381st on rich list

[Bladeloyal]

i dont buy it ,knowing what i do about chinese governance and their strict laws that are made to deter outsiders from exploiting their market i think its more likely he was allready one foot in the door long before sheffield united got involved

just cant see anyone being that immpressed with a second tier football club to suddenly start letting their chairman build his own empire there

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:35 PM ----------

as far as i know yes they are raul ,so interested that if someone buys a football club there it gives them carte blanche to rebuild the country

dont think he was in china pre chendu and all his deals over there are in partnership with the chinese hes been very clever cookie indeed ,

 

[beightonblade]

dont think he was in china pre chendu and all his deals over there are in partnership with the chinese hes been very clever cookie indeed ,

From memory he made a contact with rainbow and exploited it....................oh ah it wer Gizmo that banned me !

 

[raul]

i dont buy it ,knowing what i do about chinese governance and their strict laws that are made to deter outsiders from exploiting their market i think its more likely he was allready one foot in the door long before sheffield united got involved

just cant see anyone being that immpressed with a second tier football club to suddenly start letting their chairman build his own empire there

---------- Post added at 08:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:35 PM ----------

as far as i know yes they are raul ,so interested that if someone buys a football club there it gives them carte blanche to rebuild the country

Fair enough mate. Must have been one hell of a money tree they found to become the worlds second largest economy in a decade without any foreign investments.

 

[Foxy]

dont think he was in china pre chendu and all his deals over there are in partnership with the chinese hes been very clever cookie indeed ,

You mean other than a few years in property over there before he even began talking about Chengdu Five Bulls?

 

[judge]

Fair enough mate. Must have been one hell of a money tree they found to become the worlds second largest economy in a decade without any foreign investments.

well this is something i do have some knowledge of my girlfriend is chinese and does business studies and sometimes i proof read her work ,you pick things up like that china has laws that for instance stopped coca cola from taking over a juice company because it would give them too much of a market share and they are all for encouraging their own economy and not letting out contracts to property developers just because they own football clubs ,if mccabe has got contacts over there he has got them off his own back long before sheffield united got involved
chinese business dont work that way ,business deals are based on trust and good relationships

 

[Bladeloyal]

well this is something i do have some knowledge of my girlfriend is chinese and does business studies and sometimes i proof read her work ,you pick things up like that china has laws that for instance stopped coca cola from taking over a juice company because it would give them too much of a market share and they are all for encouraging their own economy and not letting out contracts to property developers just because they own football clubs ,if mccabe has got contacts over there he has got them off his own back long before sheffield united got involved
chinese business dont work that way ,business deals are based on trust and good relationships

to be fair he started scarborough holdings in 2003 based in hong kong to develope all over the far eeast and china ,buying chendu opened doors make no mistake .

 

[judge]

i remember at the time him saying he was going to use his contacts in china to benefit the club (potentially ) and i dont think turning up with sheffield united would infuence business men to suddenly give him property contracts if they werent going to already "oh very nice mr mccabe if you could get your club that no one cares about to play a few friendlies you can build as many supermarkets here as you want "

 

[Bladeloyal]

The first contact came in 2000 through Tony Xu, an agent acting on behalf of the club, when the club was looking for a sponsor for the club shirts. The club negotiated a sponsorship with a Chinese company, Desun, which makes apple juice cordial. Desun came up with the £200,000 sponsorship spread over two years because it was looking for a tie-up with a Western company to help promote its products in China (Western things, broadly speaking, being associated with quality, good lifestyles and opportunity).

The negotiations for the sponsorship deal entailed Kevin McCabe himself visiting China for the first time. He went with the preconceptions that many people have of China, expecting to find “grey smocks and communism”. Instead, he discovered a place which was, in his words, “Westernised, similar to the British society and a people with tremendous commercial enterprise.”

While in China he also thought that there might be some opportunities in his other lines of business (Sheffield United is not just a football club, but has interests in property and leisure). Initially, he was motivated by the prospects in property, not in “direct development” but in trading and buying with a view to leasing or selling. In conjunction with a joint venture partner, properties were bought in the southern city of Shenzhen to provide serviced apartments and serviced offices.

Wherever he went in China, the subject of football would invariably come up, and people Kevin McCabe met were most interested in his position as chairman of Sheffield United. He was bombarded with proposals, most of which he rejected, but he did accept an offer to take on the running of a football academy on Hainan, which was also connected to a sponsorship deal for the Junior Academy in Sheffield.

Then in January 2005 the Blades (the name of the Sheffield United team) signed the renowned Chinese footballer Hao Haidong to their squad. Hao Haidong, who had played more than 90 times for China, was taken on not so much to play first-team football but to do some coaching for young Chinese footballers and, more generally, to serve as a bridge to China.

