http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/markogden/100012756/valencias-grim-monument-to-footballs-financial-madness/Valencia currently sit proudly at the top of La Liga and are back on the Champions League stage that befits the only club to have mounted a consistent threat to the Spanish duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Their Champions League clash with Manchester United on Wednesday evening merely rubber-stamped Los Che’s return to the big time.
But there is a weed-strewn, ghost stadium in the north-west of the city, Spain’s third-largest, that acts as a monument to the perils awaiting football clubs who live beyond their means.
The Nou Mestalla, Valencia’s proposed 73,200-seater super-stadium, remains the same skeletal shell of an arena it was when construction was halted in February 2009 due to the club’s dire financial situation.
Planned to rival Real’s Bernabeu and Barcelona’s Nou Camp as a contender to host major European finals, the Nou Mestalla appears state-of-the-art on the architects’ drawing board.
But in reality, the half-built stadium highlights in one bleak image the risks that clubs face if they stretch their finances beyond breaking point and miss the crossroads where living the dream becomes a living nightmare.
Even if Valencia, currently more than £420m in debt, re-start construction work tomorrow, Nou Mestalla will not be ready for at least 14 months.
In April of this year, the Spanish newspaper Marca reported that some areas of the unfinished £250m stadium had already become damaged beyond repair during the months of abandonment.
Valencia’s situation has obvious parallels with those of Manchester United and Liverpool, who both continue to operate under the burden of extraordinary debt.
United’s £716.5m debt under the Glazer family has been a divisive issue, ever more so since the Americans’ £500m bond issue in January, yet with revenue streams continuing to pump money into Old Trafford, United appear, on the face of it, in a much stronger position than their Champions League opponents.
Liverpool’s predicament is perhaps more worryingly comparable to that of Valencia, with the Spanish club acting as a warning of the apocalyptic next stage that could befall English football’s most successful club.
The failure of owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett to build a new stadium for the club has proven disastrous for Liverpool, but maybe Valencia’s situation proves that the Liverpool have dodged a bullet by delaying the start of construction of their proposed new ground.
With the Nou Mestalla dragging Valencia down, the club were forced to rake in more than £70m in transfer fees this summer by selling the likes of David Villa, David Silva, Nikola Zigic and Carlos Marchena.
Liverpool just about managed to stave off increasing financial pressure by retaining the services of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Had they been forced to fund the building of a new stadium, holding onto their two superstars would have proved almost impossible.
Valencia, remarkably, have been able to thrive on the pitch in spite of their financial crisis and the sales of their best players.
While Leeds United – Valencia’s opponents in the 2001 Champions League semi-final – sunk into the third tier after being forced to sell their stars to survive, Valencia have so far kept their head above water.
But they still have to find the funds to finish the Nou Mestalla and that is proving an almighty challenge.
The pictures of the stadium should haunt the chief executive and owner of every club that is battling to cope with heavy debt, though.
Valencia are a powerhouse club, one with six domestic titles and four European trophies on their honours’ list. If it can happen to them, it could happen to anybody.
Tags: george gillett, Glazer, leeds united, Liverpool, Manchester United, Nou Mestalla, tom hicks, Valencia
