mates
Kush, if you weren’t being so insulting, I wouldn’t have to modify, would I?
Mr B
Stock exchanges are closed at weekends. Stick to football, that is if you are a football fan
I mean we should be wetting our pants about how we scored in the last minute of the CL final and won and not because we have 100m in retained earnings.
But ive learned in my short life that the majority of Man Kind arent very bright and cannt think for themselves hence they buy the bolloks that the Polititians and whoever else feed them.
Pedro
dan wat about gnarley george still harping on sachin and 30 billion etc etc etc
Kush… I think you’re talking about cricket… so I wouldn’t know what you’re talking about.
If I see anything anti Indian, I’ll remove it… if something offends you, let me know.
Eboue reckons cesc and gallas won’t leave next season
I know bnsb and they are only open during working hours. One of teachers told me how a friend of his became a millionare by using the net to trade stocks.
He’d buy stocks in the tokyo exchange when they would start going up and then would sell them in Newyork making a healthy profit each day.
This was when the internet and related knowledge werent common.
Mr B, it’s such a mind feild though. I don’t think many people make fortunes on the stock exchange.
Thanx Pedro for that next time i will let you know
gnarley
….
I guess thats the price sabeel pays for only having one sportsman in a country of 30 billion
Kush he;s just jelous of sachin. U cannt get emotional about everything. Ask him how come the self proclaimed greatest sporting nation in the world is so poor at anything besides cricket and rugby.
big stans best team in america is an ICE HOCKEY TEAM,OMG.
Now moving on taday’s article I thought there was some transparency
in England over taxpayer’s money nd in Arsenal’s case fans money but reading this I remember “The Sting”
Kush, I wonder why there hasn’t been an Indian footballer of note… even of decent?
The Indians I went to Uni with were always the most skilful… it’s odd that no one has broken into the Prem?
Thats the point Peds.
See its speculation. Tokyo is the first exchange to open so if a stock is doing well in Tokyo then that info is gonna spread to the other exchanges and the price will atleast be higher than it was at the start of the day.
The risk is minimal if u buy sell on a daily basis unless there is a major crash. U can also have terms with your broker, where u tell him to sell the stock if it falls below a certain price, thereby reducing risk.
P.S. I dont trade on the stock exchange nor do I advocate anyone else doing it. Ive seen millionaires go skint in a few days.
Stock exchanges are basicaly run a a Mafia whose investment carries the most weightage and who can push indexed up and down because of the size of their capital.
Wasn’t there a youngster coming through at Leeds when they were in the prem? Something Singh, left footed tricky player, no idea what ever happened to him?
Yeah, I remember him… he never amounted to anything?
It seems absurd that we’ve got some cities with more asians than English, yet not one player in the Prem?
The only Indian who nearly made it is Michael Chopra, I think his mother is English though
I didn’t realise he had any Indian in him, I thought he was English.
Pedro
We did have a footballer who played in League 1. Baichung Bhutia. He played for Bury for 2 years.
) which is sad
I think Indian players lack the stamina. I dont think they can play the whole 90 minutes at the same level. They might be skillful but dont have the build or stamina to make it in the premier league.(or anywhere
Right… I’m off out, have a great evening tonight!
We don’t have any cities with more asians than English! Though yeah there certainly is a massive imbalance there with minorities not coming through as footballers. Though there are a fair few cricketers, just different cultures etc? My nearest club to where I am currently is Peterborough, and there is a pretty decent asian population in Peterborough, but look round the crowd at London Road and there are very very few that support Posh.
Even with there being disproportionate numbers playing professional football it is a surprise that there are literally none in the prem, bit weird.
yes i agree wid u we always put impetus on skill whatever we play take example badminton(Saina Nehwal world no 6 wristwork) tennis(leander paes 11 doubles grand slams best volleyer)
Hockey(9 gold in olympics,”Indians call it hockey we call it magic” quote guardian) and there was Rahim in 1940′s
he came to celtic dey said magician of India.
I think it is more mental and priorities in life which
is to have a successful career
EDUCATION is everything here being an engineer or doctor
I think one indian made it into the french team
Oh yeah chopra, totally forgot about him!
Ardent, Indians are the same race as the English! Stamina and skill can’t be the problem…?
