Football League World
·2. Dezember 2024
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·2. Dezember 2024
Preston and Bristol City are still not closer to finding new buyers despite their owners being open to a sale.
Bristol City and Preston remain up for sale, but there’s no prospect of an immediate deal of either Championship club right now.
That’s according to The Athletic reporter Matt Slater, who revealed that there is ‘no sign of a changing of the guard’ at Deepdale or Ashton Gate, even though owners of both clubs have made it clear that they would be open to a sale.
The Robins are owned by billionaire businessman Steve Lansdown, who has been involved with the club since 1996, and he was named as chairman six years later.
Whilst the club have made progress over the past two decades, they have been unable to make the next step to the Premier League.
It was reported back in 2022 that Lansdown was willing to sell the club if the ‘right deal’ was presented to him.
However, the latest update indicates that there’s no serious interest out there at the moment, with Lansdown continuing to fund the club as they try to push on under the guidance of Liam Manning.
Preston are owned by the Hemmings family, with Trevor Hemmings having saved the club when they were in a desperate situation back in 2010.
His sad death in 2021 saw the club passed on to his family, but there has been talk in recent years that they could be open to a sale.
Earlier this year, there was a suggestion that an American consortium were keen on buying North End, but that didn’t come to fruition.
So, it’s known that the club is on the market, and Preston are ‘working with bankers’ to ‘explore options’ in regard to a sale or attracting further investment.
But, again, nothing has materialised, with the club currently battling towards the bottom of the Championship under Paul Heckingbottom after his appointment earlier this season.
Preston and Bristol City are similar in the sense that they’ve both established themselves at this level, but, in recent years anyway, they haven’t managed to kick-on and take that next step.
In the meantime, the financial power of clubs in the Championship has increased, and they have been left behind to some degree.
So, in an ideal world, both sets of supporters would welcome a change in ownership if it brought additional funding and more ambition.
Having said that, you also have to acknowledge those currently in charge have done a lot over the years, and they aren’t suffering in the way that others have, as there has been plenty of mismanagement in the Football League in that period.