Seven 19-Year-Olds Become The Youngest Football Club Owners
The seven school friends have taken over at non league side Walton & Hersham and have already changed the club badge.
Seven university students have become the youngest owners in football, taking over at non league club Walton & Hersham FC.
The seven friends were together at Hampton School until last year when they all went off to university. Now the teenagers have become football's youngest owners, taking over at Walton & Hersham who famously beat Brian Clough's Brighton, five years before he became a European champion.
Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible one of the new owners Sartej Tucker, who is overseeing the club's brand, media and communication, explained how the takeover came about, saying, "Alan Smith, who was the previous owner, didn't want to continue running the club and son Toby couldn't really see himself committing so much time to the club because of other commitments.
"One of my mates Calogero [Scannella- another of the owners], knows Toby personally as was telling Calogero they [Toby and Alan] didn't see themselves running the club anymore.
"So he devised this idea. He came up with a plan and we pitched to Toby Smith, the de facto chairman at the time, 'here's an idea for us to take over," and he really warmed to the idea, he really liked it and a good opportunity to breathe fresh life into the team."
Many of us would have had a conversation in the pub with friends about taking over in a football club but for Tucker, Scannella, Jack Newton, Reme Edetanlen, Thomas Bradbury, Ben Madelin and Stephan Karidis it wasn't just a snap decision.
Tucker, who is at Durham university, explained how it was a more gradual decision that made them believe it was worth it said, "There wasn't a lightbulb moment, it was just a gradual feeling, we forged ideas of how to move our vision on and had a growing sense of confidence that we could actually make something of it, as opposed to a momentary reaction 'oh this is a great idea,' it sort of built up over time."
The Surrey club have a storied history, since Walton FC and Hersham FC combined in 1945 to make the 'Swans' into one club.
As well as the 4-0 win over Clough's Brighton in the FA Cup in 1974 they also had Sir Stanley Matthews as club president in the 1980s and Martin Tyler coached them in 2005.
Despite all that history it's the future the new owners are now looking towards and they have already changed the club crest.
Tucker says some "well known YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of followers" have offered to help them as they look to use social media and regular content to help market the club's brand.
And the new owners already have some high ambitions, as they target promotion this year, "I think the main ambition, the club haven't been performing very well for the last 5-10 years, it's suffered three relegations in 10 years," said Tucker, "There's been a lot of disinterest around the club. So for us the main thing is to re-energise the club, get people turning up to games again, get the team winning and gain promotion. Promotion is our ultimate aim, we want to return to step 5 and then we can take a view next summer of where the club goes."
The new men in charge certainly have a lot of ambition and all the belief in the world but will they be able to combine university with success on the pitch?
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Ryan Sidle