Watford Football Club has a long history in English soccer. The club on the outskirts of London has been operating for more than 100 years. Its most famous fan is former Chair, Sir Elton John. Legendary head coach, Graham Taylor has a stand named in his honor after leading the club to its most famous period in the 1980s.
Italian business leader, Gino Pozzo arrived at Watford in 2012 with the club on its knees financially. The club had been relegated from the English Premier League and slid to the fourth level of English professional soccer. Pozzo and his family saw an opportunity to enter English soccer and reach the Premier League with a club attached to a wide fanbase.
Gino Pozzo had a challenge on his hands to overcome his image as an owner known for chopping and changing coaches. An early convert to the methods of Pozzo was Watford’s Managing Director, Lee Duxbury. The executive met with Pozzo and listened to his theory that a coach at a smaller soccer club had a limited lifespan of three years. Pozzo explained a coach would either leave after finding success or be sacked following bad results.
English soccer is known for its mega-rich owners. The Pozzo family owned a woodworking business when they purchased Italy’s Udinese soccer club. The family is not in the billionaire category and must operate under financial restrictions.
To bring new players to his clubs, Gino Pozzo has developed one of the world’s largest coaching networks. The idea behind the network is to identify high-quality players who are undervalued by their clubs. The number of players who have passed through Pozzo’s coaching network includes Brazil’s Richarlison and Chile’s Alexis Sanchez. Richarlison arrived at Watford as an unknown striker before making a multi-million dollar move to Premier League rivals Everton and earning a call-up to Brazil’s national team.
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Learn more about Pozzo on https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/people/gino-pozzo/