Today is the milestone 50th episode and we have a guest to match it. Édourard Mendy is a Champions League and AFCON winner. He won FIFA's ‘The Best’ and UEFA Goalkeeper of the year award in 2021. He holds the record for the joint most clean sheets in a single Champions League season. He went from nearly giving up the football dream in a French job centre with a baby on the way to winning the CL with Chelsea in 7 years. And now he's playing alongside Mahrez, Firmino and Toney at Al-Ahli. 

Away from the pitch, he is building a reputation as a passionate investor looking to translate the success he has achieved on the pitch to help founders build great businesses. As Édou states, the move to Saudi has also been about facilitating the work he can do away from the pitch as well as being part of an exciting new football landscape; ‘it’s not just about football and not just about money’.

This is one of sport’s great stories; a meteoric rise to the top that had to endure countless challenges to achieve Édou’s reality today. From his early days in France to developing football in West Africa, with a big helping of his time at Chelsea, we get a rare insight into the inner workings of a top tier footballer. 

On today’s show we discuss:

Origins of a Champions League Winner:

• How did Mendy get his break in France? What is it like to work your way from the bottom?
• What happened when Édou decided to look at a career outside of football because he wasn’t making it in football?
• You have to be careful who you put your trust in; when agents promise opportunities that don’t materialise.
• The role family and humble beginnings have played in keeping him grounded as success has quickly come to him.
• Signing for Reims and then Rennes which paved the way for his move to Chelsea.

The Chelsea Story:

• From getting a call from goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon to eventually signing his contract; the Chelsea transfer story.
• How long does it take for clubs to agree to a transfer? What did Marina Granovskaia say was unique about his move?
• What role did Frank Lampard play in helping Édou establish himself as Chelsea’s number one keeper?
• What happens when a manager changes at a club? From Lampard to Tuchel…
• The inside story of Chelsea’s iconic Champions League win in Porto. Why Tuchel wanted to play on Chelsea’s underdog status.
• From Champions of Europe and the World to the fringes of the squad; where did it go wrong?

Moving to Saudi Arabia and what comes next:

• Why this move is not just about football and not just about money; what are the considerations that influence transfers?
• ‘It is important to feel wanted and I felt that from Al Ahli’. How a conversation with the CEO convinced Édou that this was the club for him.
• What is most exciting about the emerging league and how is the country preparing for it’s World Cup hosting duties?
• Playing in a dream team with Mahrez, Toney and Firmino and the star power of the Saudi League.
• When an athlete becomes an investor; how Édou is building a profile for himself as an investor and what is the value of athletes bringing their expertise to emerging companies?
• How establishing football in West Africa and Senegal in particular is and will always be a key part of his focus.

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

After amazing shows with a number of CEO’s across the football industry, we’re today venturing into the lowest of the English Football League’s with current League Two promotion chasers Port Vale. Matt Hancock has been CEO of this historic club since January. Having been relegated from League One in his first few months in charge, it’s fair to say the learning curve has been steep.

But these are the shows we love to do. It’s proper business, not propped up by the billions of international ownership. Understanding how to run a sustainable company that is not eternally dependent on owner financing while constantly trying to win on the field is so difficult. Then add the fact that almost every decision is reviewed under a microscope generally with the benefit of hindsight, you do sometimes think who would take this on.

But then you remember that alongside these challenges comes the privilege of looking after the thing that can give people their greatest enjoyment. The lower down the football pyramid you go, being a CEO is about building an environment to sustain a community’s most valued asset. This is a compelling reveal on how you do just that.

On today’s show we discuss:

Becoming a CEO in Football:

• How did Matt come to take charge of one of English Football’s oldest clubs?
• From building community to winning on the pitch, what are the key focuses of clubs the lower down the Football League you go?
• How important is the relationship between executive and owner?
• It’s about more than results; why Matt believes his job is to ensure those working at the club know that success can be about more than 3 points on a Saturday. 
• How to ensure you keep level headed, not getting too high on the highs and too low on the lows.

Handling Relegation:

• Port Vale got relegated from League One in the first few months of Matt’s tenure as CEO. How did he make sure the club recovered to build for the new season?
• The importance of a great manager in the lower leagues; why Darren Moore has been crucial to the recent development of Port Vale.
• What attracts players to a club that goes beyond just being paid the most?
• The financial impact of relegation and trying to move away from a reliance on owner funding to ensure sustainability.

