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New York Times
2 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Why have U.S. owners become so commonplace in Scottish football?
Viewers of TV drama Succession will be familiar with the lengths Logan Roy's children would go to in their attempts to win his affection. In season two, his youngest son, Roman, has a think and decides to buy the football club from the Scottish city of Edinburgh he believes his father supports — Hearts. Advertisement Naturally, it turns out his dad is actually a fan of their bitter city rivals, Hibernian, leading to Logan giving this response to the gift: 'You know, maybe you're right. How would I know what team I supported my whole f***ing life? I mean, maybe I support Kilmarnock. Or F***lechester Rangers? I mean, how can I possibly f***ing know?'. While a piece of the English football cake has become the ultimate soft-power toy for the world's billionaires over the past two decades, Scottish clubs are still being bought up in the real world — and by mere millionaires; ones who do a lot more research than Roman Roy did. This month, Livingston were purchased by Calvin Ford, the great-great-grandson of car-industry pioneer Henry Ford. They were promoted back to Scotland's top division on Monday, after a 5-3 comeback win in a play-off against Ross County. Now a U.S.-based group led by healthcare businessman Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises — the investment arm of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, which already owns Leeds United of the Premier League — is expected to complete a takeover of Rangers, one half of Glasgow's famed Old Firm rivalry, which would see Leeds' chairman Paraag Marathe also become vice-chair of the 55-time Scottish champions. It means that next season, seven of Scotland's clubs will be American-owned, including five of the 12-team Premiership. 'Passion, on steroids,' is the explanation offered by Mark Ogren, who acquired Dundee United in 2018 following their relegation to the second division. Suddenly, this son of Minnesota, previously in charge of his father's oil distribution empire, which had lasted half a century, was responsible for reviving that famous club from the east coast of Scotland. Ogren tells The Athletic: 'At a fan forum after we bought the club, we're sitting among all these fans and they're just asking me tons of questions. Finally, a guy stood up and said, 'I'm sorry, Mr Ogren, if it sounds like we're asking you a lot of personal questions, but you need to know this. This isn't our local petrol station that goes out of business. If that happens, we'll find another one. It's not our local grocery store. If they go out of business, we'll find another one. It's not even our local pub. If that goes out of business, we'll find another one. This is our football club, this is our life'.' Advertisement The first Scottish club to be bought by Americans were Dundee, back in 2013, when Texan duo Tim Keyes and John Nelms invested £650,000 to assume majority control. Dundee's city neighbours, United, whose Tannadice stadium is just 200 yards away from their Dens Park, were next. The following year, Hibernian were bought by Washington, D.C.-based Ron Gordon and his family. The past 12 months have seen a further flurry of investment from across the Pond. Why Scotland, then? The Athletic spoke to the owners of Dundee United, Hibernian, Dunfermline and St Johnstone to try to find out. Dundee United owner Ogren used to find football a little boring and coached his kids to play it without knowing all the rules but, as he took in more and more games from leagues in Europe, his love for the sport grew. In September 2018, he decided to sell the family business and invest in football. He did not have the financial muscle to buy in the top two divisions of the English game, so started looking for mid-tier leagues in Europe which had rich histories and favourable routes into the continental UEFA competitions; a search which led him to Scotland. 'Celtic and Rangers are in a different financial class than all of us, quite frankly, but there's still three European spots in most years that are available,' says Ogren. 'The ramifications of getting into Europe can be really big.' United have indeed qualified to play in Europe next season, clinching fourth place in the Premiership and its UEFA Conference League spot. This marks significant progress from when Ogren arrived almost seven years ago. United were in need of direction but there was some trepidation over this American stranger's intentions. That is no longer the case. Ogren says, 'When we bought the club, it was in a really tough financial position. And to this day, I consistently get thanked by our fans. It's been quite a roller-coaster ride.' Advertisement There was nearly a promotion in his first six months but United lost the play-off final in 2019, having finished as runners-up in the second tier. The pandemic then forced him to fund major losses as matches were behind closed doors due to government restrictions on crowds, designed to limit the spread of Covid-19. They did go up in 2020, as champions of that coronavirus-curtailed season, and in their second year back in the top division, finished fourth to qualify for Europe. They were then relegated again 12 months later. 'As we ended up in fourth place (in 2021-22) and got Europe, we said, 'Hey, let's spend some more money'. On paper, we had one of the best teams that we've ever had, but for whatever reason, it just didn't work out,' Ogren says. 