Bill Foley’s ambition can boost pathways for young Kiwi footballers

When Bill Foley arrived in Auckland yesterday aboard his private jet, the American billionaire represented something new in the Kiwi sporting landscape.

We’ve had high-profile owners and big-money investors at our top-flight sports clubs in the past, but not on this magnitude. Foley is a bona fide billionaire and owner of AFC Bournemouth in the English Premier League. He also has a stake in FC Lorient of France’s Ligue 1. His most famous sporting stake – and the one which bodes well for his A-League venture in Auckland – is his status of founder and owner of the US National Hockey League’s 2023 Stanley Cup champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.

But it’s not the money that makes Foley stand out – it’s the clear-sighted ambition. When launching his ice hockey team in the Nevada desert, Foley famously declared they would win the title within six years – they delivered.

He was asked at yesterday’s launch event for the new A-League side if he would make a similarly bold prediction. “We are not in this to be bottom of the league, we are in this to win it. Come back to me in the next 12 months,” the billionaire replied.

The sights might not be set so high for fast returns on his Auckland football investment. The people running the organisation will know there have been failed footballing ventures in this city before.

They will have less than a year to build a back-room operation and gather the playing resources necessary to make a meaningful dent in the transtasman football competition.

But there’s no doubt about Foley’s commitment to a cause. He paid a reported fee of $828 million for the rights to launch the Vegas Golden Knights into the NHL. In six seasons they have had remarkable success. They were the fastest expansion team to win a Stanley Cup, doing so in 2022, and have made the playoffs five times.

Results like that take an impressive backroom organisation and the kind of processes that can provide pathways for young athletes. This is a great thing for football in New Zealand’s biggest city.

There’s a trend in global football towards vertical integration among clubs with shared ownership. This could see an Auckland team bolstered with talent from Bournemouth’s Premier League squad and from FC Lorient. It creates a clear line of progress for young players here to map their course in a playing career that could take them to the sport’s biggest stages.

The fact the Football Kingz couldn’t build a following and a legacy in the now defunct National Soccer League is often cited as proof the sport can’t rise in the city of sails. In truth, Auckland has a large and proud footballing community, and an organisation that can build with confidence and persist through challenges will reap the reward of servicing that community.

Some of those other high-profile, big-money sports owners departed their clubs in ignominy, often leaving a mess behind them. The signs are promising that Foley will not be among them.

Winston Aldworth is NZME’s Head of Sport and has been a journalist since 1999.