West Bromwich Albion set to begin new era as takeover deal nears conclusion

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Image credit: West Bromwich Albion official website

Bilkul Football WBA, LLC is set to own a majority share in West Bromwich Albion Football Club this week, with the English Football League (EFL) approving the proposed deal.

The company will attain the 87.8% stake in the club left by Chinese businessman Lai Guochuan.

Heading the company is Florida-based businessman Shilen Patel, an investor whose business background transcends many sectors beyond sport, such as technology, health care, and finance.

Patel currently owns a minority stake in Italian Serie A club, Bologna FC, an investment he made in 2014. He will become Club Chairman of West Bromwich Albion once the takeover deal is complete.

His father, Dr Kiran C Patel, is well-versed in the medical profession and has spent many years building a strong business and philanthropic reputation; both in Florida and abroad.

The Patel family’s business and football experience promises to put Albion in good stead for the future.

“I am thrilled and grateful to have reached an agreement to become the custodian of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. The club’s exceptional history, support, and potential set it apart even here in the cradle of football,” Shilen Patel said via club press release.

“My goal is to help the club achieve a future worthy of its history as a pioneering top-flight club that marshals the pride and passion that have defined the Albion for generations.”

The takeover signals the end of a turbulent era for Albion, where the club’s future constantly hung in the balance.

Outgoing shareholder Guochuan purchased a majority share in the club in 2016, under the guise of Yunyi Guokai Sports Development Limited.

However, the businessman’s endeavours took a negative turn during the Covid-19 Pandemic, resulting in a failure to meet three loan repayment deadlines for the club.

Rumours of administration and financial insolvency then circulated around the club, during a period in which four English clubs had already entered administration.

It led to the formation of a fan-led activist group Action for Albion (AFA), who garnered support not just from its own supporters, but football supporters and organisations nationally and globally.

Protests became a regular occurrence at The Hawthorns, as fans pleaded for transparency from Guochuan regarding the club’s financial position and subsequent future.

Responding to the news of the takeover, a statement on the AFA website read:

“Today is about the fans of our great football club. We are delighted that Shilen Patel has identified West Bromwich Albion as a club worth investing in, a proud and passionate club, and a club with a bright future.”

“We are proud of our fans. They are the ones that raised the alarm, they are the ones that brought the story to the world, they are the ones that went about protesting in the right way – a peaceful and constructive way.

“We are of the firm belief that it is the visible dedication of our fans during this period that has shown our prospective new owners that West Bromwich Albion is the right club for them to invest in.”

As one of the world’s oldest football clubs, Albion’s future looks more promising under its proposed new owners.

The club is in the midst of a play-off battle with several clubs in the English Championship. It is likely this news will deliver an enormous boost to efforts on the field as well as off it.

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Football South Australia renews partnership with Datacord as Community Football Commitment Deepens

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Image Credit: Football SA

Football South Australia has announced the renewal of its partnership with Datacord, continuing a relationship that has grown steadily since the South Australian print and document solutions provider first entered the football community as naming rights sponsor of the Collegiate Soccer League Division 1.

That initial agreement, which saw Datacord align with one of Adelaide’s most historic amateur competitions, marked the beginning of what has since developed into a broader commitment to South Australian football at every level. The renewed partnership extends Datacord’s involvement beyond the CSL and into the wider Football SA ecosystem, with clubs across the state now able to access exclusive offers and preferred pricing on photocopying, managed print services and tailored business solutions.

The practical value of that access should not be understated. Community football clubs operate on tight margins, relying heavily on volunteer administrators managing everything from registration paperwork to grant applications. Cost-effective print and document solutions reduce the operational burden on those volunteers, a small but meaningful contribution to the sustainability of clubs that form the backbone of the game in South Australia.

“George is a great supporter of sport in South Australia and we are delighted to have Datacord as a supporter of football,” said Football SA CEO Michael Carter. “Service is second to none and we highly recommend their services to the business community within the Football Family.”

For Datacord Managing Director George Koutsoubis, the renewal reflects a genuine investment in the community rather than a transactional commercial arrangement. “It is important to support the local community, and Football South Australia is the perfect place to start spreading the word about Datacord and what we do for the South Australian community,” he said. “We are locally owned and operated, and I think it is a great partnership to be part of.”

Football NSW releases $600,000 towards Grassroots Grants to meet Participation Pressure

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The Victorian State Government has announced new grants and funding for 11 new community infrastructure projects for local football clubs, totalling $3.8 million.
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Sixty-five football clubs across New South Wales have secured a combined total of nearly $600,000 in funding through the NSW Office of Sport’s Local Sports Grant Program. It follows as a result of Football NSW’s scale of demand for community sport support and the growing pressure on clubs struggling to keep pace with surging participation.

The grants, covering 69 individual projects across the Football NSW footprint, will fund facility upgrades, equipment purchases, participation programs and accessibility improvements: the unglamorous but essential infrastructure that determines whether community clubs can function at the level their members require.

The Local Sports Grant Program made up to $4.65 million available statewide in 2025, with $50,000 allocated to each electoral district and individual grants capped at $20,000. Football’s share of nearly $600,000 reflects the sport’s status as the largest participation code in NSW, and the degree to which that status has not always been matched by corresponding investment in the facilities and resources required to sustain it.

Volunteers carrying an unsustainable load

The announcement arrives against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the volunteer workforce that keeps community football operational. Across NSW, thousands of volunteers dedicate significant unpaid time each week to administration, ground preparation, canteen operation and the logistical demands of running competitive junior and senior programs. As participation numbers climb, driven in part by the sustained visibility of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the legacy of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, those demands have intensified without a corresponding increase in the resources available to meet them.

“As the largest participation sport in NSW it is pleasing to see almost $600,000 will be reinvested back into supporting our players, coaches, referees and volunteers to improve the football experience across our community clubs,” said Helen Armson, Football NSW’s Group Head of Strategic Partnerships and Corporate Affairs.

The equity dimension

The distribution of the grants across 65 clubs and 69 projects also speaks to the geographic breadth of football’s footprint in NSW, and to the uneven distribution of resources that has historically characterised community sport in this country. Clubs in outer metropolitan and regional areas tend to operate with smaller budgets, older facilities and thinner volunteer bases than their inner-city counterparts. Grant programs structured around electoral allocation, rather than club size or existing resource base, provide a degree of equity that market-driven funding cannot.

The kinds of projects funded under this program disproportionately benefit clubs serving communities where the barriers to participation are highest. A club that cannot offer adequate facilities or equipment is a club that turns players away, often without intending to.

Football NSW has used the announcement to call on the NSW Government to maintain and extend its investment in the sport. “We urge the government to continue to invest in football,” Armson said, in the midst for a nation-wide push for a $343 million decade-long infrastructure fund to address the facilities gap across the state.

The nearly $600,000 secured through this round is meaningful. Against the scale of what is needed, it is also a measure of how far the investment still has to go.

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