Not only Posh but with the money to make it work
September 1st, 2007 by moniesImagine Niall Quinn on speed and you get an impression of this businessman, who moved to Spain as a teenager with his parents, Austin and Elizabeth, after the retirement of his father, who had run nightclubs and restaurants in Dublin.
Today, at 30 years old, he is the youngest chairman in the Premiership or Football League. Early this year, he made Darren Ferguson, son of Sir Alex, one of the youngest managers in the game. Suddenly the club are dominated by youthful endeavour. But can they flourish?
MacAnthony would respond by suggesting you scrutinise his portfolio. He started up MRI (MacAnthony Reality International) seven years ago with [euro]6,000 ([pound]4,000). Today, the company sell over [euro]2 billion of property a year. “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I always say that if I’d been involved I could have done it in two,” says the businessman who owns properties in Sunningdale, Spain, Florida and Switzerland, mocking his own pace of thought and deed.
None of which explains why this Liverpool fan decided last summer to buy League Two Peterborough, a club who, since their formation in 1960, have bobbed between the old Fourth Division and what is now League One, with only Barry Fry’s presence, in various roles - currently director of football - daubing some colour on to an unexceptional tapestry. He claims that Reading and Wigan are his blueprints for success, unfashionable clubs who have been elevated to the Premiership. “[Dave] Whelan and [John] Madejski have shown it can be done, and how to do it without spending stupid money,” he says. But, you interrupt, their hearts are in their local areas. You are an occasional visitor from Spain, with a UK home in Sunningdale. “I just wanted to buy a football club,” he retorts. “I wanted to support that club, and come over and have a release from my day-to- day work. You have to appreciate that I’m always in a hurry. So, I said to my advisers, ‘Go find me a club’, because you don’t normally find them advertised in the newspaper, do you?”
“I did look at a couple of other clubs, but then a friend of mine who was looking for me met someone who knew Barry Fry. There was a programme on TV the following night on the club, involving Big Ron [Atkinson], and I thought, ‘OK, it looks good’. The following week we tied up a deal. It gives me a rush every day, just being involved. It may be League Two, but there was opportunity and possibility. In the next three years, there’ll be an extra 300,000 people in and around this town to boost attendances.”
On his website, MacAnthony lists his personal rules. One is: never be afraid to take risks. He can certainly be said to have followed his own principles with the appointment of the former Manchester United, Wolves and Wrexham midfielder Ferguson as player- manager successor to Keith Alexander in late January.
“We had over 100 applicants, and there were a couple of managers with plenty of experience, but they didn’t ask me about the players, or the club, or the future,” he says. “All they wanted to discuss was the bottom line for them, including cuts of commissions on player-transfer fees.
“I don’t want to discuss that. I wanted someone to excite me about the prospects for the next five years. Darren Ferguson was the only one who asked to see videos of our previous 10 games. Sure, he’s a rookie, but I’m a good judge of character, and I liked what I saw and heard.”
Nevertheless, being the son of the godfather of football management brings both the benefits of connection and the stresses of expectation. “I do think he’s under more pressure than he should be because of who he is,” says MacAnthony. “It’s tough following your father. But he’s his own man, and wants to do his own thing here. For a 35-year-old guy, he’s years ahead of himself. He was ready to step into management. I think he’s going to be a brilliant manager for this club.”
Author: Nick Townsend CHIEF SPORTS WRITER
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