'It was a very difficult time and it forced us to hit reset because the revenue dropped off significantly, but we're one of the bigger clubs in Scotland. We didn't want to cut everything to the bone. When we got relegated, there was some anger, but I'd rather have that, because that's telling me that there's the passion is still there.' United duly came straight back up last season, and Ogren's decision to stick with manager Jim Goodwin has paid off as he has taken them to fourth again this time, while the club boast record season-ticket sales of 7,000 and average crowds of 11,000 at home matches. 'Our fans couldn't celebrate the first promotion, due to Covid,' Ogren says. 'And so when it happened again, although nobody wanted to have to go through that again, our fans were able to experience that. ' Ogren has put in over £13million ($17.5m), having recorded a loss of £2.4m in the club's most recent accounts. He did not expect to reach such a number, but says he has no regrets. Now a relatively experienced owner in Scottish football, he believes the country can capitalise on American investment and improve the profile and revenues of its league. He says, 'I'm hoping the 49ers being involved is going to increase the exposure, but there is definitely scope to increase the revenue. The TV deal is a big thing, but also the culture. The alcohol situation continues to bother me.' Advertisement There is a ban on any alcoholic drinks being served inside Scotland's football stadiums, a government policy that has been in place since rioting at an Old Firm game in the national stadium, Glasgow's Hampden Park, in 1980. Clubs in England can serve alcohol on their stadiums' concourses. 'It's absurd,' says Ogren. 'It's a touchy subject, but it is part of the entertainment value for people who come to matches, and they should be able to buy a beer.' 'It was always the plan for my dad and me to do this together,' says Ian Gordon. The Hibernian executive director is talking about his father, Ron, who bought the Edinburgh club in July 2019 then died from cancer in February 2023, aged 68. 'Towards the end, me and my brother watched the games on the bed with my dad,' Gordon tells The Athletic. 'We kind of knew that was it, that he only had a couple of days left. But he loved that day, sitting there talking about Hibs and everything. 'I wake up every morning with even more pride and fire to drive forward now and make sure we get it to the place that we talked about.' Ron had been born in the South American nation of Peru, where he learned the game, had a period living in Australia and then settled in Washington D.C. From there, he treated his two sons to a childhood filled with football-watching trips across the globe. He also built a communications business, which he sold to NBC Universal for around $200million in 2018. The goal after that was to buy a football club — and one place on the map kept calling. 'We did a very special family trip to Scotland to learn about our ancestry, go up to the Highlands, play a little golf, and have a little whisky,' says Gordon. Hibs have a 20,000-seater stadium and a modern training ground in Scotland's capital city, making them an attractive proposition. Their lack of silverware, relative to their size, excited their American buyers, too. 'We love this club. It's really taken over what our lives are. This is home for our family now,' Gordon says. Advertisement This season, the Hibernian men's team finished third in the Premiership to earn a place in the Europa League's qualifying rounds, the women's side won the Premier League title to secure Champions League football and the under-18 boys also topped their league and will play in the UEFA Youth League (the age-group version of the Champions League) next season. It has made all the trials and tribulations of the past six years worthwhile, but there were plenty of mistakes and lessons along the way. After his father's takeover, Ian was made head of recruitment, despite having limited experience in the sport. It was widely seen as nepotism. 'I wasn't picking the players, it was from a structure standpoint,' he says now. 'The club needed revamping in terms of how it operated. Looking back, we needed more experience, and we needed to bring a certain level of knowledge in.' The Gordons took bold action, ditching manager Paul Heckingbottom within four months. Then, in December 2021, came a controversial move. Despite Heckingbottom's replacement, Jack Ross, taking Hibs to their first third-place finish in 16 years and making it to at least the semi-final stage of four consecutive domestic cup competitions, they sacked him too, a week before the team faced Celtic in the League Cup final. Gordon says, 'We felt we needed to make a change, but I don't think we had the long-term or what's next figured out yet. Looking back, I don't think we would have made that change now. Everything's been a learning lesson.' His father took the public blame for the decision, but the churn continued across three more managers. Gordon never contemplated a sale, even after his dad passed away. In February last year, a potential game-changer occurred when billionaire Bill Foley, a fellow American, bought 25 per cent of the club for £6million. Advertisement Foley's Black Knight Football Club empire already contained Bournemouth, Lorient in France and New Zealand's Auckland FC, with the former having become the poster boys for forward-thinking Premier League clubs. Hibs are now part of the multi-club stable and employ similar coaching, playing styles and profile of players to other teams in the group, which they hope will be their competitive advantage. Foley, who also owns top-flight ice hockey's Vegas Golden Knights back in the States, and Ohio-born Tim Bezbatchenko, who is now the general manager across the four clubs, both have seats on the Hibs board. The new partnership did not result in an overnight transformation. Having filled in as caretaker manager after the previous three sackings, former club captain David Gray, who scored the late winner as Hibs beat Rangers in the 2016 Scottish Cup final, was given the job permanently when Nick Montgomery got fired last May. A dreadful start to this season brought just one win in the first 14 league games, and Foley laid bare the tensions behind the scenes. 