BusinessThursday February 13 2014 Insight On the front line Reserve Forces move into winning position Only a game? University courses kick off the serious business of football 2 Thursday February 13 2014 | the times Business Insight Welcome Marching in a new Players enter direction There is a military stage right for theme to this edition of Business Insight. Firstly, we consider how the military is interacting with businesses as it strives to new ball game grow the UK’s Reserve Force and we speak with tion of Hearts group are hoping for the Our traditional notions of football have been same outcome at Tynecastle. Colonel AK Miller, one For League One side Rangers, howev- of the men tasked with dramatically changed. Today this multi-billion er, financial mismanagement led to liqui- pound industry is as much about theatre as dation, and the SFA ultimately transfer- constructing bridges ring membership to new company Sevco sporting achievement. UCFB chief executive Scotland, now renamed The Rangers between the military and Football Club Ltd. Not that this business Philip Wilson explains all to Ginny Clark metamorphosis has any real significance employers. for the club’s core customers, the fans, for As greater numbers of whom Rangers is and always has been, Rangers. former service personnel ootball may well be a decisions. Often, the wrong decisions.” Wilson, a lifelong Liverpool fan, says funny old game, but as Football is not an easy industry to pi- all of these stories of football struggle are heading to, or are back a global multi-billion geon hole. The Deloitte Football Money and success simply demonstrate how pound industry, it’s League last month showed the big two the game is an economic, social and on civvy street, we look clearly a booming busi- clubs in Europe remain Real Madrid and sporting phenomenon. However, with a at the MOD’s successful ness. Like any indus- Barcelona, with last season’s revenues of love for this game exceeded only by his try, however, there are £518.9 million and £482.6 million respec- desire to see it survive and evolve, Wilson Career Transition Part- major players and small tively leaving the UK’s top two Manches- says to succeed in this business, one that Philip Wilson is chief terriers, and all of these ter United and Manchester City chasing supports more than 100,000 jobs in the executive of the UFCB nership (CTP) which clubs are immersed in in fourth place on £423.8 million and sixth UK, it’s essential to understand football has been established to a balancing act of attempting to match on £316.2 million. It’s broadcast money involves an element of paradox. Ftheir level of ambition with the reality of that makes the difference here, with Scot- “There is a history of some people get- match service leavers with their business potential. tish champions Celtic just hitting the top ting involved in football clubs without This evolving and dynamic business 40 on £75.8 million. Yet there are other due diligence,” he says. “The fact is, to employers. sector increasingly relies on a new breed ways of defining what makes a ‘big’ club, own a football club these days you need of administrative and management oper- with Celtic attracting average crowds to be a billionaire not a millionaire. If We also take a tour ators, with even the most local of sport- of around 47,000 and Rangers roughly they were acquiring any other kind of ing organisations unable to sustain their 46,000, similar levels to many of those in business they would send in a team to around the UFCB in existence by occasional injections of cash; the top 20. Yet for some clubs, the battle is carry out due diligence on their potential Burnley and Wembley, a hard-headed decisions, rather than those not about reaching the peak of the money investment, yet when it comes to buying fuelled by the emotion of allegiance and league, it can be about survival. a club it’s essentially an emotional deci- unique university which tribalism, are essential. In Scotland, clubs such as League sion. People often don’t realise what they Professor Philip Wilson, chief execu- One Dunfermline and Premiership side are getting into. It’s a huge commitment. offers degrees in the tive of UCFB, a trustee of Burnley FC Hearts faced a slide into administration, If you put £10 million into a club at the Community Trust and a visiting profes- played out against a backdrop of ration- end of a season, you’ll need another £10 business of football . sor in management at Bucks New Uni- alisation as football comes to terms with million at the start of the next one — or versity, has a solid piece of advice, not the need to drive down wages, and live you risk losing that first £10 million.” COVER & ALL SERVICES PICTURES: CROWN COPYRIGHT just for his own sports industry students, ‘within its means’. Wilson, the proud owner of a season but for anyone thinking of investing their Dunfermline were lifted out of admin- ticket at Anfield since 1985, is a founder time or money in football. istration in a rescue by their own fans, of UCFB at Turf Moor, having himself Inside ... “Never work for the club you sup- with supporters group Pars United now graduated with an MBA in Football In- port, you will end up making emotional the majority shareholders. The Founda- dustries from the University of Liver- Winning game A look at tactics inside the University College of Football Business Page 4 The big business of football is more important than the sum of its many parts Special Report o many people in Scotland effect locally of Inverness Caledonian We examine the new reservists This is a sport that football is a way of life. It can Thistle in reaching the Scottish League and the advantages to both the speaks to the heart consume the passion of sup- Cup Final is a perfect example. Services and business Page 5 porters of all clubs, from grass As Minister for Commonwealth of communities roots to the professional level, Games and Sport I am aware Scottish The Times Business Forum Tacross the country. And for the many football has its problems. Like any other Experts gather to discuss the and needs our players, managers, coaches, administra- business, expenditure and investment impact of the Future Reserces support, writes tion and match-day staff, who rely on is driven by economic conditions, so (2020) Review Page 7 the clubs being run responsibly, it really it is no surprise some clubs struggle Shona Robison is their way of life. to balance the books. It is, however, a The new front line The Scottish government recognises terrific testament to those who run clubs A key programme is helping the important role football, and indeed successfully they manage to do just that. service leavers find jobs in other sports, clubs plays in our everyday In a country this size clubs are often the the civilian market Page 8 lives; how the mood and, indeed, the hub of the community and that is why aspirations of a community can be the Scottish government has provided Shona Robison MSP buoyed by results on the pitch. The our senior clubs with half a million the times | Thursday February 13 2014 3 Business Insight Answers in scrums and sums What does a Warrior have in common huge impact. Through our research, with a wind farm? The answer, accord- we have demonstrated the data can ing to management scientists from the be used to accurately predict how they University of Strathclyde, is the potential would perform in different physical for improved performance. tests, providing coaches with valuable Researchers Matthew Revie and Kevin information on the physical potential of Wilson worked with Glasgow Warriors to players.” analyse the huge range of data collated This is just one of a number of pro- on each player to tailor their individual jects carried out at the university that training regimes. aim to support industry in using data “Technology now allows us to gather better. Dr Wilson adds: “The method- so much data we can begin to develop ologies have also been applied to a wide insight about future performance based range of other fields, such as predicting on historical observations,” says Dr failures in offshore wind farms or water Revie. “For a sporting organisation such treatment sites, better understanding as Glasgow Warriors, that can range of marketing impact using social media, from in-game data, to GPS training data and managing supply chains better to and even data on sleeping habits of the minimise disruption to services. players. However, to date, this data has “The tools we use are inherently largely been underutilised. cross-disciplinary and have huge poten- “We can use that information to tial going forward — for rugby players increase performance in a field where and the public.” the smallest of differences can have Ginny Clark be a game of cat and mouse. Yet there football as a sports and entertainment are positives from this relationship. Fans business. He says: “Before any game gets are unique customers, we know they are under way it requires the co-ordination tribal, and there is an elasticity to their from several market sectors such as fi- demand, for a fan is always an optimist. nance, law, media, marketing, human re- If their side loses 3-0 on a Saturday, they sources, supply chain management and always think: ‘We’ll win next weekend.’. logistics. Fans are hugely important, yet These customers will always come back you can’t have the tail wagging the dog.