English footballing minnows Bristol Rovers have found Arab benefactors after first launching an appeal to entice foreign investors on the front page of GulfWeekly.
Instead of Gulf oil wealth, the club with a rich history, impressive support and bags of potential has attracted banking billionaires and look set for a bright new future with the arrival of the Jordanian Al-Qadi family.
The family has taken a 92 per cent shareholding in the club – and Wael Al-Qadi will become its president. The family is headed by Abdulkader Abdullah Al-Qadi, 82, who founded the Arab Jordan Investment Bank in 1978 and continues to be a significant shareholder after growing it into a regional financial powerhouse.
The new owners have promised that a long-awaited stadium will be built and new chairman Steve Hamer has spoken of emulating Bournemouth and Swansea City – both of whom are now Premier League clubs.
Chairman Nick Higgs, who exclusively spoke to GulfWeekly about the club’s Arab ambitions back in January last year, is standing down, with former Swansea chairman Hamer taking over that role.
Outgoing chairman Higgs said: “I sincerely believe that Bristol Rovers can count itself as being very fortunate to attract the interest of Mr Al-Qadi and his family.
“We know that Wael and his advisors had looked closely at other clubs, but they explained to us that they were drawn to Rovers because of the massive potential the club has, both on and off the pitch.”
The outgoing directors have been made vice-presidents of the club.
Al-Qadi, a member of the executive board of the Jordan Football Association, paid tribute to Rovers’ ‘amazing heritage and loyal fan-base’.
“I’ve been a passionate football fan all my life and I’m excited to become involved with Bristol Rovers, which has such an amazing heritage and loyal fan-base,” he said.
“We really see the potential of this great club.”
The club, currently riding high in League Two, the national fourth tier of English league football, has set its sights on opening a new super stadium close to the University of the West of England on the edge of Bristol in South Gloucestershire. Rovers celebrated their first match under their new owners at the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Morecambe that takes them up to sixth.
