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Captain of Industry: Reading FC Chairman Sir John Madejski speaking with Andrew Main Wilson
Posted on April 10, 2013 by fcbusiness
This is what I gleaned from a thoroughly enjoyable chat between Reading FC Chairman Sir John Madejski and Andrew Main Wilson. Forgive the stuttered nature of it but it’s pretty relentless stuff here with one presentation/conference event seguing into another.
Sir John’s top two business tips:
1. Keep ownership of your company (He increased his ownership of Autotrader – the company he built, from asking for £5 per polaroid snap of someone’s car to a +£260 million company – from 51% to 67%.)
2. Most importantly, you should absolutely, firmly, believe in your product so much that no-one’s going to sway you away from your goal of succeeding.
“What made you buy Reading?,” asked Andrew.
“We (Autotrader) used to have a box there. When the salesmen missed their targets we sent them along to watch Reading! “ quipped Sir John.
Turns out he had 24 hours to decide whether to chip in with some finance to help save Reading FC from liquidation. He decided, based on the fact that he had started Autotrader in the Reading, that he should, ‘Give something back to town where I made all of my money. At the time I didn’t realise I’d have to put It ALL back!’
He was candid about the fact that he is not a football fanatic, that he decided do it for the community. “Reading is the 4th oldest club in the country, I thought that it was worth preserving for the community and now I’ve been Chairman for 24 yrs.”
He was equally honest about his feelings on clubs making frequent and abrupt managerial changes, especially as he believes that ’continuity is important in business’.
He revealed the developments behind in Reading’s recent change:
“It was not my call. I would have kept Brian McDermott, he’s a thoroughly nice chap – but Anton Zingarevich knows a lot more about football than me and he had made his mind up – but the fact is if you don’t win games you can expect to be moved on.”
He was quite clear about the fact that owners/Chairman shouldn’t get too involved in the football side of the club, however:
“If you start meddling on the football side, how can you reprimand him [the manager] when it doesn’t go right? He [the manager] lives and dies by the sword and he understands that.
“The only way you get involved is on the hiring/buying players’ side. It’s a tough old business. It’s not all about money though. We have a saying ‘Do it the Reading way,’ it’s about hearts and minds too.”
He continued to say that they probably should have stuck with the now manager of Liverpool.
“Let’s face it, all fans want is ‘win, win, win.’ Their respite from the daily grind is to come along and see their team win.” Although he did go on to say that Reading’s fans are very forgiving.
Buying football clubs is, let’s face it, says Sir John, ‘big boy’s toys’. “[At Reading] We do it by stealth but you can’t keep pulling rabbits out of the hat.”
So, following on from that admission, ‘how does a less fashionable club grow their brand globally?,’ asked Main Wilson.
“Reading is emerging but it hasn’t arrived yet,” says Sir John. Having a Russian owner means they pick up more Russian fans, via that link. (Btw, Zingarevich spent two years at school in Reading – there’s the link with why he bought the club.)
Reading are doing deals in India and the Far East (as well as with clubs like Galatarasay, which you can read about in Issue 68). Signing players from abroad can also help with a club’s international profile.
“The biggest thing for Reading,” says Sir John, ”is what it does for the area. It really puts the area on the map. I’m a big fan of the Premier League – it’s the biggest export product we have. One billion people watch the games, it has such a colossal pull, it’s magnetic.” We should be doing everything to foster and grow that, in his opinion. So it is difficult for a club like Reading, who ‘are at best a yoyo club, who continue to punch above our level’.
He revealed, and many people with interests in similar sized clubs will identify with this, that, “There are a lot of fans in Reading who think it’s more interesting to be in the Championship, they feel that the Premier League is a procession.”
He also revealed that getting into Europe isn’t exactly a blessing for clubs of a certain size because although it is great for the fanbase, clubs can lose money, if they are not careful. A salient warning for clubs like Swansea, who are getting excited about heading into Europe next year?
It will come as no surprise to readers that he is a big advocate of ‘growing your won’ and thankfully the club’s new owner shares this vision. ‘He [Zingarevich] is going to invest heavily in our academy.’ They have already had ‘tremendous success’ in developing players.
“Last season we had six players in our squad who had come through our academy. It’s fantastic for small clubs to develop their own players, and a lifeline.”
Sir John’s not a very big fan of agents either:
“It all seemed to happen when David Beckham got an agent (or two agents), now every Johnny Kick-a-Ball has one, when the PFA was actually doing a great job supporting players. Now agents do everything for the players – they are an integral part of their lives – but as a breed I’m not a fan, they’re parasitical, feeding off the game. Sorry if there are any agents in the audience – that’s just my opinion. And it looks as though they’re here to stay, unfortunately.”
After 23 years as the owner as well as the Chairman, he could not hide his relief at having someone come in and take over the mantel. It was a heavy responsibility.
“We’re staring down the barrel of relegation, not a pretty sight. I wish we could pull a rabbit out and stay up, manager, players all desperate to stay up. If I owned the club it would be a far worse thing, for 23 years I’ve had the whole weight of the club on my shoulders. It was a palpable relief to pass on that burden. Now as Chairman I can go along and enjoy it and see what everyone else is about. That burden is unbelievably heavy. I’m demob happy.”
And to finish off, here’s Sir John on how the game has changed, how fit the players are these days:
““When I took over Reading, when we had a win I’d go into the bar and buy them all a pint of bitter. Now they wouldn’t be seen in a bar. They’re all highly tuned athletes, with nutritionists and dieticians. They could play 3 or 4 games a week. Players just love to play, as far as I’m concerned.”
And he had the room chuckling with this one, as Andrew Main Wilson closed the chat with this question: “This is a quote you made a few years ago, ‘I believe when you sell a company you should always leave something substantial’, what have you left for the Russians?”
Quick as a flash Sir John replied: “Debt!”