Working for the Fans & Community:

• Is it better to over communicate with fans and open yourself up to increased scrutiny or reduce what you share and lose connectivity?
• How Port Vale has become an intrinsic part of its community and the importance of the club to the local area.
• The challenge of ensuring you don’t make decisions based on fan sentiment; how to remain neutral and not be influenced by emotion.
• The role of lifelong Vale fan Robbie Williams!
• Communicating spend away from the pitch on infrastructure and development is important to create an understanding around the need to build value in the ‘business’ of the club.

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

Today we speak to a man who has been in and around football for over 40 years. Mark Bowen played over 400 games at the top of English football for the likes of Tottenham, Norwich and West Ham, before transitioning into management as both a head coach and assistant. For much of his management career he has partnered with Mark Hughes, acting as his assistant manager at Man City, Stoke, Southampton, Fulham and QPR. 

Most recently Mark has spent a number of years with Reading, and is currently going through a delicate process around his exit from the club; a conversation for another time. 

However this is something that we have wanted to do for a long time. Quite a lot of our shows fall into the more serious ‘business of sport’ category. Having got to know Mark, this is someone that has seen the inner workings of clubs transacting at the highest level, and has some incredible stories to tell off the back of it. From being at Man City when they were bought by Sheik Mansour and the Abu Dhabi Group to being in the opposing dugout for QPR when Aguero scored THAT goal, this played to the kid in both of us while emphasising the fact that the business of football isn’t always a smooth process.

Kick back and enjoy some proper tales of signings, sackings, and outrageous transfer bidding.

On today’s show we discuss:

The birth of the new Man City:

• Which players did Sheik Mansour want to sign as a statement transfer when he bought the club?
• How do you integrate a load of new players to form a cohesive team when the money is flowing and budgets are virtually endless.
• The incredible transfer story of signing both Vincent Kompany and Pablo Zabaleta after the sale of one key player, and the conversation he had to have with Kompany when he arrived.
• Lionel Messi for £35m? How the club accidentally bid for one of the greatest players ever.
• Why was Mark Hughes fired by the club with the club flying in both the league and cups, and what happens to managers when they get that call?

Tales from Stoke, Southampton, and QPR:

• Turning Stoke into a top performing Premier League club who were able to attract top European talent like Bojan and Shaqiri.
• Overseeing a QPR team struggling for survival in the League with Joey Barton as captain and Tony Fernandes as owner.
• The Man City title win story…from the QPR dugout: what does Mark attribute that memorable Aguero moment to?
• Moving to Southampton and the challenge of managing top teams when there is an agreement to sell players you want to keep.

Football vs Money:

• Harry Redknapp’s reaction to Mark leaving West Ham to sign for a Japanese club…and the number that persuaded him the offer was too good to turn down.
• How to manage your personal life in football when the team takes you away from your family and home. Is it worth it?
• Is it always about the money, or do players need to be incentivised by other things in and around clubs?
• Where was Mark at his happiest both as a player and a manager?

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

Today we speak to a man who needs little introduction. Zak Brown is the CEO of McLaren Racing, one of Formula One’s most iconic brands and a team currently undergoing a resurgence as it challenges at the top of both the Drivers and Constructors Championships after years of struggling to match the success of Mercedes and Red Bull.

Turning an organisation round and re-establishing a culture of success is no easy task, and Zak has been under no illusion that to reach the top of one of the most competitive and scrutinised sports in the world, you need to be exceptional. 

F1 is a landscape of marginal gains. What does Zak attribute the success of McLaren to this year and how does he plan to build on this to get his two drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri challenging for the Championship in his cars.

We were honoured to be hosted by the amazing McLaren team at their incredible offices for this recording, and we are so grateful to Zak for giving us his time in one of the busiest parts of his calendar as the season draws to a close. I really hope you enjoy hearing from one of sports' top executives. 

On today’s show we discuss:

Finances of F1:

• ‘Every team is worth at least £1bn’. What has made these businesses so valuable and how have they managed to build better performance off better financial structures?
• Profitability in F1 is now something that spreads across the grid rather than being an outcome enjoyed by the lucky few. How has this happened?
• What are the key revenue streams of an F1 team? What sits centrally with the governing body and what can the teams generate individually?
• How does sponsorship work and who would Zak’s dream partner be for McLaren?
• What has the cost cap done for the sport and why was it necessary to introduce it in the first place?

Developing Great Drivers:

• What has made Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri so effective this year and what makes them stand out from the competition?
• Has Oscar Piastri developed quicker than the team expected and how do you integrate a young driver into the setup without exerting too much pressure?
• Can you have two number one drivers? 
• The importance of building respect and parity in the relationship between executive, garage, and driver.
• How much success is attributed to the driver, and how much is the car?

