V Sports

[PeterWithesShin]

[Risso]

Good news for us and, I assume, financially for Vitória.

I feel bad for their supporters though. A historic, proper club now diminished. I resent the on-going colonization of football.

* I feel like it should be "An historic..." but that can't be right, can it?

I can't really see how they're diminished to be honest. They've accepted a minority investment for what I assume is an amount of cash that is enough to make a difference to them. There's no suggestion they will be a feeder team of any sort. I reckon it'll be years before you see any sort of benefit from players moving between them and Villa.

[JUAN PABLO]

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Lets hope  we get  them a better  goalkeeper

[chrisw1]

It's a neglibable amount of money.  I can't really see it having any impact on us any time soon. 

[Billy Walker]

I did a bit of Googling about the valuations of Portuguese clubs as it seemed to me 5 million euros for just under half the shares was a bit cheap. On Statista.com it says Vitória SC is currently the sixth most valuable club in Portugal (estimated valuation 46 million dollars) which suggests V Sports have picked up a bargain. I can only imagine Vitória are heavily in debt or have significant cash-flow problems?  If not mentioned here already, it's also interesting to note that PSG's Qataris have recently bought a minority share in Braga (currently Portugal's fourth most valuable club).   

 

[eamonn]

And how much are Braga valued at?

[nigel]

My new favourite Portuguese club.

Yes, nice kits, too

[Brazilian Villain]

My new favourite Portuguese club.

Yes, nice kits, too

Their home kit seems to be mostly plain white with a Santos vibe. However this away effort is a lesson in how to make a dog's dinner of a Vasco shirt. https://www.oldfootballshirts.com/pt/teams/v/vitoria-guimaraes/old-vitoria-guimaraes-football-shirt-s77241.html

[DeKuip]

I was there 4 years ago for the Nations League finals. The town square is only just round the corner so far better for a pre match drink than Villa Park, good train service to Porto, Braga not far away in the other direction. Get the pre-season fixture sorted now please.

[darren woolley]

It will be a good opportunity for us to look at any good players coming through their youth system.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Strange. I'm really struggling to see why they'd want to invest even a small amount into a club like Guimarães other than it's such a tiny amount it would be rude not to. In the press here V Sports have been described as 'economic partners' with the promise of '2 million for infrastructure, a 20 million credit line with below market interest rates'. More concerning is what would happen if we both qualify for the same European competition?

Guimarães is probably my favourite place here, it's a beautiful, historical town full of charm, real chocolate box especially at Christmas when they elegantly decorate the centre. It was the first capital of Portugal and no surprise the stadium is named after Portugal's first king. Will I start supporting them? Will I bollox. I suffer enough with my two local teams here and back home.

[Risso]

More concerning is what would happen if we both qualify for the same European competition?

Nothing. It only becomes a problem if you have a controlling stake, ie 50% or more, which we don't in the Portuguese club.

[chrisw1]

I'm not even sure they're going to start sending us their best young players are they?  Surely that would be counter productive to what they want to achieve.

[Pete3206]

Be interesting when we play them in Europe

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Cheers, Risso. It appears V Sports are more than economic partners..

"An important step towards the global expansion of V Sports. V Sports aims to create synergies between the clubs in its group that will encourage the sharing of worldwide scouting networks, academy training methodologies, best practices and youth academy development strategies in across Europe and Africa."

I'd imagine now South America is also an important scouting ground for us so makes a lot of sense.