Gino Pozzo, owner of the Watford football club in the English Premier League, plans to add to his holdings by purchasing the Spanish football club Sabadell. Sabadell, located in Catalonia, is a lower tier team that plays in the Spanish Primera Division RFEF. That division is in the third tier of Spain’s football structure.
Reports of the pending transaction appeared on the Spanish website sports.es. According to this source, discussions have been going on between Pozzo and Esteve Calzada, the president of Sabadell. There were also indications that an American investor or investment group would be part of the purchasing group led by Pozzo. The new ownership would have responsibility for sports management but would not assume full control of the club for all matters.
A Family History in Football
Gino Pozzo comes from a family with an established history of football club ownership. His parents were in a successful woodworking business, but they expanded into football by purchasing an Italian team in the mid-1980s. Young Pozzo chose not to go into the family business but rather to seek his fortune in football.
Ownership in the English Premier League
When Pozzo learned that the EPL team in Watford might be for sale, he decided to make his move. Watford was exactly the sort of opportunity he had in mind. It was an organization that was successful neither financially nor on the football pitch, and therefore it was a situation ripe for a new owner determined to reverse the side’s fortunes.
Pozzo moved his family to England so that he could take direct charge of the club. Watford is in a difficult situation, competing in the English Premier League with perennial winners such as Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United. However, Pozzo has been undaunted by the challenge of narrowing the gap between Watford and the powerhouses of the EPL.
A New Challenge on the Continent
The Sadabell football situation is also the sort of challenge Pozzo should be able to sink his teeth into. The club has been around since 1903 and has at times competed with the best footballers in Spain. Sadabell enjoyed several stints in La Liga, but the most recent was a short stretch from 1986 to 1988. The longest time spent in the top league was from 1965 to 1972. The team even once reached the brink of big-time success, competing in the Copa del Rey final in 1935, but losing 3-0 to Sevilla.
It will be a long way back to the top from where Sadabell now stands, in the middle of the pack in Prinera Division RFEF Group 2. However, the organization is not without assets. For example, the manager is Gabri, the Spanish international who had a long career playing for the Barcelona side, where he appeared in more than 130 matches. Most of the players on the Sabadell club are Spanish, although there are a few African players. The side plays home games at Nova Creu Alta, which seats just under 12,000 fans.
As an interesting sidelight, the Sadabell footballers wear blue and white kits, and this led to a relationship with the Bristol Rovers, who take to the pitch in similar uniforms. In 2005, some Bristol fans in Barcelona for a camp spotted some Sadabell fans in similar colors, and the groups began to talk. A relationship grew between the sets of aficionados, and in 2015 the Bristol and Sadabell clubs were twinned. They actually met on the pitch once, in a pre-season friendly in Spain in 2016. Sadabell won, 3-0.
When the acquisition of Sadabell is complete, Gino Pozzo will have extended his football influence to Continental Europe as well as Britain. His dream of building a career as a football owner continues to blossom.
Learn more about Gino Pozzo here: https://prabook.com/web/gino.pozzo/3753997
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