Sport

LOS CHES IN LIM-BO

Wealthy club owners are not always an instant fix – Spain’s Valencia is an example

Wealthy club owners are not always an instant fix – Spain’s Valencia is an example
Fans protest against Peter Lim, president of Valencia, during a La Liga Santander match against Real Sociedad at Estadio Mestalla on 25 February 2023. (Photo: Aitor Alcalde Colomer / Getty Images)

Peter Lim’s tenure as Valencia owner has brought with it supporter discontent, protests and now a fight for survival in La Liga.

When Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim swooped in to rescue Spanish club Valencia from financial turmoil in 2014, the staunch supporters of the club were filled with excitement and hope for the future.

After all, they had seen how Russian businessman Roman Abramovich had pumped billions into Chelsea and turned them into a true force in English and European football. They had seen how Middle East-owned Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were reborn after million-dollar takeovers.

So, when Lim arrived in Valencia nine years ago, he was welcomed by jubilant and expectant throngs of Valencia’s fanbase. He was, after all, their hero without a cape who would pull the team out of crisis and restore them to former glory. Or so they thought.

Mismanagement of funds and overspending had plunged the club into debt.

A rich history

One of the oldest sides in the Spanish top-flight, Valencia enjoyed their greenest patch in early 2000s. They clinched the Spanish league title twice in three seasons between 2001 and 2004, under the guidance of former Liverpool and Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez.

In fact, in the 2003/4 season they won the Uefa Cup (now Europa League) to go with their league crown. Before this continental success they had reached two consecutive Uefa Champions League finals (in 2000 and 2001), losing to Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.

Former Valancia coach Nuno Espírito Santo. (Photo: Sam Bagnall – AMA / Getty Images)

By all accounts, the club was in a healthy state and still very much a force in Spanish football, as well as being far from pushovers in European competition.

They were also once a platform for notable Spanish players such as David Villa, David Silva, Juan Mata, Jordi Alba and Roberto Soldado to firmly establish their esteemed careers. So, a club stacked with history and a firm footprint on the European continent.

However, 20 years after that green patch and a change of ownership in between, the club is involved in a relegation battle which may very well see them fall to the second tier for the first time since 1986. 

How did they arrive at this point?

Unease

“Stability” may have been the buzzword when Lim took over the running of Los Ches, but the club has seen executive members come and go. It has also become a revolving door for coaches.

Under Lim’s leadership there have been more than 10 different coaches at the helm, either as permanent or interim appointments. Hardly a great formula to build a successful club.

They include Nuno Espírito Santo, Gary Neville, Pako Ayestarán, Cesare Prandelli, Albert Celades, Javi Gracia, José Bordalás, Gennaro Gattuso and Marcelino.

Valencia Lim

Valencia owner Peter Lim greets fans before a match against RC Deportivo de La Coruna on 13 March 2015. (Photo: Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images)

The firing of the latter was particularly influential in definitively turning the Valencia supporters against Lim and quashing any hopes that he is the club’s long-awaited Messiah.

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In Lim’s first season as owner of the club, Espírito Santo led the team to a top-four finish, the team’s first since 2012. However, the manager departed early in the next season after a mixed bag of results from the start line.  

After some chopping and changing of managers, Spanish mentor Marcelino arrived in 2017. He seemed to be on the right path as he guided the team to consecutive top-four finishes, after they had finished outside the top 10 in the two preceding seasons.

Marcelino also managed to snap a 10-year trophy drought in Valencia, helping the team clinch the Copa Del Rey in the 2018/19 season. Three matches into the new season and he was shown the door, to the dismay of the Valencia faithful.

That’s probably the straw that broke the camel’s back. Since then, spectator protests calling for Lim to leave the club have become common, with the latest one in February 2023.  


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Not everyone is anti Lim’s regime though. La Liga president Javier Tebas recently came to his defence, in spite of the real threat of losing the historic club to the second tier.

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Valencia is currently fourth from the bottom, with the only thing separating them from the relegation zone being a superior goal difference to Getafe, who are 18th.   

“I am always concerned that there is a climate against the owners. You have to see things with perspective. Many of those who were outside Mestalla were the ones who welcomed Peter Lim at Mestalla. Or when they won the Cup,” said Tebas as quoted by Football España.  

Gary Neville too has been through the Valencia revolving door. (Photo: James Gill – Danehouse / Getty Images)

“Of course, it worries me and it worries me that they insult the president so gravely. We worry about the insults to the players, but I am also worried about the insults to the president inside and outside of the president’s box.”

Even if Valencia survive this relegation battle and live to slug it out in the top-flight for another season, it is unlikely that the fans will ever warm to Lim. They have even clashed on social media with his daughter, Kim Lim.

Those spats led to the younger Lim telling off the club’s supporters in 2020 in an Instagram post, saying: “Some Valencia fans are scolding and cursing at my family and I. Don’t they get it? The club is ours and we can do anything we want with it and no one can say anything.”

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With that attitude, it is unlikely that the two stakeholders of the club will ever find common ground. It is also a lesson that having wealthy owners, as is the trend these days, will not always bring success to a club.

Los Ches have five games to try and at least appease their disgruntled faithful by remaining in La Liga. Based on their current form, there are no guarantees. DM

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