Maybe it’s culture…? Cricket is more prized perhaps?
nope Michael Chopra is of Indian-descent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chopra
He was/is half decent though ..especially in Fifa08 :p
Pedro
watch Bend it like Beckham it highlights the cultural problems
Nishanth
He was Vikram Dhorasoo
Michael Chopra wiki
Rocky Michael Chopra (born 23 December 1983) is an English footballer who plays for Football League Championship side Cardiff City. Chopra is of mixed Indian and white British descent.[2]
Chopra plays as a striker. He was originally a product of the Newcastle United Youth system. In his career he has also played for Sunderland and has spent loan spells at Watford, Nottingham Forest and Barnsley. He has represented England at the Under-15, Under-16, Under-17, Under-18, Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 levels.
In 2006, Chopra made news for scoring the fastest goal by a substitute in Premier League history, as he had only been on the pitch for ten seconds after coming on as a substitute.[3] With an Indian father, he was also the first player of Indian parentage to play and score in the Premier League.
–
I stand corrected. The press here was gaga over him being first Indian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikash_Dhorasoo
Pedro
Education is more priced being Engineer or Doctor
But the future is bright u will see more Indians in d
next decade on international stage
A, Bradford, Leicester… and some other city has a higher percentage of Asians than whites.
I remember Dhorasso… he was a good player.
@Pedro : physically we (Indians) arent generally too gifted , I just mean in comparison to other races (the average indian height for example if 5 foot 6-7 inches)
look at chess (dont laugh) an Indian has been the the reigning champ for pretty long
cricket is big
and sports arent the biggest priority in developing nations (not always but often) ..
I think the main reason would be the level of training.I don’t there are any quality youth academies here.
Baichung Bhutia also captain of Indian Football Team.
The only footballer of note we have produced.
We’ve had a number of players of indian origin play for other countries.
Vikash Dhorasoo ( France) Part of the 2006 World Cup Squad.
Michael Chopra (Cardiff City)
Cricket pays well even at local (state) level. Not other sports. Our national hockey players were on strike other day demanding better wages.
I’ll agree with Kushagra above … the coming decade will see more Indians in sport achieve some form of global acclaim
in the meanwhile sachin gets enough acclaim for all of us :p
Indian, size would come into in India… poor nutrition in poorer areas etc… but in the UK, you wouldn’t think that would count?
One of my good friends is 6ft 3 and built massively.
Shite at football though! haha!
That actually the case Pedro?
It’s higher, but I’m sure it’ll be still very much a minority, just less of a minority than most places!
Had an argument the other day with someone claiming that San Fran has a homosexual majority, and claimed that it was 80% gay! Actual stat is just under 15%, but 3 times as many as most US cities
Pedro, Dein wanted to rope in Usmanov. And let me be honest, while i dont know enough about Stan Kroenke to make a judgement he certainly looked like the lesser of the two evils.
I still trust the collective judgement of Fiszman, PHW and others whose vision have seen Arsenal become a big club.
mr B, learn to act civil before thrusting your views on a public domain.
BTW Indians are good at burning mid night oil too.
Good Balance Sheet behind us today. Get a good score sheet Vs Stoke tomorrow
Good night all!
I take it back Pedro, 50.3% in Bradford
ardentgooner and nishanth
But football is on the rise due to BPL Arsenal who are famous for their style of play My father loved watching
Brazil Argentina Holland, we qualified for Asia cup
and u never know ,in India it takes just a superstar
to ignite interest
Oops no I don’t, 50.3% is the % of non-white that is made up by Asians, Bradford is 20.3%. The council area with the highest % in the UK is Tower Hamlets in London, 35%
bnsb but I have a gut feeling Hockey will come back mate
lets see on Sunday Hockey World Cup
Sajit… after he’d been sacked he teamed up with Usmanov, before, it was Kroenke.
A… I’m sure I’ve read a stat around that somewhere? It’ll be combined ethnicities though…
You found it!
I think there is a similar stat for 3 other places.
Sajit grow a brain cell before u comtemplate thinking.
Absolutely last post.
Looks like Denilson stats are lot straight!
Mr B… play nicely.
Right, I’m off out!
Laters.