The Importance of People

• Why does Zak attribute much of the success of the team to the culture of the organisation?
• How do you build a great culture? It is something often talked about but hard to execute and maintain?
• What is it about McLaren that makes it such a great place to work? How do you retain staff to ensure continuity in the team?

A huge thank you to our amazing partners:

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

The week we're delighted to welcome Felix Starck to the show. Felix is CEO of Baller League, an alternative to historic sporting competition. New propositions, new formats, new leagues. A lot of conversation we have on the show focuses on how leagues are in need of development and refreshment and subsequently what alternatives could be out there to entice the coveted youth audience rightsholders crave. 

Baller League is this new product. 6 a-side, entertainment driven, quick football, short matches, free to air. It addresses many of the barriers identified in the footballing landscape. It’s revenues are approaching €20m, KSI, Figo, John Terry, ishowspeed all involved, Leagues being created in the UK and US after massively successful launch in Germany…and most impressive? It’s a year old.

Felix is shaking up the sport. He coins it the UFC of football. What does that mean? And how do you ensure this is a sustainable competition not a flash in the pan. A new form of football to sit alongside the traditional game, not detract from it. As Felix says, go and check it out before passing judgement. 

On today’s show:

The UFC of Football:

• Why MMA was a sport in need of dramatic change to maintain its relevance when UFC was created to package a new product and create global icons in the process.
• Sport is increasingly hero driven; you need to create your own stars and not rely on the fandom of current players. How?
• This is not an enemy of football. Where does this competition sit in the current footballing landscape?
• ‘Slow sports are dead sports in the future’. 
• Why Baller League will create a product for women’s football that is tailor made to the qualities of female players.

Baller League - Story so Far:

• How has Felix set up a challenger football league attracting some of the biggest names from sport and entertainment is a year?
• What are the rules of competition? Why is this format what the current attention economy craves?
• How do you become a player in Baller League? From academy to fustsal to professional footballers.
• Owning a franchise; who does Felix want to have as part of the ownership and what is expected if you take a franchise on?
• What are the financials of operating the league? How much does it cost to put on an event? Are the players paid?

Global Expansion:

• The league has had an amazing start to life in Germany. What has worked?
• Establishing a league in the UK and US; the launches are imminent. What goes into launching in a new country? 
• From new sponsors to the best venues, who will be involved and where will it be played?
• Which country is best set for Baller League to thrive?
• Will there be purpose built stadia as Baller establishes itself in new markets? 

A huge thank you to our amazing partners:

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

This week we are delighted to welcome Gary Rowett to the show. Gary has managed over 500 games working at some of the most historic clubs in English football, and played at the highest level with 381 appearances in the Premier League and EFL. 

Much of his career has been spent managing across the Football League with the likes of Birmingham, Derby, Stoke, Millwall, Burton Albion. One of the most popular and respected men in the game, he gives a detailed overview of the pressures of management, how to bring the best out of players, why he turned down the chance to manage in the Premier League, and the importance of accountability. 

It can often be a thankless task being a manager. It takes a specific type of character to ride the highs and lows and block out the noise. Then it’s the need for heightened empathy alongside a streak of pretty ruthless decision making. It’s not easy being a manager. Gary’s is a fascinating career and it’s far from over. 

On todays show we discuss:

From Player to Manager:

• The similarities and differences between being part of a dressing room and running one.
• Does managing a team that you played for make the job easier? How do you build a relationship with the fans?
• What part of the transition is the hardest to make and how do you get that first job opportunity?
• The essential skills of a manager; what can you not do without if you want to manage at the top level?

Gary’s Club Management:

• Burton Albion, Birmingham, Derby, Stoke, Millwall; the pressures of managing some of England’s biggest teams.
• There isn’t much regret in Gary’s management career, but his time at one club did not go how he wanted. Who?
• What is it like to manage a club that has just been relegated to the Championship and has to adapt from the Premier League?
• Who were the best owners Gary worked with and what makes a great club leader? 
• What does Tom Brady bring to Birmingham?

A Manager's Decision Making:

• Why being a manager is a sales job; you have to make the players believe in what you are doing. Get them to buy into it!
• How do you leave players out of a team or squad and still keep them motivated?
• What is the balance to find between youth and experience?
• Taking inspiration from Klopp, Guardiola, Ancelotti & Simeone.
• If you're lucky enough to choose whether to take a job or not, what are the factors to take into account?

A huge thank you to our amazing partners:

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

This week we are joined by Cambridge United CEO Alex Tunbridge. Last week, Cambridge was in the news for activities off the pitch, as they unveiled a full rebrand of the club, most notably revealing a new crest to create a more modern and digital feel to the branding of Cambridge, while importantly maintaining the heritage and culture so valuable to its historic identity.

