Fulham bought by the owner of NFL side Jacksonville Jaguars

Mohamed Al Fayed has ended his 16-year stint as Fulham owner by selling the club to Shahid Khan, owner of NFL side Jacksonville Jaguars.
Khan, 62, a billionaire car-parts entrepreneur, is the sixth American owner of a Premier League club. During his time in charge, Egyptian Al Fayed, 85, took Fulham from the third tier to the top flight and into Europe. "It has been a pleasure and privilege to be chairman of Fulham Football Club for 16 memorable years," he said.

Financial details of the takeover have yet to be officially disclosed, with media reports valuing the deal at between £150m and £200m. Khan, who moved to the United States aged 16, employs thousands of people through his car parts business. "Fulham is the perfect club at the perfect time for me. I want to be clear, I do not view myself so much as the owner of Fulham, but a custodian of the club on behalf of its fans," he said.

"My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of.

"We will manage the club's financial and operational affairs with prudence and care, with youth development and community programmes as fundamentally important elements of Fulham's future."

Al Fayed bought Fulham for a reported £6.25m in 1997 and provided the funds which helped the Cottagers' rise from the third tier of English football to the Premier League.

"The time is right because I have found a very good man in Shahid Khan to accept the responsibility and privilege that I have enjoyed at Fulham since 1997. "Fulham will be in very good hands with Shahid, whose success in business and passion for sport is very evident.
"I ask everyone who loves Fulham and our Craven Cottage home to welcome Shahid as he begins his journey as the next guardian of Fulham Football Club." In arguably the club's most successful ever period, he guided Fulham to their third promotion in five seasons in 2000-01, giving Fulham top-flight status for the first time since 1968.

The 2013-14 season will be their 13th successive Premier League campaign, making them one of the league's longest-serving teams.
Fulham also reached the final of the Europa League in May 2010, losing 2-1 to Atletico Madrid.

BBC
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A new owner after 16 years. Fulham have always been a mid table team who neither regress nor progress. It's interesting to see how they change their club's philosophy and stature with a considerably richer owner.

"My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of.

"We will manage the club's financial and operational affairs with prudence and care, with youth development and community programmes as fundamentally important elements of Fulham's future."

Well that sounds good.

Well thats good news. Thank God, Urby carried them in the 2nd half of the season, if not for him they would be relegated

If I were a billionaire ready to buy an english club imo Fulham would probably be one of the last teams that would come to mind. I just don't see them having much world wide appeal regardless of how much is invested. As of now they are probably the most bland club in the pl.

But all the best to them anyway. Hope the new owner creates a good culture for them and helps them form a new identity

Everton would have been a better choice IMO

Fulham were looking to sell though, Everton weren't

Greatest gift to English football:

RealGunner wrote:Fulham were looking to sell though, Everton weren't

Everton are ALWAYS looking to sell, to be honest.

The Pakistan-born businessman has bought the Premier League club for up to a reported €200 million to end Mohamed Al Fayed's 16-year reign at Craven Cottage
The owner of NFL team Jacksonville Jaguars, Shahid Khan, has completed the purchase of Fulham.

The Pakistan-born businessman has taken 100 per cent ownership of the west London club, which is now debt free, from Mohamed Al Fayed, while the deal has also been approved by the Premier League.

Khan, a billionaire car parts manufacturer, is the sixth American owner of a Premier League side having completed the purchase for what reports suggest is around €200 million.
"Fulham is the perfect club at the perfect time for me," Khan told the club's official website.
"I want to be clear, I do not view myself so much as the owner of Fulham, but a custodian of the club on behalf of its fans.
"My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of.
"We will manage the club’s financial and operational affairs with prudence and care, with youth development and community programs as fundamentally important elements of Fulham’s future."

Al Fayed has ended his 16-year reign at Craven Cottage, which begun in the third tier of English football when he bought the club for around £6.25m, but insists the club will be secure under Khan's ownership.

"My time of serving as the custodian of Fulham Football Club would one day come to an end, and I feel that time has now arrived," Al Fayed said.

"The time is right because I have found a very good man in Shahid Khan to accept the responsibility and privilege that I have enjoyed at Fulham since 1997.

Time to become the best team in London!

He doesn't sound like he's sugar daddying. He wants to give them stability. A few decent signings maybe, but don't expect a Chelsea-esque bankrolling scenario.

ok...

dat moustache

They already had a Multi billionarie in Mohamed Al-Fayed, he is was one of the few owners who was respected highly by the fans, took Fulham from Divison 2 to Premier League in just 4 years and their first Euro Final.

Even though he was a wackjob away from footy in alot of people's mind due to the Diana and his sons death conspiracies, he was probably one of the most respected out of all the EPL teams

"If I were a billionaire ready to buy an english club imo Fulham would probably be one of the last teams that would come to mind"

Bullsh*t. The location is arguably the most beautiful and most glamorous in England.

Twice the net worth of Al-Fayed as well as the richest person in the world of Pakistani origin.. hmm, interesting.

How did I never see this thread before?   

Hes been a great owner over the years and gave the Fulham fans some good times.

Weird team for somebody to buy though, stadium wise they are in a even worse situation than Liverpool and everton. Very little chance of ever expanding.

Suppose the London location must of been a big factor.

Lex wrote:Everton would have been a better choice IMO

plus being in liverpool would probably increase his access to cheap car parts...

Mohammed Al Fayed: "Michael Jackson statue will stay - it's part of the deal" “I will shave his tash off if he takes it down”

Good luck, I hope he is a better owner for Fulham than he has been for Jacksonville. Though, admittedly I just think he bought Jacksonville to purposely tank the team so that he could move them to LA and start from there.

This could end up being just like the Glazers and Tampa Bay, where they obviously care a lot more about United than the Bucs.

RealGunner wrote:Mohammed Al Fayed: "Michael Jackson statue will stay - it's part of the deal" “I will shave his tash off if he takes it down”

 

Seems to really want to keep moving the club forward, good luck to them both!

Do any of you guys think this could be that project most football lovers dreams of: buying young talents, developing academy products, gradually rising through the ranks.

He is not going to bank-roll like Chelsea, City, PSG, ASM. So either he does nothing or does the unthinkable.

Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the least profitable and worse financial NFL teams.


just a heads up

B-Mac MUFC wrote:Jacksonville Jaguars are one of the least profitable and worse financial NFL teams.


just a heads up

he has only been owner for a year

Just a heads up, he's trying to bury the Jaguars on purpose so that he can move them somewhere else to be profitable.

He's a huge Midwest guy, but his bid to buy the St. Louis Rams came up a bit short. So, he literally has no ties or interests in the Jacksonville area.

So, it could really go either way for Fulham.