'If the other ownership group at Hibernian listens to us, they will do better,' he said. 'There was a disagreement about the coach, but since then, Tim has come in and he's now hired multiple people under him,' says Gordon. 'Black Knight is now really starting to put their network together, and since then the collaboration is daily. The biggest benefit we see now is the exchange of best-practice behind the scenes. We're doing so many things in the background to get the structure that we now have in place, so we can just be a well-oiled machine. 'Ultimately, I decided that Dave was the right guy, and luckily that paid off quite well this season.' Hibs lost just three of their remaining 24 league games after that dismal beginning, picking up 49 points — four more than Rangers over that period and only three fewer than eventual champions Celtic. The appointments of Gray and sporting director Malky Mackay marked a reset in strategy, investing in Scottish experience to provide context to data. Advertisement 'I think Scottish football is unique. It's not like any other league in the world,' says Gordon. In February, Gordon vowed that his family would absorb the accounts' £7.2million worth of losses for the 2023-24 season. With the club expected to lose money again in next year's books, it surely isn't sustainable? 'We know we can't be writing off £7.2million every year,' he says. 'Moving forward, it should be a much better position, but if you want to be ambitious and drive for European football, you know you have to push the budget. With Black Knight, this is our clear plan.' In February, club anthem Sunshine On Leith went viral on social media after the Hibs fans serenaded their team following a derby win over rivals Hearts. They had a pub lock-in to celebrate, too. Gordon also highlights a trip to face Swiss side Luzern in the Conference League's qualifying rounds two years ago, which saw the staff mingle with 3,000 travelling supporters in a local bar from 10am. 'Just being in that and around that and feeling what the European trips do to the fans, what they did to me, it was such a great experience,' he says. Could Hibs, four-time champions of Scotland but not since 1952, one day challenge Celtic and Rangers for the title? 'Step one needs to be consistent years where we're qualifying for Europe, and then you're able to build from there,' Gordon says. 'Then (the goal is) to see this club competing year in, year out in Europe and winning multiple cups — not just one, multiple cups. This club has won just one Scottish Cup in almost 130 years. It deserves more.' 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.' Advertisement 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. Advertisement '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 again. 'I wouldn't say it was soulless, but it was lost as a club,' Bord says. 'A big personality can steer the ship back in the right direction. Neil's presence at the club makes everyone's day around the place. Neil's front-foot playing style suits my philosophy, and hopefully we have him now for another two years.' Lennon was able to get Dunfermline to a seventh-place finish in the 10-team division, avoiding relegation, but what are the ambitions for the new regime's first full season in charge? 'In terms of spending, there's a calculation: how long you stay in the Championship and what you lose in cash-burn, against promotion?' Bord says. 'We have concluded that we're happy to spend a little bit more money to give ourselves a better chance of going up as quickly as possible. 'We'd hope to be in the Premiership within two years, but as long as I can see development in the playing style and in the playing squad, I think that comes naturally. With a bit of luck, of course.' 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.' 'If we get relegated, I view it as a reset,' said St Johnstone's owner Adam Webb, speaking when his Perthshire club were five points from safety with just six games of this season left to save their Premiership status. 'We have done everything we can do and gave our coach the resources in January to get the players he wanted. We improved and have been a top-six club in terms of form since January, but will it be enough?' Advertisement Alas for them, it was not. St Johnstone were relegated for the first time since 2002, just four years on from them winning a Scottish Cup/League Cup double in the greatest season of their 141-year history — indeed, perhaps the best pound-for-pound season football in Scotland has ever seen. Webb, who bought the club from local businessman Geoff Brown last summer after three tough seasons that saw them finish 11th, ninth and 10th in the 12-team Premiership, says he has no qualms about his commitment now they've finally succumbed to the drop. He tells The Athletic: 'It's not that we are going to lose interest, it is that (the fans) are going to be disappointed in us. Are people going to blame us that, in our first year, we got relegated? 'We are fighting our perception as unwise owners to come in and have this happen, but I think people who have been studying it can see that we have been giving the resources to the football people. We are in a pretty good place to succeed and get back up, to reinvigorate the club. 