Foreign owners sometimes acquire clubs in order to boost their brands, both in their domestic market and globally. However, when the Indian conglomerate Venky’s took over Blackburn Rovers, it quickly became apparent that, while they might know something about chickens, they didn’t understand much about football.
The one time Premier League champions have been effectively run into the ground. At the bottom of the Championship, attendances are falling and financial problems are increasing. Turnover has fallen from £58m a year to £12m a year under Venky’s.
Foreign owners sometimes acquire clubs in order to boost their brands, both in their domestic market and globally. However, when the Indian conglomerate Venky’s took over Blackburn Rovers, it quickly became apparent that, while they might know something about chickens, they didn’t understand much about football.
The one time Premier League champions have been effectively run into the ground. At the bottom of the Championship, attendances are falling and financial problems are increasing. Turnover has fallen from £58m a year to £12m a year under Venky’s.
The supporters trust at Blackburn has called the club ‘a toxic brand’ for Venky’s and urged them to sell. However, they would only recoup a fraction of what they paid and obduracy can sometimes be a factor for unpopular foreign owners as has been the case at Charlton.