Thaksin Shinawatra’s much publicised summer takeover of Manchester City has opened the debate on the morals of foreign ownership of football clubs as it appears owning a team is this season’s must have accessory. Yet does a takeover necessarily mean quick fix success or indeed long term financial security? And what happens once the mega rich lose interest in their million dollar babies? On the first anniversary of the Drumaville Consortium’s purchase of Sunderland, Blake Welton asks what the future may hold for SAFC and British football…

In a rather quiet summer of non-football related news, the intense media interest that was the Manchester City takeover diverted much of the attention away from the board room shenanigans and whispers occurring elsewhere as clubs such as Newcastle, Birmingham, Coventry, Hull, QPR, Leeds, Southampton, Blackburn and Arsenal were all subjects of takeovers or proposed buyer interest. If we consider Chelski’s Roman Ambramovich as the pioneer and chief architect of this phenomenon, sparking a succession of similar takeovers with the title deeds of Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham, Portsmouth and Sunderland still moist, rich non-British consortiums and/or retail businessmen now own half the Premiership since the Russian bought Chelsea Village in 2003.

As Sunderland enter a new dawn so does the Premiership as the influx of new money from investors will see the structure of the league shaken to its core. While the big four have previously had the financial muscle others could only dream of, this advantage is diminishing. Although there will be questions of the likes of Portsmouth attracting a player over the likes of Liverpool, the investment will at least give teams like Sunderland, Villa and the aforementioned Portsmouth a seat at the negotiation table whereas before big-fee players only commanded a small audience.

Ultimately, the Premiership will become more exciting and unpredictable as money will dictate the terms. With the mega rich now encompassing ten or eleven clubs in the top flight rather than the usual big four, it will be harder for the likes of Blackburn and Chelsea to buy the Premiership title by purchasing the best available players and organising them under top-notch managers as they have done in the past. With a host of clubs now chasing the same quality players and managers and being able to offer similar lucrative signing on fees and contracts, a bad year of purchases could see any potential Premiership champions reduced to mid-table mediocrity.

For the first time in the post-Sky period of domestic British football, there is likely to be a fluctuation in league positions between seasons not seen since the 1970s and 1980s while a manager’s accolade of being The Special One could be seriously dented by a lack of shrewd purchases in the transfer market. A manager will now have to manage instead of being able to buy their way out of trouble and will need to rely more heavily on managerial skills and tactical nouse.

Factor into the equation the increase in television revenue for Premiership clubs the chasm between the haves and the have nots will not just widen between the Premier League and lower leagues, but also within the Premiership. Success stories built on a shoestring such as Charlton Athletic and Bolton will be a thing of the past as, without sufficient financial backing, such teams can only aim to merely survive in the top flight as they will be continually outbid by the wealthy in transfer fees and/or personal terms. The present financial climate of football suggests a frantic search for any rich sugar daddy in the fear that their club will be left on the shelf with a rapidly diminishing use by date. Buy Now, Don’t Pay Later.

Certainly Arsenal PLC are already feeling the pressure of being one of the top clubs without the recent financial investment enjoyed by other clubs currently positioned behind them. The Gunners have intimated they are unable to compete in the present climate and, although their position at the top won’t fall immediately, it will certainly be under threat unless there is something on the horizon. Indeed, if no takeover deal can be struck, the likes of West Ham and Man City could be a step closer to asserting themselves as leading Premiership contenders...

With so many takeovers and new investment flooding into the footballing world, a takeover still does not guarantee success or being established as a Premiership force. With still the same number of trophies, players and managers around to purchase, all that has been evident so far is the high price for apparent mediocrity as similar clubs drive up player valuations with metaphorical bidding wars. Without criticising Kenwyne Jones’ footballing abilities, one has to question the £6 million asking fee for an untried forward at the highest level. If SAFC hadn’t been taken over within the past twelve months along with a few other teams outside the big four would the Trinidadian cost so much? I doubt it.

The purchase of North East born Michael Chopra points to another trend that is likely to occur more frequently in the coming seasons - regionalism and geography. With little to choose between competing clubs financially, players and managers are more likely to prefer areas with pre-existing affections or, more crucially, the best services and amenities English football has to offer. The North-South axis will never be more crucial in determining a player’s future while there will be further sub-tensions within these divisions. This argument explains why Sunderland have perhaps struggled to attract the likes of Leighton Baines and David Nugent to the club let alone real household names. In contrast West Ham seem able to purchase all and sundry.

The positives and negatives of the recent trend of club takeovers and investment are about as big as the money it takes to buy a football club. However, I cannot help feeling what could potentially change the face of football for the better could also be the sting in the serpent’s tail. What happens once the billionaire owners tire of their monopoly playthings? Or, more crucially, realise there isn’t the prestige or long term success in running a football club, especially now everyone is jumping on the bandwagon with still only four pieces of major silverware to collect each season?

It is hard to believe the likes of Glazer, Abramovich, Gillette and Shinawatra have the best intentions of their respective clubs at heart. It would be interesting to see how many of the above would still be around if the lucrative SKY package disappeared. Indeed, Shinawatra has confirmed his commitment to the Manchester City cause ‘for at least five years’ which should set alarm bells ringing at Eastlands that the new owner could put a time scale on his tenure while Leeds United fans will be quick to point out the consequences and after shocks of chasing the glamorous dream.

Unlike any other football club in a similar present position, Sunderland’s long term future is virtually guaranteed. They may not have the high profile impact Thaksin has had so far at Manchester City but SAFC have a man at the helm who has a burning passion and love and cares deeply for Sunderland and its people; a man who has invested in and supported Sunderland for footballing reasons. In short Niall’s Quinn’s consortium are in it for all the right reasons.

Like a new-born baby, Sunderland will have teething problems and struggle to find its feet both in the Premiership and the current financial climate, but in the long term they will ultimately reign supreme with Thaksin and his blues probably nowhere to be seen…