'It is not a positive, obviously, but it is a chance to take the steps that need to be taken to make the future bright. It is an inflexion point. We will be in a league (next season) where we will be expected to do well. Let's use it as a springboard.' Webb grew up in Columbus, Georgia, where he played football in high school before studying law at Harvard University. He then started his own firm in Atlanta. St Johnstone are not his first involvement in British football — he owns 10 per cent of Cambridge United, who have just been relegated to League Two, England's fourth tier. Webb bought the club based in Perth, a short drive west of Dundee, with a group of fellow investors in early July, but just two weeks later received the news he had cancer in his neck. Months of debilitating chemotherapy and radiation treatment, which he is still feeling the effects of, could have been taken as a sign to focus on his recovery and perhaps pass the club on to someone else. Advertisement 'After something like that, you feel high on life,' Webb argues. 'And when you get to my age, mid-fifties, your kids are leaving the roost and you think, 'What are going to be some of my hobbies, goals, aspirations with this phase of my life?' For me, football and St Johnstone are it.' Webb says he's experienced 'universal embrace' and was part of the Scottish equivalent of a 'pep rally' at a local pub before the first game of the season. He now has a home beside the nearby River Tay and plans to spend the bulk of his summer there. 'I could have bought a beach house (instead) and had some very nice vacations,' Webb laughs. The full drama of St Johnstone's season has been filmed as part of a fly-on-the-wall documentary that hopes to project what makes Scottish football so intoxicating. 'It might not have the money, but it's still got the soul,' says Webb. 'We can certainly be the people's club, because we have a lot going for us. A beautiful community in the heart of Scotland, 140 years of tradition and a place that people could come to love and appreciate as they have Sunderland or Wrexham (after those clubs featured in recent documentary series over recent years). 'We don't have a Ryan Reynolds on board. If you know a Ryan Reynolds type — let me know.' The club are working with experts to improve the matchday experience for families to try to get attendances back up to what they used to be. Webb is also planning a club museum and shop in Perth's city centre, next to the building that houses the Stone of Destiny — a block of red sandstone used in the coronation of Scottish and British monarchs for centuries. He has partnered with a U.S. analytics company, is investing in the academy infrastructure and seeking to build St Johnstone's football budget every year, but says he will not be pumping in millions. 'We have to find an edge to compete, because we're a smaller club in a smaller city, and we're going to run a sustainable club,' he says. 'Owners always get tired after a few years of putting in money. I don't know if I would, but I think I would if I were five, 10 years into this and every year I'm putting in a million or more dollars. I might get sick of it. Advertisement 'By then, you've built up a residual cost, staff and systems that are going to sink the club. So it's just better, even if you want to put money in, to shoot to break even.' Webb will be planning St Johnstone's boomerang back into the top division during his stay in Perth this summer, and he may head home to the States with a few local phrases in his increasingly mixed vocabulary. 'The exoticness of a Scot still exists when you hear the accent,' he laughs. ''You cannae score if you dinnae shoot!' (You can't score if you don't shoot) is one I love. Just as well we have subtitles on the documentary!' (Top photos: Ogren, left, and Marathe: Getty Images)
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Why Martindale has 'genuine enthusiasm' for new season
David Martindale has "genuine enthusiasm" for Livingston's return to the Premiership as new owner Calvin Ford has vowed to "back the club".Livingston beat Ross County in the play-offs to secure promotion after just one season in the second tier."I'll be honest with you, I wouldn't have stayed at the club if I felt that it wasn't possible and we couldn't do this together," manager Martindale told BBC Scotland."This time last year, it was all emphasis on getting the club back to the Premiership and fortunately we've been able to do that."Everybody at the club has done that, we've always been that underdog, but last year was one of the most difficult I've had at the club personally, on and off the park."So to find ourselves back in the Premiership, we've got new owners, this is probably the first time in my 11 years at the club where I can look at a pre-season with genuine positivity, genuine enthusiasm because we're in a good place."Martindale says Ford "won't throw silly money about" but will provide adequate backing to fund the club's attempts to stay in the Premiership."Since Calvin's come in, he's been brilliant with me," he added. "We've got a group chat. We're all on that. Calvin messages me quite a lot himself so he's given me assurances that he's going to back the club."He's not coming in to throw silly money about. That's not what he's all about and that's not what I'm looking for. Calvin's come in and said he's going to give us a chance of staying in the Premiership next year."He's going to back the club. He's going to bring people with the right skillset to look after the long-term future of the football club."
