FC Midtjylland's owner, Anders Holch Povlsen, is looking at a new club for the collaboration, which already includes several clubs in addition to the Danish champions.

After FC Midtjylland extremely disappointingly missed the medal playoffs in the spring of 2023, the club has certainly turned up the volume with player purchases and facilities.

In May this year, it threw off a championship after a dramatic final spurt with Brøndby IF, FC Copenhagen and FC Nordsjælland.

And the ambitions and courage for more are at their peak, even though the defending Danish champions could report a deficit of DKK 85 million before tax during the international break.

Because after two years of massive player acquisitions, a new training facility and an expansion of the stadium with a new VIP lounge and fan zone, FCM owner Anders Holch Povlsen and his people through The Football Collective, the company that owns FCM and Mafra, have according to Tipsbladet's information been looking at a new club.

Thus, FC Midtjylland's owner and his people have investigated the possibility of buying into the Scottish club Dundee United and, among other things, checked what it takes legally and practically to buy into the Scottish traditional club.

The club is in the top half of Scotland's Premiership after promotion in the summer, but there have been rumours and stories for a long time about American owner Mark Ogren, who bought Dundee United at the end of 2018, and how long he will stay at the club.


Anders Holch Povlsen owns FC Midtjylland through Heartland and is now also looking at partner clubs in other countries in addition to the existing agreements with CD Mafra (Portugal) and Ebedei (Nigeria). Photo: Alamy

Dundee United returned to the top flight in 2020 after four years in the Championship, but to the great disappointment of the fans, they were relegated again in 2023 before being relegated back to the top flight in the spring of 2024.


Mark Ogren has spent over 100 million kroner on running the club, which has been linked several times with interested investors, and which, according to Tipsbladet's information, seems to be for sale under the right circumstances, as are several other clubs in Scotland's top and second tier, if the right opportunity arises.

In the spring, both Brentford and Southampton were linked with the purchase of Dundee United along with Brighton.

FCM's partner clubs today
CD Mafra (Player in Portugal's second tier)
FC Ebedei (Talent academy and a first team playing in the third tier in Nigeria)
FC Fredericia (1. Division in Denmark - has a collaboration on the rental of young FCM players)

The two clubs have significant FCM connections through ex-owner Matthew Benham and ex-chairman Rasmus Ankersen, where the latter is a key figure in a club collaboration with Southampton at the center.

Several English Premier League clubs have looked at or opened club partnerships with teams in Scotland, and it is obvious that Dundee United could step into a similar role in the event of a sale to Anders Holch Povlsen's investment company Heartland and its football unit The Football Collective.


Dundee United (in orange shirts) in a recent kamp against Rangers FC. Photo: Alamy

According to Tipsbladet's information, it is a possibility that the FC Midtjylland owner enters into some kind of collaboration with Brentford owner Matthew Benham, who was the majority shareholder in FCM from 2014 to 2023 and who back in the spring was mentioned in the British media as interested in an investment in Dundee United.

However, Heartland's interest in Dundee United is no more advanced than that, according to Tipsbladet's information, the FCM owner and his people are also considering other clubs in European countries other than Scotland as the next member of the club collaboration.

In addition to Dundee United or another European partner club, the FC Midtjylland owner is also looking at a collaboration with Bugesera FC in Rwanda via The Football Collective.

If a collaboration in Rwanda ends up being a reality, it will, according to Tipsbladet's information, be centered around talent development at a youth academy, not unlike what FC Midtjylland has had for many years with FC Ebedei in Nigeria.

At The Football Collective, the company that runs Heartland's football activities, they will not comment on Tipsbladet's information about interest in Dundee United, as Tipsbladet asks about the interest and plans for the football clubs the company owns.

With our commitment to football, The Football Collective regularly receives inquiries about various opportunities, including investment in football clubs. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on specific conditions or clubs, but in general we always try to improve. That said, we are overall very satisfied with the current setup, it says in a written response to Tipsbladet.

Midtjylland currently has a collaboration with CD Mafra in Portugal, where a large number of players have been sent between the two clubs since the summer of 2022. Heartland formally bought the small Portuguese club in the summer of 2023 at the same time as Anders Holch Povlsen's purchase of Matthew Benham's shares in FCM.

FCM has also collaborated with FC Ebedei in Nigeria for 20 years on talents, which has resulted in national team players such as Frank Onyeka, Raphael Onyedika and Paul Onuachu, and finally, FCM has also been linked with a collaboration in Rwanda.

FCM also has a collaboration with FC Fredericia in the 1. Division, where several young FCM players have been on loan for the past handful of years - The Football Collective and Heartland, unlike in FCM and Mafra, have no shares or influence in the ownership of FC Fredericia.