Some of you may start to think we’ve got a bit of thing for League One clubs, and you may not be wrong. But when it comes to the business of football, they are some of the most intriguing organisations in the game. You face the constant challenge of chasing the gold in the Championship and Premier League, but also trying not to overstretch yourself financially and drop out of the league. How do you justify a pound spent away from the pitch? It’s our new favourite theme.

Alex and Cambridge have been one of the most ambitious when it comes to value creation away from the pitch. New training facilities, club rebrands, stadium developments, matchday experience; all of these indirectly create a value in the club to position it for long-term success. But can success off the pitch be replicated on it? This is a conflict in ideology we love to talk about, and we love what Cambridge are doing. 

In today’s show we discuss:

Spending away from the pitch:

• How a full rebrand of Cambridge United came about, and why it is so important to make sure your visual identity is fit for the modern age.
• Why did the club build a new £3.5m training complex and how do you justify significant spend on infrastructure when the money could be spent on improving the team?
• Spending on non-performance shows long term strategy; how do you get fans onside and bring the fans on the journey with you?
• How difficult is it to build value into a club while operating on budgets of less than £10m?

The role of a CEO:

• How did Alex become CEO of Newport County at the age of 29?
• What are the hardest jobs you have to take on when leading a football club?
• ‘Working in football is not a job. It’s a way of life’; the need for a top executive to be all in and commit fully to the development of the club.
• Does the CEO get involved with the football side of the business?
• The story of bringing the iconic Burger King deal to Stevenage and the value of new age digitalised commercial inventory. 

The business of the football league:

• ‘The Premier League is the best league in the world, but our football pyramid is the best pyramid in the world’. How do we protect the pyramid?
• How much do Championship, League One and League Two clubs get from the current media rights deal?
• Where do the biggest challenges lie from a business perspective when running a football club in 2024?
• How can we protect the competitive balance of the leagues but also encourage teams to continue development and push boundaries to improve the product?

Click here to see the full rebrand announcement & video:

https://www.cambridgeunited.com/news/new-club-identity-revealed

A huge thank you to our amazing partners:

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

This week, we are joined by Brady Stewart, CEO of the NWSL’s newest franchise Bay FC. The NWSL is going from strength to strength both on and off the field. San Francisco needed a franchise, and the birth of Bay as the women’s football team in the city steeped in sporting history is just the next step on the league’s mission to be the best women’s football league in the world.

When global investment firm Sixth Street backed the franchise with $120m, the biggest single institutional investment in women’s sport, Brady was approached to lead the team. The biggest challenge? Getting it operational and a team on the pitch in a year. 

Coming from outside of sport, Brady’s vision for the team and league is one where global brand meets performance excellence. Women’s sport and football in particular has always been a major feature in the US sporting landscape; now the rise of global and most importantly independent franchises is when this goes from being a strong local market asset to world renowned sports property.

In today’s show we discuss:

Building a team:

• From the awarding of the franchise slot to the first game a year later, how to build a brand new team from scratch?
• This was the first time the NWSL allowed for investment from Private Equity; the story behind Sixth Street’s $120m play.
• How was Brady brought into the role of CEO and why does a career from outside of sport allow her to bring additional value to the organisation? 
• What are the key things that need to be established in the first few months?
• How do you incorporate the city and community to make them feel this is their team before you have a product to put on the pitch?
• Attracting players to a new project is not easy. How do you convince them this is the team to play for?

A competition for eyeballs:

• The attention economy is more competitive than it has ever been; how does the NWSL differentiate itself from other sports properties to engage a fanbase?
• The importance of a national media deal to deliver games to every fan; accessibility of content is the key to success.
• Why women’s football in the US should be the global standard to aspire to, and what needs to happen to get there.
• The rising tide lifts all boats: it is the job of the franchises to work together to ensure the development of the league.

Football: The Product

• To build the biggest league you need to be able to attract the best players. How do you do this?
• Why the style of football in the US needs to adapt to appeal to both players and fans when compared to the European game.
• Why the NWSL has an opportunity the MLS is unlikely to have.
• How have the league regulated the club’s ability to spend on players to ensure equal competition from top to bottom?

A huge thank you to our valued sponsors:

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

And as promised on the show, some of the amazing content Bay have created around the franchise and their training ground development.