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'Deserved victory', 'Delighted for the team' - fans revel in promotion
We asked for your views on Livingston's return to the Scottish Premiership after the play-off victory over Ross what some of you said:Andy: Looked a far better team this season, particularly in the run-in and the play-offs. Ross County were poor across two legs and felt it would've been harsh for us to not secure promotion. Delighted for David Martindale and the team, hopefully we can kick on now and keep some of the quality in the Fantastic second-half performance from Livi Lions, deserved victory after all the hard work over the season. Back in the Premiership at the first time of asking, superb!Kevin: Well done lads from a long-time supporter from the south coast of England. What a great comeback!Del: Too much is made of the artificial pitch, artificial pitches are the future in Scottish weather conditions, wake up SPFL. Good players and a good manager got his tactics spot on. Calvin Ford give Davie the support he needs and he'll take Livingston into Europe. Don't you just love fans telling Livi what they want from us and how we should play, no doubt in a manner that allows you to maximise your chances of winning. Davie points out he has the lowest budget because it's true and that leads to a necessary way of playing.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Ross County 2-4 Livingston (3-5 on agg): David Martindale's never-say-die Lions roar back into the Premiership
David Martindale, the Livingston manager, had joked that the club's new majority shareholder Calvin Ford, the great-great grandson of Ford Motor Company founder Henry, might gift him a plane given his aviation industry credentials. A trip in a luxury jet might well be in store for the Lions' manager yet. The new American owner will soon be gratefully totting up the rewards and significance of this audacious comeback in the Highlands. A Premiership return, sealed at the first time of asking after last season's heartache, also brought a painful end to County's run of six top-flight seasons, 12 in 13 years in all. From two goals behind, the spectacular turnaround meant that all of a West Lothian persuasion had heads in the clouds here. The three-goal goal comeback, either side of the break, inflicted the kind of agony on County they had meted out for Partick Thistle with a 19-minute revival two years before. Adding to it all, Robbie Muirhead's ultimate winner was an exquisite finish, worthy of winning any game of football. They say the Premiership play-offs format is crudely weighted in favour of the top division side, but one reverse dynamic is undeniable. The Championship side invariably come into the play-off final flush with confidence, buzzing with belief from winning form. Livingston in this instance came north with six wins from eight. County, in bleak contrast, limped into the second leg on a run of 10 games without a win, softened only slightly by three consecutive draws, the last scrambled late on in West Lothian. The first leg had proven fiery and eventful, fraught with tension, but the Lions had looked stronger on the night. The big question at kick-off here was just how much that late transformation in fortunes in Livingston would reverberate 170 miles up the road in the Highlands. Controversy flared during the 1-1 draw, nastily in one sickening flashpoint as County were left outraged by an alleged spitting incident from a fan on County assistant manager Carl Tremarco. Livingston were also fuming at the first leg VAR penalty award against Danny Wilson for handball that allowed Ronan Hale's 96th minute penalty kick equaliser to transform the complexion of the second leg in Dingwall. County made two changes from Almondvale, one of them bringing the imposing Jordan White back as a starter in place of Alex Samuel, with the big target man having proven something of a catalyst for that first leg comeback. Livingston's David Martindale made one change to his first leg selection, breaking a run of six identical starting line-ups as Daniel Finlayson replaced Macaulay Tait. Livingston started confidently, forced the first corner, then fell behind in the seventh minute. County responded to the away side's early flourish with a fine move with Hale linking play well and George Harmon, overlapping on the left, veering in a dangerous cross that rose just too high to be useful for Michee Efete. Moments later, though, Hale this time burst away on the left and delivered a simple cross ball into the path of Australian Josh Nisbet six yards out to strike home. It was the perfect start for a host side low on confidence, but clearly with the bit between their teeth. Livi's Jamie Brandon did send a strike over the bar, but the blue wave was gathering strength before the second goal arrived. County