Time to have a look at the top 10 best owners in English football as voted for by fans. In the last few weeks, over 3,000 people of 141 different clubs took part.
The fans were asked by Against League 3 to give an overall rating as well as a grade for communication, finance, football operations, stadium development/upkeep, treatment of fans and transparency.
10th | Mark and Nicola Palios – Tranmere Rovers
Overall rating: 91.60/100
Communication: 7.11/10
Finance: 7.91/10
Football Operations: 7.03/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 6.66/10
Treatment of fans: 7.66/10
Transparency: 7.43 /10
They are real people, interested and involved on a day to day basis and with a plan going forward, and who take time to engage with the everyday fans of the club at a personal level. – Tranmere fan survey response
9th | NSWE / Nassef Sawiris / Wes Edens – Aston Villa
Overall rating: 91.88/100
Communication: 6.83/10
Finance: 8.17/10
Football Operations: 7.40/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 8.41/10
Treatment of fans: 8.13/10
Transparency: 7.00/10
Long interviews with the CEO available through club media channels. They seem to be planning to be here for a long time with the plans we’ve heard, ie: North Stand expansion, training ground changes with HS2 – Aston Villa fan survey response
8th | Stephen Lansdown – Bristol City
Overall rating: 93.22/100
Communication: 6.83/10
Finance: 8.17/10
Football Operations: 7.40/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 8.41/10
Treatment of fans: 6.97/10
Transparency: 7.14/10
We’re an incredibly fortunate set of fans who have an owner who genuinely loves not just the football club but also the city of Bristol. He’s continually invested money into the club and the sustainable strategy in place protects our longevity while also bringing us season on season improvement on the pitch – Bristol City fan survey response
Stephen Lansdown speaks about putting Bristol on the sporting map https://t.co/O5Ajsm0yrT
— Bristol Live (@BristolLive) February 17, 2018
7th | Matthew Benham – Brentford
Overall rating: 93.25/100
Communication: 6.50/10
Finance: 8.38/10
Football Operations: 8.38/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 8.25/10
Treatment of fans: 7.25/10
Transparency: 6.25/10
"[Brentford] have the fourth-lowest playing budget in the Championship, but they’re fifth in the table. And according to xG, their performances make them the second-best team in the league this season." 2/2
— Jordan Gardner (@mrjordangardner) February 3, 2020
6th | Clive Nates – Lincoln City
Overall rating: 93.75/100
Communication: 7.44/10
Finance: 7.44/10
Football Operations: 7.63/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 6.69/10
Treatment of fans: 7.94/10
Transparency: 7.63/10
WATCH: #Imps chairman Clive Nates rubbed shoulders with the fans rather than sipping champagne in the boardroom as Lincoln took on Mk Dons at the weekend as they inched closer to promotion. @ArifAhmedITV reports. @LincolnCity_FC @cliven7 pic.twitter.com/c0SRKyOWco
— ITV News Calendar (@itvcalendar) April 8, 2019
5th | Simon Sadler – Blackpool
Overall rating: 93.94/100
Communication: 7.30/10
Finance: 7.49/10
Football Operations: 7.34/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 7.21/10
Treatment of fans: 7.49/10
Transparency: 7.33/10
After the Oystons, Simon Sadler is a complete breath of fresh air. Huge difference in a very short space of time
Sadler has given us our club back, anything else is a bonus. Blackpool fan survey response
4th | Carol Shanahan – Port Vale
Overall rating: 94.95/100
Communication: 8.55/10
Finance: 8.35/10
Football Operations: 8.20/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 7.69/10
Treatment of fans: 8.61/10
Transparency: 8.55/10
So far the new owners have been fantastic, breathing a renewed optimism about the club and making headway into repairing the damage done by the previous owner. The future looks bright for us now.
Owners have only been in charge a short time but have shown the direction they want the club to move in. Community centred, financially responsible and wanting to put the fans first. There is a much greater feel-good factor around the club since they took over.
The new owners, Carol and Kevin Shanahan have literally saved Port Vale from neglect, indifference and a downward spiral and kept the club alive – Vale fans are so very lucky to have such owners and their generosity, honesty, enthusiasm, wisdom, empathy with fans and business experience are truly appreciated by the overwhelming majority of Port Vale supporters.
Following a regime of obfuscation, lies & deceipt over many years, Carol & Kevin knowingly paid a “ransom” to free Port Vale from the previous owner. Their communication, passion & dedication to the club they love is unparalleled.
