Club Advisory
Football Club Advisory
Independent experience for owners, boards and football organisations.
Running a football club can be an unusually isolated responsibility.
Owners and chairmen face decisions involving sporting performance, finances, supporters, players, agents, employees, sponsors and governing bodies.
Each decision can affect several other areas of the organisation.
Sometimes what is required is not another permanent employee.
It is an experienced external perspective.
Majid provides selected football clubs and organisations with independent advisory and project support, drawing upon more than 25 years working across football and sport.
Club Strategy & Executive Support
Football clubs frequently develop reactively.
- Promotion changes priorities.
- Relegation changes budgets.
- Ownership changes.
- Commercial opportunities appear.
- Managers change.
- Staff structures evolve.
What worked five years ago may no longer be appropriate.
Majid can work confidentially alongside an owner, chairman or senior executive to review where a club is today and where it wants to go next.
This can include
- Reviewing the club's wider strategy
- Identifying areas requiring development
- Assessing new opportunities
- Supporting individual projects
- Acting as an independent sounding board for ownership
- Helping coordinate external specialists
- Supporting organisational change
- Reviewing how different parts of the business work together
Majid's role is not to arrive with a generic football-management formula.
Every club is different.
The starting point is understanding the club, its ownership, supporters, resources, ambitions and existing team.
Commercial Development
Sporting ambition needs sustainable income.
Football clubs continue to compete for sponsorship and commercial revenue in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Majid can support clubs in examining opportunities around
- Sponsorship
- Strategic partnerships
- International commercial relationships
- Brand collaborations
- Events
- Hospitality
- New revenue streams
- Media opportunities
- Business networks
Commercial development should complement a club's identity rather than dilute it.
The strongest partnerships provide genuine value to the club, the partner and, where appropriate, the supporter.
International Strategy
Global ambition requires local understanding.
Many football clubs talk about becoming international brands.
Far fewer have a defined reason for entering a market or a clear strategy once they arrive.
Majid has spent much of his career developing relationships between football organisations in different countries.
His international experience has included Europe, Africa and Asia.
Potential support can include
- Identifying credible international partners
- International academy relationships
- Commercial partnerships
- Football-development projects
- Pre-season and event opportunities
- Market-entry advice
- Local relationship development
- International brand strategy
The objective should never simply be overseas exposure.
There should be a football, commercial, educational or strategic reason for the relationship.
Football Business & Ownership Advisory
For people entering football for the first time, the industry can be difficult to understand.
Football has its own ecosystem.
- Players.
- Agents.
- Leagues.
- Associations.
- Supporters.
- Commercial partners.
- Football executives.
- Media.
- Local authorities.
- Academies.
- Community organisations.
Majid can provide investors and owners with an independent football-industry perspective before and after entering the game.
This is particularly relevant where an owner has considerable business experience outside football but wants support understanding the culture and relationships of the sport.
Majid does not provide regulated financial, accounting or legal advice. Where specialist professional advice is required, appropriate professional advisers should be appointed.
Academies & Player Pathways
Majid's career has included the development of football academies and player pathways in the UK and overseas.
He also previously worked in player representation and contract negotiation.
This combination provides an understanding of both development and the realities players face when moving towards professional football.
Advisory work can include
- International academy concepts
- Football education
- Development partnerships
- Overseas club relationships
- Talent pathways
- Academy commercial strategy
- Player welfare considerations
- External football partnerships
Any regulated football-agent activity should always be undertaken by appropriately registered football agents.
Brand & Club Profile
The most valuable football brands are not simply logos.
They represent place, supporters, memories and identity.
Majid has previously worked on football branding and organisational projects and can support clubs considering:
- Brand positioning
- New international audiences
- Commercial presentation
- Heritage projects
- Former-player programmes
- Special events
- Football content
- Partner activation
- Community-based initiatives
The objective is not to make every club look the same.
It is to identify what is distinctive about the club and build from there.
Special Projects
Not every football challenge fits neatly into a conventional job description.
Majid's career has frequently involved projects that required football understanding, business contacts and the ability to bring different organisations together.
Examples have included
- Football festivals
- Charity football events
- Former-player organisations
- Academy projects
- Sponsorship initiatives
- International relationships
- Football consultancy
- Brand development
- Sports-business partnerships
For clubs with a project sitting outside normal day-to-day operations, Majid can act independently or alongside the existing executive team.
Working Together
How an Engagement Can Work
There does not need to be a complicated consultancy structure.
Depending on the project, Majid can work as:
- 01
Strategic Adviser
Providing ongoing confidential advice to ownership or senior management.
- 02
Project Adviser
Supporting a clearly defined project or opportunity.
- 03
Board Adviser
Providing an external football-business perspective around selected areas of club development.
- 04
Fractional Executive Support
Working with a club for an agreed number of days each month where more regular executive input is needed.
- 05
Special Project Lead
Helping coordinate a defined commercial, international or organisational initiative.
All appointments should have clearly agreed objectives, responsibilities and reporting arrangements.
Discretion
Confidentiality
- Football is a relationship business.
- Discretion is essential.
Initial discussions with owners, clubs and football organisations are treated confidentially.
Where a formal engagement proceeds, confidentiality and responsibilities can be clearly documented from the outset.
Next Step
Start With a Conversation
If you own, manage or advise a football organisation and believe an independent perspective could be useful, contact Majid directly.