Part 4 Special Feature: Top 10 takeovers in club football
Juventus are another European club football powerhouse that were taken over by the Agnelli family way back in 1923. Back then, football was just a fledging sport but since then it has grown at an extremely rapid pace. Juventus
were also a club in development back then when they were bought but way back in 1923 when Agnelli family established their hold over the club, the Bianconeri were looking for investment which would propel them forwards to compete against the likes of Real
Madrid.
Real Madrid were the club to beat in early days of European football and Juventus certainly achieved their goals but success came a little later than they had hoped for. In 2010, Juventus are still under the ownership of the Agnelli
family but things have changed a lot. The Agnellis also trace their source of wealth back to their foundation of the Fiat car manufacturing company, this wealth allowed them to become the first family ever to own a proper football club.
In Italy, Juventus’s take over by the Agnelli family was followed up by a hugely successful period for the Italian club side. From 1930 to 1935, the club won five league titles in the Serie A division; this purple patch saw them
become the most successful team in Italian football history, a record they still retain today. In 1960’s Agnellis proceeded onto invest in the pride of Italy, the Scuderia Ferrari. This partnership turned out to be an immensely profitable one for the Italian
aristocrats.
Currently, Andrea Agnelli still remains at Juventus as the club’s current chairman as the Italian family’s lineage takes the men in black and white to new heights. Over the past few years, Juventus have apparently regressed as
a club as they have not won a top level trophy in the past five years. On the other hand, Milan, Juventus’s rivals were also subject of a massive takeover bid from Silvio Berlusconi in 1986.
Berlusconi, who is the current prime minister of Italy, is a media behemoth, who owns several media outlets and television channels worldwide. In 1986 Berlusconi made an approach for A.C Milan, the board of directors at Milan couldn’t
resist the money that was being thrown at them and as a result they accepted the politicians proposed takeover bid.
Upon his takeover at Milan, Berlusconi totally revolutionized the club; he brought in players such as Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten. Berlusconi also gave a vote of confidence to A.C Milan’s coach back then, Arrigo Sacchi. Sacchi
along with his cast of footballers took Milan to heights under Silvio Berlusconi that were never ever seen before in the history of the club. In the 1987-1988 season, Milan went onto win the Italian first division title, they built on that successful season
and then triumphed in the European Cup in the 1988-1989 season as well as the 1989-1990 season.
These two consecutive European Cup wins were accompanied by another league win in the 1991-1992 season meanwhile Berlusconi constantly provided sufficient funds for the team to improve their training and stadium facilities whilst
Milan went onto win more titles in the 1992-1993 season as well as the 1993-1994 season. In the UEFA Champions League final of 1994, Milan defeated the mighty Barcelona team coached by Johan Cruyff.
Recently, Milan have invested yet again in the signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona, Robinho from Manchester City and Kevin Prince Boateng from Genoa. These summer transfers in the transfer window of 2010 have made Milan
the bookies favourites to win the 2010-2011 Serie A title. However, there has been another much recent takeover in England which might prove to be the most successful takeover in the history of club football.
In 2003, Chelsea were bought out by the Russian oil billionaire, Roman Abramovich. Roman invested highly in the team’s fortunes as Chelsea poured in all sorts of players from all over the football world. These new squad players
were accompanied by the special manager, Jose Mourinho. In his first season in the English league, Jose went onto win the Premier League title; he took Chelsea to three UEFA Champions League semi-finals as well. With Jose at the helm, backed by the riches
of Abramovich, Chelsea won two league titles on the trot and then again won the Premier League title in the 2009-2010 season. Currently, Chelsea are at the top of the Premier League table yet again and look as favourites to win the English league championship.
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