Subsequently, Sheffield United agreed to acquire Li Tie from Manchester City to strengthen the connection with top Chinese footballers.

The following July, the Blades went on a pre-season tour of Shenyang, Xi’an and Hangzhou, with Hao Haidong in the team. The trip was a great success. Not only did it make money for the club but, more important than this, it introduced Sheffield United to a wider audience in China. With the Chinese love of history, it played strongly in the club’s favour that Sheffield United is actually the oldest football club in England and Bramall Lane (where Sheffield United plays) is considered to be the home of association football.

As he watched the games and went to different grounds, the businessman in Kevin McCabe observed a glaring gap in the market. “They have the stadiums [in China], but they don’t know how to fill them, or use the retail potential,” was his analysis. With the property business developing well, he shifted his focus to football.

Taking the bulls by the horns
Tony Xu also had good contacts with the Chengdu Football Association. Through that body, he came across the local side, the Chengdu Five Bull football, founded in 1996 and at that point hovering in the middle of the country’s second division. But what made him take a greater interest was the fact that the club played in a 40,000-seater stadium in the heart of Chengdu city itself.

The club was then owned by a tobacco company, a situation that didn’t make sense to Kevin McCabe. Quite apart from the fact that football and smoking hardly go hand in hand – even in China – he strongly believes that “a football club should be owned by a football club!”

He also thought that the potential for developing retail space attached to the stadium was enormous. The elements were in place to make not just a successful football club but also a successful business. He therefore put in a bid to acquire the club.


As it happened, the tobacco company then sold its shares in the club to the Chengdu Football Association, fortuitously making an approach from a foreign football club that much easier.

The deal that was struck was that Sheffield United bought 90 per cent of the Chengdu club, leaving 10 per cent with the Chengdu Football Association. The stadium was not included in the purchase price, but the club has use of it whenever it wants, together with the training facilities. How much they paid is not public, but Kevin McCabe says the price was “minimal”.

From then on, there has been a two-track approach to developing the club. In purely footballing terms, the objective is to build a better football team, that will seek promotion and then challenge for the top spots. Li Bing, a former Chinese international forward, was named the head coach, supported by two assistant coaches brought in from Sheffield. Having a top coaching regime is vital, Kevin McCabe believes: “Chinese footballers, from what I have seen, are technically very good but they lack the tactics and nous.”

On top of that, money will be made available to buy new players. The new club is aiming to spend about Yn20m to build a brand-new team in the 2006 season, which runs from March to October.

In management terms, Terry Robinson, Sheffield United’s vice-chairman, is in charge, with Tony Xu chairman of the Chengdu Five Bulls (which remains the name of the team) and Chengdu Blades FC (which is the new name of the club). The drive is on to increase revenues from sources other than paying customers. The club is aiming to obtain sponsorship approaching £1m a year, and to start to develop merchandising.

The club is now working at opening themed retail stores and “Blades bars” in Chengdu in order to Westernise the operations of the football club.

And, of course, the key objective is to get more people in to watch the club. Chengdu itself has a population of 11m in a province of more than 100m. “Although I do not expect them all of these people to become fans, this does present us with a huge potential fan base with which we can develop both the Chengdu Five Bull and Sheffield United brands.”

Within two or three years, Kevin McCabe fully expects to have recouped the initial investment, after which the Chengdu venture should generate good returns. As he shuffles through some new designs for logos on his desk, he is enthusiastic about the business prospects.

And that was before Sheffield United had won promotion to the Premiership. Now that the Blades have gone up, the team will be watched by an audience of tens of millions in China since Premiership matches are broadcast there. T-shirt sales are likely to soar.

Meanwhile, back in Sheffield, there is a language school attached to the Sheffield Academy, which means that young Chinese players coming to Sheffield can learn English and further their education, while being given football coaching.


so initial contact was in 2000 3 years before he set up scarborough holdings ,think he saw the gap in the market and fair play to him shame we wont reap any benifits

 

[lenners]

How much McCabe has made out of all those doors opening in China, Hungary, Australia, India, South America etc would be very interesting to know.

 

[alcoblade]

How much McCabe has made out of all those doors opening in China, Hungary, Australia, India, South America etc would be very interesting to know.

According to the Sunday times rich list, about minus £65Million.

UTB

 

[lenners]

According to the Sunday times rich list, about minus £65Million.

UTB

Really? Did it break down his money on an international basis?

