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On this question of Council-owned stadia, if we look towards Italy, we see what a disaster that has turned out to be.
I think I'm right in saying that only 3 (of 20) Serie A clubs own their own stadium.
The rest are owned by their local Councils, with the exception of Rome's Stadio Olympico, which is owned by the Italian Olmympic Committee.
And if you look closer, you'll see that most are increasingly old and out-of-date, with facilities unfit for modern, 21st century needs.
This is essentially for three reasons: 1. The last major injection of public funding was the national government, to get them up to 1990's standard for Italia 90. And that was such a loss-maker that successive governments have declined to go on funding redevelopment; 2. Cash-strapped ocal Councils, as is the case everywhere, no longer wish to spend huge sums to rebuild their local stadia, even when shared by two large clubs, as is frequently the case, and especially since those clubs are professional enterprises themselves, often owned by multi-millionaire individuals or corporations; 3. Not having to spend money on club-owned stadia in the late 20th/early 21st century meant that that clubs had more money to spend on transfers and wages, which gave them an advantage over other countries. But that advantage has changed, now that modern stadia can be revenue generators for their owners - see eg Tottenham Hotspur/WHL, or the FA/Wembley.
All of which at least part-explains why Italian club football has fallen behind England, Spain and Germany financially, and consequently on playing terms too.
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Scunthorpe Chairman on 17:06 - Sep 27 with 2436 views
Most local councils have less spare cash than QPR. Certainly hard to justify putting money into a football club, 90% of whom lose money.
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Scunthorpe Chairman on 17:09 - Sep 27 with 2424 views
It's been like that in Italy for years but they've bit by bit moved away from that and into private ownership.
"Bit by bit"? Maybe, but progress is glacially slow, as this report demonstrates: "In 2019, soccer matches of the Serie A championship in Italy were played in 17 stadiums. Whereas 12 of them were of public ownership, only three stadiums were directly owned by clubs. By contrast, no Serie B or Serie C soccer clubs owned a stadium as of 2019." https://www.statista.com/stati (Obviously 4 years old, but v.little has progressed since)
Meanwhile, Juve built a fine new stadium in 2010, but even then it has a capacity of "only" 41.5k, which for a club of their size and prestige, compares very unfavourably with comparable clubs in Spain, England and Germany etc. It is also one of only four stadiums in Italy accredited with the UEFA Category 4, which have the highest technical level in the confederation's Stadium Infrastructure Regulations, alongside the San Siro, the Stadio Olimpico di Roma and the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, those last three all being shared by two clubs, municipally owned and no longer deemed suitable by their tenants (eg Inter and Milan considering buying the San Siro to rebuild it, or even moving out entirely).
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Scunthorpe Chairman on 09:11 - Sep 28 with 2188 views
As a slight aside on the topic of football rewarding incompetence (not the only industry) - started watching the Wrexham documentary last night, and who should pop up early doors as a 'consultant' but Shaun Harvey!
I mean he was pretty useless as EFL CEO, don't think his time at Leeds or Bradford was that great either. But clearly the man to call on to guide you through the intricacies of football club ownership...
As a slight aside on the topic of football rewarding incompetence (not the only industry) - started watching the Wrexham documentary last night, and who should pop up early doors as a 'consultant' but Shaun Harvey!
I mean he was pretty useless as EFL CEO, don't think his time at Leeds or Bradford was that great either. But clearly the man to call on to guide you through the intricacies of football club ownership...
That man can smell money.
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Scunthorpe Chairman on 10:43 - Sep 28 with 2058 views
One major reason why Councils have to be very wary of being involved in financial support to football clubs, the saga of the £10.25m loan from the Council to Northampton Town for a new stand that went missing is still ongoing and the football club only have a half built stand. A harsh lesson for local authorities and council tax payers in meddling with football club investment.
[Post edited 28 Sep 2023 13:22]
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Scunthorpe Chairman on 13:35 - Sep 28 with 1791 views
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