By Mark Baber
May 21 – City Football Group (CFG), owners of Manchester City, Melbourne Heart and New York City Football Club have taken a minority stake (believed to be 20%) and formed a partnership with the Nissan-owned Yokohama F Marinos, one of Japan’s leading sides.
The deal represents the first significant foreign investment in a J-League soccer club and will see YF Marinos benefit from CFG’s experience in Manchester City.
Carlos Ghosn, Nissan President and CEO, speaking about the club which was originally formed in 1972 as Nissan Motors FC, commented: “The YF Marinos is an excellent soccer club with a rich history which has grown hand in hand with Nissan. Together we see opportunities that CFG’s global soccer infrastructure will bring to the club and the excitement it will bring to the fans. This partnership will contribute to the growth of the club, the growth of our shared hometown, Yokohama, as well as Yokosuka and Japanese soccer.”
Ferran Soriano, CEO, City Football Group commented, “We’re thrilled to be able to play a role in investing and building on the on-going success of YF Marinos, We are proud to offer a collaborative and integrated approach to the football, marketing, media and commercial development of all the clubs in the City family.”
In its statement CFG said YF Marinos would benefit from “unrivalled access to CFG’s training methods, medical care, sport science, team management and coaching know-how, providing a motivational draw for young Japanese players and placing the club in pole position to support the national team efforts of creating a world-class team for the future.”
Akira Kaetsu, YF Marinos President said: “This collaboration presents a fantastic opportunity to boost the support and growth of our club, not only in the community through youth sport investment and increased attendance, but also internationally by attracting more sponsors and supporting the national team efforts.
“Over the last four years we have undergone significant reform within the club with the clear goal of becoming a leading club in Japan and we have achieved our target successfully. Now, alongside CFG we look forward to building on that foundation to take YF Marinos into the wider Asian and World arenas.”
Football is popular in Japan, but many fans have prefered to support the top European clubs alongside the national teams. Despite the country being described by Arsene Wenger as an excellent place to find young talent, most of that talent has preferred to play overseas, with few players in the national team based in Japan. In recent years, the J-League has suffered a relative decline due to the country’s economic woes and with the rise of leagues in Australia, China the US and Russia has been unable to attract big name players at the end of their careers.
Unlike Manchester City, The Marinos have been in the top flight since 1982 but have not won the league since 2004. The team beat Manchester United 3-2 on 23 July 2013, but whether the new deal will lead to more supporters in the stadium and increases in sponsorship revenue, in what is the most populous municipality in Japan, remains to be seen.
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