Football club acquisition and ownership

Advising owners on buying
and running football clubs

Which club to buy. How to complete the transaction. How to make it worth what you paid.

Fifteen years inside football ownership and investment, on both sides of the table, across Europe and the Middle East.

15 yrs
In football ownership
6
Countries
2
Current board seats
15
Years in football ownership
6
Countries
2
Current board seats
Which club
Before the transaction
Diligence and completion
During
Running the club
After

Most advice on buying a football club comes from people who have never bought one. This practice is built on the opposite premise: that useful counsel to an owner comes only from having acquired, operated and restructured clubs, and from having walked away from more deals than were closed. Capital without capability destroys value.

Experience

Fifteen years inside football ownership and investment, on both sides of the table

Advising owners, family offices and prospective investors across Europe and the Middle East. Currently a board member at Córdoba CF and Dunfermline Athletic.

Ownership

Acquired, operated and restructured clubs

In Spain, the United Kingdom and France. From the first offer through to the boardroom, the training ground and the accounts.

Transactions

Led or advised on club deals in six countries

Spain, England, Italy, France, the Gulf and Jordan. Several did not proceed, which for the buyer is often the more valuable outcome.

Executive

Ran a Gulf sports holding company for five years

Executed its entry into Spanish football. Later Group CEO of a US multi-club ownership and analytics group with clubs in Spain and Scotland.

Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil
Founder

Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil

Founder

Football executive and investor. Before football: strategy consulting, government advisory, venture capital and sports agency work, which is roughly the set of skills a club acquisition actually needs. Has sat on the buyer's side, the seller's side and the board in between. Works with a small number of owners at a time and takes no mandates that conflict with existing board positions.

BasedMadrid / Amman / Bahrain
FocusClub acquisition and ownership
MarketsEurope & MENA
Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil speaking at Kellogg College, Oxford

Speaking on football investment and club operations at Kellogg College, Oxford

Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Optimising Performance of Sports Business

Services

Three stages of a club investment. Most of the mistakes happen in the first and the third.

The practice works with owners and prospective owners of football clubs. Sometimes on one stage, usually on all three, and always on the buyer's side of the table.

Before

Choosing the club

Matching clubs to what the owner actually wants: budget, ambition, geography, appetite for risk, and how much of their time it will take. Screening out the ones that only look good on paper. Most of the value is in the clubs you do not buy.

During

Diligence and completion

Diligence that tests the club rather than confirms the seller's story: debt, contracts, stadium, licensing, the people. Then structuring, negotiating and closing the deal so that what was promised is what is delivered.

After

Running it

Board, executive team, sporting structure, commercial operations and the wider project around the club. This is where football investments usually fail, and it is where an owner most needs someone who has done it before.

Contact

Get in touch

For owners considering an acquisition, or who already own a club and want a second opinion. Every serious enquiry gets a personal reply.

Get in Touch
Presence
Madrid·Amman·Bahrain