A Small Town in Germany

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...Well, Yorkshire, actually...

 

From today's Times, an interesting article about Bradford Stadt FC, which is the subject of a new documentary.

There are no details re: general release/broadcast.

 

[B]Bradford City owner: German players get 50% of wages in bonuses – English want 90% up front[/b]

 

Bradford City’s foreign takeover is subject of a fascinating new film

 

Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter

November 13 2017, 12:01am,

The Times

 

The documentary charts the club’s first year under Rahic, second from right, and Rupp

 

There is an area of central Bradford called “Little Germany”, an imposing array of stone-built offices and warehouses constructed in Victorian times when many German wool merchants established businesses there.

 

Now a new “Little Germany” is growing up a mile or so down the road at Valley Parade, as English football’s first German owners continue their cultural revolution to bring the best practices of the Bundesliga to Bradford City.

 

This is the second season since the businessmen Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp took over and tomorrow the premiere of a fascinating behind-the-scenes film covering their first year in charge will be screened.

 

McCall, the manager, has at times found relations strained with the club’s investorsMcCall, the manager, has at times found relations strained with the club’s investors

The pair employed German film-makers to document their first season, and the result is Matter of Heart, a no-holds-barred portrayal of the nitty-gritty of running a football club, which will have its first showing at Bradford’s national film museum.

 

Perhaps most intriguing is the clash of cultures that is immediately apparent. At one point Stuart McCall, the manager, looks pained as he admits to finding it difficult to accept he is simply the head coach, and that he has to pick his teams within a certain framework.

 

“In the three clubs I managed before, I brought the players in and the owners and chairman let me get on with my job,” he says ruefully.

 

The Germans had other ideas. “I told Stuart straight away we are looking for a head coach and not a manager,” says Rahic in an interview with The Times. “You can have 55-60 games so how can one person be in charge of preparing and training the team, looking at players, speaking to agents, it’s just impossible.”

 

Ultimately, the Germans would like to have a sporting director, but until then it is a triumvirate of Rahic, Greg Abbott, the chief scout, and McCall who decide on new players.

 

McCall is also under orders to ensure that young players are given first-team opportunities alongside senior pros — identifying, developing and ultimately selling promising young players is, says Rahic, the basis of their business model.

 

We heard from a striker who had a clean-sheet bonus at his former club — a striker!

Youth-team coaches have been told to work on drills to improve skills so that a football factory to develop two-footed players, with good heading technique and fleet of foot, is established. Last week, Reece Staunton, a 15-year-old defender, rolled off the conveyor belt to become the club’s youngest debutant. Rahic was taken aback to learn that most English players were not keen on performance-related pay — the average League One wage is £100,000 a year, and he says that players want a 90-10 basic-to-bonus ratio while in Germany it is often 50-50.

 

“Our message is it must be more and more performance-related, and agents should also be paid on performances,” he says. “The bonus structure is not right — we heard from a striker who had a clean-sheet bonus at his former club — a striker!”

 

The film does not shy away from the difficult issues during their first year: “We want to be transparent for the fans,” Rahic says. The air turns blue when James Hanson, Bradford’s leading striker and a cult figure at the club, announces that he wants to move to Sheffield United — Rahic is seen questioning whether Hanson will have the right mental attitude to play the following day.

 

The pursuit of Hanson’s replacement, Charlie Wyke from Carlisle United, is also intriguing. At one point Abbott shakes his head over Rahic’s “impatience”, saying: “He wants everything yesterday. I tell him, ‘Slow down or it can cost us more money.’ ”

 

Rupp, who is still based in Germany, reveals in the film that they discovered some unusual practices at the club involving tickets and merchandise. “It is like a company within a company, everyone got used to taking their cut,” says Rupp. “There will be some personnel changes,” he warns.

 

The film ends on a poignant note at Wembley, where Bradford were defeated 1-0 by Millwall in the play-off final. Despite many changes in personnel, promotion again looks a real possibility with City fourth in the table. Rahic smiles: “We must be doing something right.”

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/the-game/bradford-city-owner-german-players-get-50-of-wages-in-bonuses-english-want-90-up-front-q5bmc8wx9

Edited November 13, 2017 by Uilleam