👋 Bye bye Benham

Plus: Harry Kane's statue isn't going up anytime soon

Author

Route One
February 22, 2024

GM Football Fans. We’re Route One, football news without motives, edited to be as unbiased as humanly possible.

On this day in 1991 ’King Kenny’ abdicated at Anfield. Kenny Dalglish resigning at Liverpool was the shock news of the day. He first joined Liverpool in 1977 and became player-manager in 1985.

In today’s email:

  • Brentford for sale: is the smart money leaving football? 

  • Harry Kane’s statue isn’t going up anytime soon

  • Ratcliffe wants to dethrone the title favourites… in three years

YOU SHARE. WE LISTEN.

Before we get in today’s briefing, we want to hear from you…

We have one question… what would make R1 the best football newsletter for you to read each morning?

We want to make sure you have the best experience possible.

THE BIG IDEA

Brentford for sale: is the smart money leaving football? 

Want to see a really big number? 

Here you go: ÂŁ400,000,000. That’s the value Matthew Benham - Brentford F.C. owner - wants to sell his club for. 

That number looks even bigger when you realise Benham’s initial investment was ÂŁ700k.  

The ÂŁ400mil valuation is possible because Brentford’s 2023 accounts report they have made more profit in two seasons in the Premier League than Manchester United have in 31. As well as being profitable Brentford has established itself as a staple Premier League side.  

Benham is now looking to sell a stake in the club but maintain a minority position for the long term.  

Who’s Matthew Benham? 

Benham owns Brentford F.C. – the clubs he has supported since he was a child - and made his wealth in finance and sports betting.  

Whilst in finance, he wasn’t an investment banker, Benham was a hedge fund manager and a derivatives trader. In layman’s terms, this means he analysed stocks and shares, assessed risk and looked for mispriced assets to make bets on.  

As a result of his trading and sports betting background, he sees everything as a choice based on a set of probabilities. Back in 2015, when Benham was asked if Brentford would get promoted, he replied, “We have a 42.3% chance.” 

So, it’s no surprise Brentford were one of the first adaptors of data analysis and has used it to have a meteoric rise since Benham’s involvement.   

Why is Benham selling? 

There are a few reasons people cash in on a club they’ve helped build: 

  • To make money. He doesn’t need the money. He had a successful betting company before investing in Brentford.  

  • To distance themselves from a club. Again, not applicable as Benham wants to maintain a minority stake in Brentford.  

  • You believe the asset is overpriced. Bingo, we’ve found our winner.  

  • The competitive edge which made you successful is going away: Bingo, we’ve found another winner.  

It would make sense for Benham – a former trader and sports bettor – to only sell when he thinks an asset has a high chance of going down in the future. 

Firstly, a club spokesperson said Brentford is exploring “investment” opportunities to remain competitive.   

Since new owners (with much more money than Benham) have entered the Premier League and inflated player prices. And clubs across the world now focus on data analytics, Brentford’s competitive advantage may be about to erode.  

Secondly, former Golden State Warriors minority owner Chamath Palihapitiya says sports valuations will peak in 2024. Chamath paid $25 million for a 10% stake in the Warriors in 2011. But he sold his stake in the team in 2023 and most likely profited more than $250 million.  

Benham is the smart money. And he’s leaving the room... so owners and investors beware. You’ve been warned. 

Enjoying Route One? Don’t keep us a secret, Router

Share us via WhatsApp or via our referral programme

ROUND-UP

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to knock Manchester City and Liverpool “off their perch” within three years. Fighting talk. We like it.

Manager Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season after a rough patch for the German giants. Will Tuchel explore the Premier League for the second time?

West Ham are eyeing up a move for Bournemouth’s star striker Dominic Solanke this summer.

Son Heung-min gets an apology from his international team-mate Lee Kang-in for breaking Son’s finger in a row about table tennis. We’ve all been there…

Barcelona’s crisis situation looks set to go from bad to worse after the club were told by La Liga that they will need to slash their salary bill by £57m.

The German football league, which runs the Bundesliga, has abandoned plans to sell a stake in its media rights income to an outside investor after months of increasingly disruptive protests by fans.

NEGLECTED STATUE

Step aside Harry Kane and David Beckham… there’s another king in Chingford

You’d think that if anyone deserved a statue in Chingford, it’d be two of the most famous English footballers of all time: David Beckham and Harry Kane.

But it turns out that both players don’t have statues placed in their birthplace. Instead, lesser-known - but still a legend of the game - Laurie Cunningham is the only player to boast a statue in Chingford.

So apparently…

…Kane’s statue has been in the making since 2019. It costs around £7,200 which is less than a life-size German Shepard statue - which would set you back £9,000. Surely England and Spur’s record scorer deserves something a bit grander?

The statue was supposed to be placed outside Chingford’s Weaver Line Overground railway station. 

But the council worries that the statue could be targetted by rival fans. So, instead, the statue remains somewhere in the vaults of Waltham Forest Council.

That means that… 

…two of Chingford’s best products are yet to feature in the Essex borough. 

Beckham won’t care as much. He has a statue outside of the LA Galaxy stadium in what the club called ‘Legends Plaza’ – probably more desirable than Leytonstone’s tube station. 

As it stands, Laurie Cunningham is the only footballer perched in the borough. And, deservedly so. Cunningham was England’s first black international, the first Englishman to play for Real Madrid, and was named one of West Brom’s 16 greatest players.

So, for the time being, Cunningham takes pole position in Chingford.

😬 Too far, Pep? This clip of Pep has been doing the rounds on social media as he tells a journalist, “I’m a manager, my life is better than yours.” But journalist Sam Lee wrote to his followers in defence of Pep to say that “it was two awkward, unfunny people doing public banter and it doesn’t really matter.”

EXTRA TIME

Rio Ferdinand lists all the players he deems world-class right now… Martin Keown questions Bellingham’s inclusion.

People are still going mad for Darwin Nunez’s chip against Brentford. The Premier League has posted another, more dramatic, angle. You know… just in case.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe delivered a candid interview with the BBC yesterday. He sent a message to Manchester United fans and the signs are all pointing up.

If you’re ever bored at work, we’ve got something to keep you entertained… well, maybe. The Everton Stadium now has its own X (Twitter) account that’s sharing its progress.

Millwall reappoint club legend Neil Harris as their new head coach. Harris is Millwall’s all-time leading goalscorer and has signed a contract until June 2025.

MEME