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Topic Originator: neils
Date: Sat 31 May 12:47
Browsing through the NY Times, and there`s an article about why US owners are buying into Scottish football, below is our very own!
When attempting to bring modern methods to football and upend its established order, who better to count among your former bosses than Brighton & Hove Albion’s owner Tony Bloom and his Brentford counterpart Matthew Benham?
James Bord is a former poker player who built a career in AI and data analytics. Born near London but now dividing his time between the UK and the States, he is leveraging that expertise, alongside his American business partner Evan Sofer, with Dunfermline Athletic in Scotland’s second-tier Championship.
Bord worked with Bloom — who is trying to buy a stake in Hearts — at data analytics company Starlizard after completing a degree in banking and international finance. He then spent a couple of years under Benham at sports betting firm Smartodds.
“They’re both very inspirational guys in their own way, but I was too young and stupid to learn much from them at the time,” Bord says with a wry smile. “I’d love my Dunfermline to play against Tony’s Hearts one day.”
Bord discovered he was a talented poker player at a local club. He went broke on his first trip to Las Vegas in 2002 but returned six years later. “I walked into the biggest game in Vegas and just got really lucky,” he says. “I had $2,000 when I got off the plane, and at the end of the month, I had $750,000. I bought a house and told my boss I was quitting.”
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Topic Originator: neils
Date: Sat 31 May 12:49
Poker is not his career, though. He joined a machine-learning company in the very early days of that technology before setting up his own firm, Short Circuit Science, in 2016. It now employs around 350 people, with around 75 per cent of its business being in sports analytics.
The experience of working with elite football clubs exposed Bord to inefficiencies, and the absence of sophisticated algorithms that his company designs.
Through an existing relationship with investment fund Infinity Capital, he was able to buy a 37 per cent stake in Spanish second-division club Cordoba last year. Soon after, he added 25 per cent of Bulgarian top-flight side Septemvri Sofia. Both deals are structured for him to assume majority control over the coming years, but Dunfermline already represent that following January’s takeover.
Bord says of the club based just across the famous Forth Bridge from Edinburgh: “I bought Dunfermline because I love the underdog. The ambition is to bring back some of their history, but also to change the atmosphere at the club. Optimism. They are a very passionate fanbase that has suffered enough pain, and we’d like to bring them some joy.”
He and Sofer had considered clubs in Croatia and Belgium, leagues with a strong track record in youth development, before buying Dunfermline. “We were looking for an outlet to develop young players,” he says. “We have three clubs and we don’t want to bite off more than we can chew. A step-by-step approach is much healthier, as creating stress hurts performance. We are focusing on Dunfermline.”
The golden era for Dunfermline came in the 1960s, when they won the Scottish Cup twice and got to the semi-finals of Europe’s since-scrapped Cup Winners’ Cup, losing 2-1 on aggregate to a Slovan Bratislava side who then beat Barcelona in the final. They experienced a resurgence in the 2000s, making three more domestic finals and returning to Europe, but ended up entering administration in 2013 before their supporters saved them.
Bord vows that he will never take on a debt, but Dunfermline have already broken the mould for Scottish clubs outside the Premiership by paying transfer fees and signing players on multi-year contracts. He has installed three people to work behind the scenes, but the aim is for him and Sofer to leverage what they have built at their company to influence the club’s football department, particularly in terms of recruitment.
“I think the traditional sporting department, when we look back in 10 years’ time, will seem pretty historic,” Bord says. “You can fail, but myself and Evan feel that we can bring modern methods to the game, which aren’t adapted everywhere, and participate in a community team.”
Bord pulled off a coup in March by hiring five-time title-winning former Celtic and Hibs manager Neil Lennon, who was in turn able to lure ex-Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama back to Scotland to play for him agai
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Topic Originator: neils
Date: Sat 31 May 12:51
Qualifying for Europe every three to five years is the eventual goal, but for now Bord is just enjoying being able to watch his team compete.
“Sometimes, you have to kick yourself, as it is such a fun experience,” he says. “I might watch 50 games on a Saturday, so I will be watching four games at the same time. But all I will really be watching is Dunfermline.
“I’m not going to be an absentee owner. But I also back my staff, as intervention in the wrong place is bad. You need to give them the confidence that you believe in them, and I believe in these guys.”
And that`s just the Pars! Pretty decent article, certainly comprehensive.
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Topic Originator: Roger Daltrey
Date: Sat 31 May 12:59
More comprehensive than any Scottish journalist has bothered to write about us.
Hard not to be enthused by that. All very positive.
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Topic Originator: Bannockburn Par
Date: Sat 31 May 13:16
Excellent article, insightful
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Topic Originator: Angus_W
Date: Sat 31 May 13:57
‘They are a very passionate fanbase that has suffered enough pain”
…….He got that bit spot on!
“.........it ain’t over till the Pars score!”
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Topic Originator: Indiapar1
Date: Sat 31 May 14:12
I positive mental attitude goes along way. If you believe in what you do you can make it happen on the balance of probabilities. It`s a business that is about managing people and letting them become what they can be. Small steps for sure to build something sustainable. To achieve success and sustainability, I believe a club our size needs to be woven into the fabric of local society. That way it becomes more than the sum of its parts as an entity. A systemic approach, modern methods, old fashioned management, and a connection to the city will build a future for the club and those associated with it. A leap of faith by James Bord and Evan Sofer but one I`m sure will pay off.
G Wardrope
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Topic Originator: kozmasrightfoot
Date: Sat 31 May 14:16
I not keen on the Hearts reference, he`d maybe have less interest in us if he had a stake in Hearts.
Also, is it even legal to be involved with 2 clubs in the same country?
EDIT!!!!!!!
Ignore all that,I misread the article. DOH!
Post Edited (Sat 31 May 14:18)
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Topic Originator: Big T Par
Date: Sat 31 May 14:46
Wunderbar..... Oooops, I meant Awesome
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