Reuters Soccer Blog
World Soccer views and news
Mr. Rich invests in Bedlington for the love of the game
American billionaire Robert Rich Jr, the 488th richest man in the world, can buy just about anything he wants to from private jets to diamonds, mansions to ocean-going liners and everything in between.
But this week it emerged that he has put some of his vast fortune at the disposal of a tiny, impoverished minor league English club by the name of Bedlington Terriers.
Their average attendances in the Northern League, the ninth tier of the English pyramid, are around 100, although they sometimes get 300 on a good day.
The appropriately named Mr Rich, whose vast food company is based in Buffalo, New York State, discovered an ancestral link with Bedlington, has visited the area and the club and is now the honorary Lord of Bedlington after his wife bought the title which was once owned by one of his forefathers.
Notts County v Juve in the Champions League? Maybe…
Notts County might have been in the wilderness for many years now but they have never been far from the footballing consciousness.
Remember the great Glen Campbell hit of the 1960s “Wichita Lineman” which opens with: “I am a lineman for the county”.