were two up inside 24 minutes. The visitors made a complete hash of clearing the danger with a horrendous mix-up just outside their own box seeing the ball spin free to Hale. The Irishman seemed initially startled by the space and time he was granted, but in current form was never likely to miss with a low-struck finish for his 18th of the season. Nohan Kenneh headed wide from close-range for County, but the flag was raised for offside. There were warnings for the hosts, though, in the play that followed. Livi exerted pressure and Muirhead saw a volleyed attempt flash off a blue shirt for a corner. The away corner count was rising steadily but home keeper Jordan Amissah saved high from a Danny Wilson header and then smothered the ball under pressure. But then an outrageous piece of individual grit and skill from Lewis Smith reignited Martindale's men. The former Hamilton man set off at pace from not far inside the County half, evading several challenges as he sped into the left side of the penalty area. The brilliant left-foot finish was cut low into the far right-hand corner of the net, capping off a special goal. Soon after, Cristian Montana's header forced another strong Amissah save before half-time. The second half picked up the pace and ebb and flow of the first immediately. A Smith strike for Livi deflected over the bar and then Aussie Nisbet for County raced away on the left and only just cut his attempt beyond the far post. But it was 2-2 after 57 minutes, despite the best efforts of home keeper Amissah. Will Nightingale was booked for a late challenge 22 yards or so out. Muirhead drilled the free-kick low under the jumping wall, forcing a parry by Amissah, before the Ghanaian saved again on the rebound from Wilson. It was third time lucky as Wilson's follow-up header was touched by the keeper but not with enough strength to stop it crossing the line. And the spectacular County collapse only got worse after 61 minutes. An outrageous bit of skill from Muirhead who, with the calmest of heads, curled an audacious shot into the far corner from a difficult angle. Still the game tore from end to end. Nohan Kenneh's measured chip into the box was taken first time on the run by Connor Randall but the volley was blocked by keeper Jerome Prior. Livingston then showed the other side to their game, defending superbly to the final whistle. A Tete Yengi breakaway goal deep in stoppage time put it all beyond doubt and sparked a pitch invasion from the jubilant away support. It didn't need a Ford family jetplane to lift Livingston heads high into the clouds here.
New York Times
17-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Times
Henry Ford's great-great grandson completes takeover of Scottish club Livingston
Calvin Ford, the great-great grandson of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford, has become the new chairman and majority shareholder of Scottish football club Livingston. Livingston play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Scottish football. Ford has acquired 100 per cent of former owner John McIlvogue's shares in Baycup Ltd, the group that has held a significant stake in the club since 2023. Advertisement 'It's a humbling thing for me,' Ford told Sky Sports. 'When I was introduced to Livingston several months ago, immediately meeting people like (Livingston manager) David Martindale, you recognise the leadership and the emotion and the passion that he has, and that's contagious for me. 'I started researching Livingston football club and the history of it and it didn't take very long to know that this was something that I wanted to be a part of.' McIlvogue said it was 'wonderful' for both Scottish football and Livingston. Former chairman John Ward will remain with Livingston as a club director. Ford is vice president of sales and marketing for Pentastar Aviation, a Michigan-based private aircraft management company. He is also an executive board member for CATCH Charity, serves on the board of directors for the Henry Ford Health System, and chairman for the Detroit crime commission. Livingston finished the 2024-25 season in second place after being relegated from the Scottish Premiership the prior campaign. Ford was in attendance at Almondvale Stadium on Friday for Livingston's 2-0 win over Partick Thistle in the Premiership play-off semi-final. Martindale's side will now take on whoever finishes 11th in the Premiership — either Dundee or Ross County — over two legs in the final for the chance to earn promotion back to the first tier. The club won the Challenge Cup, a tournament contested by clubs from the second, third and fourth tiers of Scottish football as well as Premiership under-21 sides and teams from the regional Highland and Lowland football leagues, earlier this season. (Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
