Ex-Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli helps Norwich City raise £5m to build academy

Former Chelsea striker, and manager, Gianluca Vialli
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Giuseppe Muro5 April 2018

A company co-founded by former Chelsea manager Gianluca Vialli has helped Norwich City raise £5million to build a new academy through the biggest bond in English football.

The world’s first sports investment platform Tifosy made the Canaries Bond available and more than 700 Norwich fans and investors have contributed to the bond.

The money raised will support Norwich’s long-term strategy to produce more home-grown players in their bid to build a sustainable future and get back into the Premier League.

The £5million raised by the five-year bond will be ring-fenced to ensure they are invested in facilities at the Norwich’s Colney Training Ground, with a new permanent base replacing the current temporary structure.

Norwich chose Tifosy, which was co-founded by Vialli and chief executive Fausto Zanetton, to issue the bond because it is a regulated investment platform with a track record of success in previous projects.

Last year Tifosy successfully launched a mini-bond for Stevenage FC, raising £600,000 to build a new all-seater stand. Tifosy also launched the first mini-bond in Italian football, raising €1.5m for Serie B club Frosinone to invest in its stadium.

Maintaining a Category 1 academy status will enable Norwich to attract the best young players in the region and beyond.

The project will include the installation of new pitches, the construction of a state-of-the-art building, with video editing suites, classrooms for academy players and club offices, and new dressing rooms for all age groups, linked to a purpose-built gym.

The Canaries Bond will pay 5 per cent gross interest annually, with an additional 3 per cent gross in club credit, and investors will be paid a one-off 25 per cent bonus if the club is promoted to the Premier League during the lifetime of the bond.

Norwich managing director Steve Stone said: “We’d like to thank Tifosy for their excellent support and professionalism in helping to make this Bond such a success – and, of course, all of the investors for their faith in our club.

“When we were initially looking at the concept of a Canaries Bond I was confident we would achieve our target of £3.5m, but I did not anticipate the level of demand that we have experienced to reach our maximum investment of £5m, with more than 700 investors backing the bond.

“This fantastic level of additional support will allow us to further enhance the fitness, educational and analytical facilities in the academy itself, as well as significantly improving facilities for visitors to Colney, whether that be academy players’ families or spectators watching academy matches. This is a vital part of our wider strategy for the club in the seasons ahead.”

Tifosy chief executive Zanetton said: “Tifosy is a regulated investment platform that gives leading clubs an opportunity to access capital from their supporters and individual investors, alongside institutional finance. We have successfully applied this model in both England and Italy, allowing clubs to fund invaluable infrastructure projects that will bring long-term benefits and we look forward to helping many more clubs in the future.

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