Established 1999

BRITISH VIEW ON POLISH FOOTBALL

3 luty 2013

Heading in the same direction

It`s not for me to tell Polish football club owners how to run their football. But what I am clear about is in the British example there is an increasing recognition that football even at the top level has to be run on business lines – saying HE Robin Barnett, UK Ambassador to Poland.

HE ROBIN BARNETT


 


UK Ambassador to Poland


 


talks about football with Damian A. Zaczek


 


Mr Ambassador, you are well known as both a great supporter of Manchester United and an expert on football matters. Would you compare any Polish team to the Manchester United standards?


 


Robin Barnett: I think Polish football is going in the same direction as British football, but hasn`t got there yet. Let me explain what I mean. The reality is that it is hard to compare Polish football with British football because if you go back in history there is a period when Leeds was the dominant force in English football, then there was a period when Liverpool were dominant – very frustrating for me as a Manchester United supporter. When I was first in Poland in the 1980s, Manchester United twice won the FA Cup, but Liverpool were winning all the big prizes. So the early 1990s since Manchester United has without question dominated English football and there had been two or three other challengers – Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal – and now big spenders Manchester City. Whereas in Polish football, I think, none of the teams like Ruch Chorzów, Górnik Zabrze, Wisła Kraków were able to dominate Polish football in quite the same way. If you are looking at these years’ league tables you have teams like Legia Warszawa, Lech Poznań, Polonia Warszawa, Śląsk Wrocław. In short, Polish football is less predictable. There is not quite a top group in Polish football yet as there is in English football.


 


Do you think that Polish football is heading in the same direction?


 


Of course. The key to success is getting into the top European competitions. It`s inevitable in my view that eventually Poland will develop a small group of elite clubs just as in England, Spain, Germany and Italy. You rarely see a surprising name in the top four of those leagues. I think, Poland is heading in that direction.


 


So we can, in the future, get to the top, as English teams did?


 


I think Polish football quite clearly knows there is a lot to do. I think Polish Football Association (PZPN) recognised that when they unexpectedly elected Zbigniew Boniek and he is already making some pretty sweeping changes at the top. To me the key challenge for Polish football is quite simple. Poland is one of the richest of the more recent entrants in to the EU and is twice the size of Romania. Routinely Romanian soccer teams are qualifying for the latest stages of the Champions League. And in a way this become self-perpetuating when you get access to the money that comes with the Champions League, you can attract better money, you can attract better players and you can progress. It seems to me at the moment that Poland is focused on the domestic game and not enough on the critical importance of success in Europe. Manchester United lost a lot of money last year in relative terms because for the first time in a long time they failed to qualify for the later stages of the Champions League.


 


Which English club is the richest one: Manchester United or Chelsea?


 


There are a number of football teams with rich owners. Manchester United and Chelsea are two examples. But MU does not have the same financial resources as Chelsea or Manchester City, but cannot in any sense be described as poor. What is really interesting to see is all the pressure now in football shifting to a more business-like approach, beginning with Michel Platini and UEFA’s fair play rules, but also a recent agreement of Premier League Football Clubs. But in principle clubs will not be allowed to incur large losses on a regular basis. This shows a recognition that football is no different from any other business. In other words, it is not sustainable indefinitely to have football clubs run basically on unsound business principles, otherwise there will be a small group of clubs getting richer and richer. The rest of the pyramid will become less and less sustainable and to be frank, while the big clubs have academies and develop some of their own players (Tom Cleverley of Manchester United is a fantastic example), huge sums are spent on transfers. But also we rely on smaller clubs to develop new players. Among them is a great new talent, a guy called Nick Powell from Crewe Alexandra right down at the bottom of England’s football pyramid. He was discovered by a club with a great tradition for developing great players. So, I expect there will always be people putting their hands in their pockets to save the local football team and that`s a good thing. But overall, sound business principles make sense.


 


In Poland, I am afraid, we do not understand the necessity of running football clubs as businesses which need to make money.


 


It`s not for me to tell Polish football club owners how to run their football. But what I am clear about is in the British example there is an increasing recognition that football even at the top level has to be run on business lines.


 


Do you remember Kazimierz Deyna who some times ago used to play at Manchester City?


 


I absolutely remember Deyna. I was reflecting during this interview on why all the greatest players in Polish football’s glory days when those players were allowed late in their career to leave, went to places like Italy and Spain? My first reflection was maybe they wanted a change in climate, but in reality big money in football salary terms was not paid out by British clubs. We came into that later.


 


During the communism salary wasn`t the only objection. Age was also a limit.


 


That`s right. The “best years” were mostly behind them, although some Polish football players of course played very distinguished roles in overseas teams.


 


Do you know John Madejski, the owner of Reading Football Club?


 


I used to go to Reading to watch football before John Madejski bought the club and took it to where it is now. So, I have visited Madejski Stadium. He is a fine example of someone with great sympathy for Poland, who also demonstrated how a relatively small club can get back into the Premier League. In my view he has taken a small club to a wholly new level by being shrewd, committed and passionate.


 


Once John Madejski told me that the amount of money he was forced to put into his club was immense. But he did it for the Reading community.


 


Absolutely. I think, John Madejski understood a lot of things. First of all, that Reading had no future at Elm Park as a small ground. He did a very good deal to sell Elm Park and build the new Madejski Stadium. The last time I was there was sadly not to watch football. I represented UK Trade & Investment at a conference for business because Madejski Stadium also has a hotel and a conference centre. So, in other words to me the art of running a successful football team particulary outside the capital city is you need the stadium to do more. And people think it is cool. So many people are football fans and they feel it is cool to be invited to a conference at a football stadium. So I think part of the future is to make sure they are multipurpose because stadium is in use only between 25 and 40 times a year, so it`s better business to have other activities around. For example, Old Trafford is used for all sorts of things apart from its own football. And that is for rich clubs. So I actually think a business model for football involves football stadiums being able to host rock concerts, athletics, conferences, whatever.


 


Do you support any Polish team?


 


That is a hugely challenging question because however I answered it I am going to upset over 38 million people. The truth is that I have enjoyed watching Polish football every time I have being in Poland. The only Polish football team I have ever met was actually, believe or not, Pogoń Szczecin. When I was here the first time under communism I went to Szczecin one day on an official visit. And just for fun, I asked my assistant to contact Pogoń Szczecin and see if they would be willing to meat a British diplomat. And they were delighted. So, that`s my one Polish experience. My first game was in Łódź. Widzew versus Liverpool in the European Cup. Widzew actually won. I have also been to watch Legia, so I am not going to proclaim allegiance to a given team. But I love football so whenever I get an opportunity I am always happy to watch.


 


What do you think about the new idea that in 2020 the European Championship could be organised in a few different countries?


 


I think it is an exciting experiment. There may be some issues around fans needing to travel, but I believe in trying out new ideas. It will certainly be a great opportunity to give smaller countries a chance to be part of the competition. But if the concept is too expensive for fans, then there may be an issue that needs to be addressed. And clearly if you came to Poland and Ukraine for Euro 2012 you knew what was possible, you knew the maximum number of days, you knew where your team might play.


 


What do you like most in Poland and what is your favourite Polish dish?


 


In one word – the people. I have been coming to this country since 1982. I have met so may wonderful people, I had so many wonderful experiences. It was my dream to come back as Ambassador. Trying to pick one Polish dish is hard but at this time of year with cold temperatures I would never say no to żurek, bigos and zrazy.


 


Mr Ambassador, thank you very much for meeting DECISION MAKER readers.

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