UP195: Andy Holt

Andy Holt is the hugely successful entrepreneur who in 2015 stepped into save his local football club Accrington Stanley FC from financial ruin. The club was one of the English Football League’s original founding members in 1888 and remains one of its smallest. But the club has been transformed under Holt’s ownership, winning promotion to EFL League One in 2018. “Let's be clear," he said when he bought the Accrington Stanley. "Whatever individual, company or other entity owns the club is largely irrelevant, because this isn't a business venture. Has anyone ever made a profit out of Accrington Stanley? In 50 years I will be dust blowing in the wind - hopefully our input will mean the club is not!”That’s a sentence that’s sure to resonate with any fans of Derby County, Bury or Macclesfield Town, EFL clubs which have recently gone bankrupt and which are sure to be joined by others as they struggle against an array of problems, from bad owners, the Covid shutdown and the economics of lower league football. Andy Holt listened to our recent conversation with EFL chairman Rick Parry and responded in depth via Twitter. As you’ll hear, Holt’s view of the role and economics of football is starkly at odds with those in the boardrooms of clubs higher up football’s pyramid and is a vital part of the bigger conversation about the future of the game from top to bottom. This podcast is sponsored by Leaders Week London, which is back in real life at Twickenham Stadium between the 5th to the 7th of October. With less than two weeks there’s a few remaining passes but they’re selling fast. In the last week alone some big names have signed up, such as Toyota, Red Bull, San Antonio Spurs, UEFA, adidas, Sky, NFL, AEG, DAZN, Liverpool FC, Emirates, Real Madrid and many more. Each of them have heard about the live Unofficial Partner podcast being recorded at 12 noon on the Wednesday, which is obviously worth the ticket alone. But to get 15% off, use the code UnofficialPartner15 via the Leaders website.As ever, if you like the podcasts you’ll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter, get it every Thursday via unofficialpartner.comUnofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.