Bay FC Hype: https://icnk.io/u/LmLVaMbnig5f/

Treasure Island Training Facility Announcement: https://icnk.io/u/P92fRIikqw76/

This week, we are joined by one of the most influential figures in the world of sport and entertainment: Michael Yormark, President of Roc Nation Sports International. With a career that spans over two decades at the intersection of business, marketing, and global talent representation, Michael has redefined what it means to manage athletes and entertainers in today’s fast-paced, multimedia-driven world. 

For the agency established by Jay-Z, Michael has been the driving force behind Roc Nation’s global expansion in sport, instrumental in representing some of the industry’s biggest names, including Vinicius Jr, Kevin De Bruyne, Endrick, Siya Kolisi. Included in that remit; creating groundbreaking partnerships, and shaping the future of athlete empowerment as brand. 

From orchestrating these multimillion-dollar brand deals to advocating for social justice initiatives, Michael is a visionary leader who’s not just pushing boundaries, he’s setting new standards. 

On today’s show we discuss:

The role of an agent:

• How to gain the trust of the biggest sports, media and entertainment stars.
• Building the Roc Nation family: person over revenue. If the best interests of the talent is put first, more often than not, everyone wins in the long run.
• What learnings were brought over from Roc Nation’s work in the music industry that have been applied so effectively to sport?
• All the best athletes, from Ronaldo to LeBron James, have had big teams around them to help them achieve greatness. What do these teams look like?
• Build the hype - why should Vinicius Jr win the Ballon D’Or?

International expansion:

• The move from the US to Europe was driven by Michael’s willingness to move and set up from scratch. How did he go about building one of the most influential international sports talent agencies?
• What surprised Michael most about the difference between European and US sport?
• How did Roc Nation communicate their vision to the top football and rugby players to bring them into the family?
• What is it like representing Kevin De Bruyne, Vinicius Jr, Endrick, Gabriel Martinelli, Siya Kolisi, and how do you decide who is the right fit for the business?

Athlete as brand:

• Players now need to be more than just their on field performance to maximise the role they can play in society. How do you help them achieve this?
• The difference between the star culture driven US sports environment and the collective team based one we see in Europe?
• Helping Vini Jr combat racism: how has the Roc Nation family supported their player as he encountered numerous racist interactions, often very publicly on the field?
• The biggest challenge for rugby players in maximising their profile? The game doesn’t want them to. Why?
• How important is it to commercial partners that the talent they partner with has a standing in society away from the sport they play?

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/

Liam is the CEO of Lincoln City, who are currently competing in League One of English football, and who at Liam’s own admission, have been overperforming both their budget and performance expectations for years. The running of clubs further down the football pyramid is not easy. They have to operate as far more and sensible businesses rather than billionaire playpens.

Liam not only brings some incredible insight into managing a team in the lower leagues, but as he sits on the board of the English Football League, a much broader perspective on the business of football.

Existing in the same structure as enterprise Premier League, 3pm domestic broadcast blackouts, the financial controls required to protect the future of these most treasured community assets; this was a fascinating insight into the world of a football CEO. 

After a week where the back pages were dominated by the Man City vs The Premier League, this was a real question of how do you protect the product we’ve done so well to create while ensuring top to bottom longevity of the industry?

In today's show, we discuss:

Rise of Lincoln City:

• Small budgets and non-league football status when he joined, how has Liam built a club to compete in the top tiers of English football?
• What are the key things to focus on when running a club?
• The revenue streams that a club must capitalise on to ensure they are able to compete with some of the biggest teams in the league.
• The value of a strong academy; first team feeder or profit driver?
• Bringing the glory back to Lincoln: what does it mean to the community to re-establish a club steeped in history?
• The £1.3m FA Cup run; what did this enable the club to do from an investment standpoint?

Football League Challenges:

• The football industry is unsustainable. Why?
• There needs to be more money that filters down the pyramid to protect teams in the lower tiers. How do you do this?
• The transfer market is the key generator of cash for lower league clubs, but they need Premier League teams to keep buying from English teams to sustain that flow.
• Is the 3pm broadcast blackout an issue or vital to sustainability of the broader football ecosystem in the modern sporting environement?

The Nuclear-Sub vs. a Canoe

• Football is full of inequalities. How do you operate in a market where there is such a spread of wealth and opportunity?
• League One is the eleventh most watched League in Europe, the product is better than ever.
• US investors: The rise of foreign ownership has opened new markets to promote teams and competitions
• How great owners and structured management can be the most important assets of a club regardless of their size.

Leaders in Sport 

https://leadersinsport.com/sport-business/leaders-events/leaders-week-london/

WSC Sports 

https://wsc-sports.com/

Tyndall Investment Management 

https://tyndallim.co.uk/