Birmingham City Football Club are on the verge of a takeover with an announcement expected early next week.
It is now understood that a preferred bidder will be announced following a memorandum of understanding and the club will be allowed to be sold. Albeit in portions, allowing BIHL to remain on the stringent HK stock exchange.
Birmingham found themselves in financial turmoil following the arrest of its owner and chairman Carson Yeung in 2011. The club was on an all time high having just secured its first major trophy in 48 years. But the squad was not deep enough to survive the demands of such a long season and Blues slipped into the Championship.
Without the money from its owners the club continued to decline; slipping down the Championship. It then found itself relying on a last minute Paul Caddis header to prevent the club falling into the third tier of English football. It would be the first time Birmingham have played at that level for 20 years.
This takeover is to happen in stages. The reason being was briefly mentioned above, the HK stock exchange is so difficult to get onto that BIHL simply cannot afford to allow so much of its assets go in one transaction. With that being said it would seem that the interested bidders understand this and will more than likely still be given complete control over the club’s operations.
Birmingham should be in completely new hands after a two year period, although it is widely expect that there will not be any further involvement from BIHL. In the mean time it would seem that the new board could be making investment as soon as the announcement is made. Will much change? its not possible to say.
So who are these bidders? well there are plenty of other news outlets that have speculated on where the new owners could be from. Personally I don’t have sources close enough to the action to know such things, the only thing I would like to highlight is expectation. As a Bluenose myself I have that usual perspective that comes with the colours. I don’t expect the new owners to have huge sums of cash or even break the bank this transfer window. Indeed I wouldn’t want them to do that.
It could be said that it doesn’t make sense to come into a declining club and spend large sums on the playing staff. You risk the signings not settling in and not performing through all sorts of variables (training happiness, families settling etc). What could be beneficial is a realistic set of people coming into the club and efficiently recruiting players for the right price, at the right age and with the right attitudes. Then once things start to pick up, go and get a few lads who are worth a few quid to put the finishing touches to a team already in-form.
Overall, I am pleased mostly for all of the non-playing staff who have worked tirelessly to keep this club the way it is today and I am so proud of the job all have done (including the playing staff. Now this club can finally move on and we are all so looking forward to it. St Andrews will return to pride, standing loud and united in a resurgence of support and positivism.
As you have noticed there isn’t really any news in this article, but generally let me know what you think in the comments below!
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