⚫️⚪️ Introducing Carol and Kevin Shanahan, your new owners of Port Vale Football Club.
This is #ANewEra at Port Vale and we want you to join us on our journey. pic.twitter.com/U2DS25chYp
— Port Vale FC (@OfficialPVFC) May 7, 2019
3rd | 2020 Holdings Consortium – Luton Town
Overall rating: 95.81/100
Communication: 8.14/10
Finance: 8.44/10
Football Operations: 8.14/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 7.86/10
Treatment of fans: 8.22/10
Transparency: 8.28/10
Brilliant owners, brilliant people, brilliant with communication and transparency, all creating a brilliant club we thought we might lose 10 years ago.
The way they have transformed my club has been immense, always been open and clear with their plans and have done amazingly in trying to get us this new stadium, we wouldn’t be where we are now without them
Against League 3 wrote: “Luton Town 2020 Holdings Consortium have overseen a huge transition at Luton Town, taking the club from the brink of extinction to the Championship. The owners made Luton the first English club to pay the Living Wage and committed to a policy of refusing sponsorship from betting companies.
“Luton look set to commence construction of a new 23,000 stadium after winning a four-year-long planning battle.”
www.fanbanter.co.uk – Fan reaction to the latest football news, gossip & funnies
2nd | Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha – Leicester City
Overall rating: 98.00/100
Communication: 8.20/10
Finance: 8.90/10
Football Operations: 8.80/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 8.30/10
Treatment of fans: 9.00/10
Transparency: 8.40/10
Unbelievable owner. Every move he has made has been vindicated. Has the club at the heart of everything he does
Top and Vichai before him are the most wonderful owners, they give back to the local community, invest in infrastructure, youth developments, non footballing local charities both with time and substantial gifts, gifts to fans at home and away games from free refreshments, food, merchandise, banners, travel and tickets.
Against League 3 wrote: “Architect of one of the greatest fairytales in football history, owner Vinchai Srivaddhanaprabha had always been well received by the Leicester City faithful for his running of the club. In November 2018 the football world watched on in horror as a helicopter leaving the King Power Stadium crashed killing all 5 people on board including Vincent Srivaddhanaprabha.
“Vincent’s son Aiyawatt then took over King Power and became chairman of the Premier League outfit. Leicester City currently find themselves on course for a Champions League place under manager Brendan Rodgers.”
? Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha put on free half-time food & drink for @WatfordFC fans at King Power Stadium.
? As a way of thanking the travelling fans for their touching banner for his late father Vichai.
❤️ Football at its very best. pic.twitter.com/8YYpMH6d7z
— SPORF (@Sporf) December 1, 2018
1st | Andy Holt – Accrington Stanley (winner for second consecutive year)
Overall rating: 98.50/100
Communication: 7.66/10
Finance: 7.71/10
Football Operations: 7.34/10
Stadium development/upkeep: 7.68/10
Treatment of fans: 7.68/10
Transparency: 7.53/10
The job Andy Holt is doing is awesome. I’ve followed Stanley for 28yrs and this is by far the best owner we have had. Andy & his team have turned us around to make the club sustainable. Match day experience is a total joy.
He is a brilliant owner, already done so much for the club. Very open with club accounts. Put a lot of money into the club with the pitch, around the stadium, training ground.
Great owner, open and honest and always willing to listen.
Andy is an excellent owner and understands that the club belongs to the community. He is excellent with fans and has done fantastic things with the ground. He is very transparent and regularly publishes figures and holds question and answer sessions for the fans with himself and the MD.
A breath of fresh air since he came in, Stanley have never been in such good hands.
Against League 3 wrote: “Accrington Stanley chairman Andy Holt has topped our 2019 Ownership Survey to earn the title of English Football’s Best Owner for the second year running.
“Andy received an approval rating of 98.4/100 from Stanley fans.
“At the time of writing Stanley find themselves in 17th position in League 1, their second season in the division, with the team consolidating well under the stewardship of John Coleman and Jimmy Bell.
“Andy regularly posts his thoughts and holds discussions on his twitter account regarding his running of the club and issues of governance in the game.”
? The EFL have demanded an explanation from Accrington Stanley owner Andy Holt because he buys the players McDonalds when they win and it's not in their contracts.
What a guy! ??#ASFC pic.twitter.com/4mllkNGlo0
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) April 3, 2018
The top 10 worst owners in English football can be seen by clicking HERE.
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