The people of West Bromwich have their say on the sale of West Bromwich Albion.

Express & Star

Transcript

00:00 Tell me how you felt when you found out the club had been sold?

00:03 I was surprised.

00:06 What was the sort of level of surprise? You didn't expect it to come?

00:09 No, not this quick.

00:11 But now it's actually been done. Do you know much about the new owners first of all?

00:16 None at all, no.

00:17 Have you had the chance to read about them, find out about them?

00:19 No.

00:20 From what I've read, they've got about £60 million or billion pounds.

00:24 I don't know what it is, but they've got quite a lot of money behind them.

00:27 I heard that as well.

00:28 So having heard that and heard about them, do you think, well first of all, it's a step up right now, isn't it?

00:33 The money's there to buy the players.

00:36 That's what they need, isn't it? That's what they need, I think. Push.

00:39 The club's been in not exactly a bad state, but it could do with a lift, couldn't it?

00:44 Yeah, like the Wolves have, do a lift. Yeah, it could do, yeah.

00:48 And if it works out and West Brom go back up to the Premier League, what could it do for the club and the town?

00:54 Massive boost, I think it would be. It'd be a boost, wouldn't it? It would.

00:58 He'd put the club back on the map, wouldn't he? That would. Absolutely.

01:02 And the town, wouldn't he? He would.

01:05 So tell me what you felt when you first heard that the club had been sold.

01:09 Well, it's been going on for a while now, hasn't it? So they've finally got through.

01:14 But to me, all the youngsters do, or anybody foreigners do, they just buy for an offshoot for a tax reason.

01:22 Other than that, they are really interested. Look at the Glazers. Are they interested in Man United? No.

01:30 I suppose that's the thought. It could be that the club's not necessarily going to benefit.

01:34 But the thing is, if they do invest in it, they do want to improve the club.

01:37 What do you think the benefits could be to West Brom and the town?

01:41 Well, I'm a Wolves supporter, but good luck to the Albion.

01:45 Fair enough. But it's always good to see, I suppose, it's good to see your local rivals getting better and improving, isn't it?

01:50 Oh, well, great. Let's hope they make a job of it.

01:57 Usually, as they say, we haven't got enough money to buy football clubs now, have we?

02:06 Unless you're a Jack Eyewood or the... Them days are gone. They're all youngsters and foreigners now.

02:12 Not very good news, really. I think it should stay where we're at now.

02:17 Every club that they sell, they seem to go into the money... Foreign companies.

02:22 Foreign companies, like the foreigners. We're losing our land.

02:25 The Americans are buying us, the Japanese are buying us, the Chinese people.

02:28 And then they do a bunk and where's all the money going? Exactly.

02:31 Do you find that the club being sold right now, it could be a benefit for the club if it turns out to be a good investment for them?

02:38 I don't know when it will be. I don't know.

02:42 From what I've heard, it's an Indian company. They've obviously paid about 80 million for it.

02:51 So they've obviously put a lot of investment into the club.

02:54 Assuming that it's all good, do you think that it could benefit West Brom, not just the club, but also the town going forward?

03:00 Possibly, because they're quite rich, aren't they? Rich people, aren't they?

03:04 So it could be, yeah. Like Birmingham City, we've got Americans that own us now and they're doing us really good.

03:09 They've done a lot for the club and hopefully we're going to go further.

03:13 So tell me your thoughts when you found out the club had been bought.

03:15 I think it was great. One of the best things that could have happened to the hobby, because that person, the Chinese man, didn't want to know at all.

03:22 And he was useless.

03:24 This is it, I mean, assuming that everything goes well, the sale's going to take over, what do you think the immediate benefits are going to be for the club?

03:32 Well, I think it might put some money into it, which we need desperately.

03:37 And that could be only good for them.

03:40 It's obviously looking at the investment within the playing squad, but also within the structure of the club as well.

03:44 Yeah, that's true. Playing club, we need new players and everything.

03:48 And with this gentleman, we could get them.

03:51 And do you think it could be a benefit to the town as well?

03:53 Yes, definitely.

03:55 In what ways do you think it could be?

03:57 Well, bring more people in and more supporters and everything.

04:01 I've referenced to a few people about Rob McElhaney and Ryan Reynolds at Wrexham.

04:07 Do you think they could have the same effect as well?

04:08 Yeah, yeah, definitely the same effect.

Category

Transcript

Recommended