English soccer’s governing body, the Football Association (FA), received an $835 million offer from Fulham owner Shahid Khan to buy Wembley Stadium. A ground that is synonymous with English soccer history, Wembley plays host to the English national team matches, two NFL matches every season, the FA Cup semifinals and final as well as being the temporary home ground for Tottenham Hotspur while their new stadium is being built.
Shahid Khan might already sound like a familiar name to you. If you know your stuff about the NFL, you will know that Khan is also the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were one game away from making the most recent Super Bowl.
Shahid Khan statement in full as NFL owner eyes historic £800m deal to buy Wembley Stadium from The FAhttps://t.co/JaVHcRSCLS pic.twitter.com/bPU4TaaDnM
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) April 26, 2018
While you may think that selling a major piece of English soccer history is the worst thing the FA could do, there is a reason why it might actually be a good thing.
With the amount of money the FA would receive, they could invest a significant amount of money into English grassroots soccer (the youth level). By investing in grassroots soccer, it would allow for an increase in the quality of fields available and a higher standard of coaching — two things that currently aren’t what you would expect from a powerhouse nation of soccer. With better quality grassroots soccer, it would mean a higher quality of young players coming through the ranks and eventually improve the quality of English players at a club and maybe even international level.
The deal has not actually been confirmed yet, but if it does happen, grassroots soccer in England will go from strength to strength. Maybe even the Jacksonville Jaguars would call Wembley Stadium their home ground. The “London Jaguars” does have an interesting ring to it.
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