 

[Bladeloyal]

How much McCabe has made out of all those doors opening in China, Hungary, Australia, India, South America etc would be very interesting to know.

i wouldnt mind how much he made ,if he wasnt now pulling the shutters down at the lane .

 

[alcoblade]

Really? Did it break down his money on an international basis?

Suggests he hasn't exactly raked it in though, doesn't it. But that wasn't quite what you were after. And it was right under your nose, so go dig somewhere else....

UTB

 

[Bladeloyal]

Suggests he hasn't exactly raked it in though, doesn't it. But that wasn't quite what you were after. And it was right under your nose, so go dig somewhere else....

UTB

id take the rich list with a pinch of salt .

 

[alcoblade]

id take the rich list with a pinch of salt .

So would I. As I would the notion that he's raked it in in Hungary, China an Australia over the last few years.

UTB

 

[Worksop II]

According to the Sunday times rich list, about minus £65Million.

UTB

Excellent Job

 

[alcoblade]

Excellent Job

No charge...

UTB

 

[Bladeloyal]

So would I. As I would the notion that he's raked it in in Hungary, China an Australia over the last few years.

UTB

dont know about hungary and hes took a hit in aus after creaming them for 150m (valad) but his investments in china look a winner

 

[alcoblade]

dont know about hungary and hes took a hit in aus after creaming them for 150m (valad) but his investments in china look a winner

His role with Valad had nothing to do with his football involvement though.

UTB

 

[Bladeloyal]

His role with Valad had nothing to do with his football involvement though.

UTB

nope never said it was . i started off stating the doors that opened for him by us getting a hold of chendu and the benifits he will reap long term for him and his family where as we sufc will see cack all.

---------- Post added at 09:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 PM ----------

oh and by the way i think hes done alot for us ,he knows nob all about footy though and really that goe s for all the board.

 

[beightonblade]

McCabe shud do the Blade thing .................write off the debt................put the freehold in a life rent trust .............................and fook off !

 

[alcoblade]

nope never said it was . i started off stating the doors that opened for him by us getting a hold of chendu and the benifits he will reap long term for him and his family where as we sufc will see cack all.

---------- Post added at 09:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:44 PM ----------

oh and by the way i think hes done alot for us ,he knows nob all about footy though and really that goe s for all the board.

I'm not defending him. And I don't think he's done much good for us - or rather the bad far outweighs it. I'm very doubtful though that any gain he makes in China couldn't have been made without the football angle. I'd be surprised if McCabe wasn't severely regretting getting involved at all.

UTB

 

[judge]

I'm not defending him. And I don't think he's done much good for us - or rather the bad far outweighs it. I'm very doubtful though that any gain he makes in China couldn't have been made without the football angle. I'd be surprised if McCabe wasn't severely regretting getting involved at all.

UTB

thats what i was trying to say

 

[lenners]

Suggests he hasn't exactly raked it in though, doesn't it. But that wasn't quite what you were after. And it was right under your nose, so go dig somewhere else....

UTB

So you don't know whether he's lost a shedload in the UK but made it up internationally?
Either way, the notion of some ultra-generous benefactor who's put millions into the club (copyright Radio Sheffield) is and always was going to be bobbins.
There were always £s to be made in other ways.
And there's nowt wrong with that - as long as people are straight about it.

 

[alcoblade]

So you don't know whether he's lost a shedload in the UK but made it up internationally?
t.

Nobody knows, do they? There's no reason to suspect he's lost more than £65M in the UK though. A betting man would suggest he hasn't been raking it in any where.

Either way, he's fucked us up. We can agree on that. You think to his benefit. I severely doubt it. The result is the same.

UTB

 

[super_pig]

i'm not too bothered about how much he has got and how much he has spent.. the trick is to get a good return on the money that you 'do' spend.. seeing as we're rumoured to be one of the top spenders in this division, ending up second from bottom would suggest gross mismanagement at some level. you should be at least ending up where your budget suggests that you should end up or you have failed.. it is amazing to thing that scunthorpe ended up level with us.. given that they only have about 700 fans

 

[Tuns]

Nobody knows, do they? There's no reason to suspect he's lost more than £65M in the UK though. A betting man would suggest he hasn't been raking it in any where.

Either way, he's fucked us up. We can agree on that. You think to his benefit. I severely doubt it. The result is the same.

UTB

Let's not forget property tends to be medium to long term investment. Sure he may be £65m down now but as property prices recover his assets could rocket in value both here and abroad even if he doesn't make any new investments.

And he may well have bought some assets at rock bottom prices at the bottom of the market - like hotels maybe - which will be worth much more in a few years.

 

[super_pig]

>like hotels maybe
surely not?