If Dundee United were to end up being part of a collaboration with FC Midtjylland and Mafra, it could, among other things, give the Scottish club access to talents from the new sister clubs, while FC Midtjylland and the organization behind it generally have access to far more talented players than there can ever be room for in FC Midtjylland's first team. which could then come into play at the Scottish club.

The geographical location of the Scottish league right next to the English football leagues and the Premier League and other legal and practical matters would also make a collaboration with a Scottish club a good way in for players they want to sell on to England.

Dundee United's owner, Mark Ogren, has on previous occasions this year And last year said that he is fully dedicated to the club, which is currently riding high on a good start to the season after promotion to the top flight.

Tipsbladet has been in contact with Dundee United, who have not wanted to comment on the story.

FC Midtjylland has an extensive collaboration with CD Mafra in Portugal, where they bought Ousmane Diao in the summer.

Last edited by Tek (22/10/2024 8:13 pm)

That's all very well but what happens after the buy out happens?
We were all chuffed when Mark Ogren came in to buy out Thamson.
Look how that worked out, enter stage left Tony Asghar & millions of his dollars down the cundie.
Even your fluffy, sugar-coated, fan-ownership clubs have their issues, you just end up getting some right dumplings making all the big decisions just like in any other place.
So what happens when Povlsen comes in & gives Mark Ogren his money back?
Who will be his Tony Asghar??
 

kdyteejay wrote:

United Arab Emarite wrote:

That's all very well but what happens after the buy out happens?
We were all chuffed when Mark Ogren came in to buy out Thamson.
Look how that worked out, enter stage left Tony Asghar & millions of his dollars down the cundie.
Even your fluffy, sugar-coated, fan-ownership clubs have their issues, you just end up getting some right dumplings making all the big decisions just like in any other place.
So what happens when Povlsen comes in & gives Mark Ogren his money back?
Who will be his Tony Asghar??
 

Maybe but with Ogren it was his first dip into football but that’s not the case with him.

 
Also, Tony Asghar 'sold' Ogren on United and Ogren was daft enough to buy into his model.
Any club looking for a partnership or an individual like the guy mentioned wouldn't make the same rookie mistakes.

redford_must_score wrote:

kdyteejay wrote:

United Arab Emarite wrote:

That's all very well but what happens after the buy out happens?
We were all chuffed when Mark Ogren came in to buy out Thamson.
Look how that worked out, enter stage left Tony Asghar & millions of his dollars down the cundie.
Even your fluffy, sugar-coated, fan-ownership clubs have their issues, you just end up getting some right dumplings making all the big decisions just like in any other place.
So what happens when Povlsen comes in & gives Mark Ogren his money back?
Who will be his Tony Asghar??
 

Maybe but with Ogren it was his first dip into football but that’s not the case with him.

 
Also, Tony Asghar 'sold' Ogren on United and Ogren was daft enough to buy into his model.
Any club looking for a partnership or an individual like the guy mentioned wouldn't make the same rookie mistakes.

 
This could all be someone flying a kite, however if there is any substance to it, I would be all for it. Football is changing very quickly in terms of recruitment, league structures, role of technology.

I don’t think Ogren will recoup his total outlay, but he would be bonkers not to accept an offer from FCM. We know there are no offers about to emerge from wealthy supporters and fan ownership (unfortunately) is not likely.

Whether you buy into algorithmic analytic approach or not is a moot point. People like Tony Bloom and this Dane are very very bright individuals. This was absolutely not the case with the previous regime. I’ve known for 20 years that private equity have seen football as a thematic investment. Unfortunately, the American buy out groups (with the possible exception of KKR) had little understanding of “the product”. I think the way forward is to have a portfolio of clubs under one holding company. That does not mean only football clubs but other sports clubs too.

Maybe it all come to nothing, but, I really hope there is some substance to it

Last edited by Macbonzo (23/10/2024 1:15 pm)

Canadian Arab wrote:

Tek wrote:

I always thought the Royal Family were the largest landowners in Scotland, but a bit of digging there does in fact show Mr Povlsen is indeed the biggest landowner in this country. Seems to be doing great things with his restoration projects in the Highlands.

He seems to spend a lot of his time in Scotland.

The Sunday Times Rich List actually put him at #No1 last year and described him as 'Scotland's Richest Man's.

 

If he spends a lot of time in Scotland, and he's also Danish and familiar with football culture, and he already invests substantially in a group of clubs, then IF he has some interest in United, at least we can feel confident that he'll already be pretty familiar with what he would be getting himself into. I'd feel better about this than about an American takeover (though I'm forever grateful for the Ogrens' investment that brought us back from the brink).

That said, as Stillliving says, 95% of these investment stories come to nothing. Wait and see.
 

 
Echo that Canada.

One thing I've noticed is that we seem to have added a lot of new sponsors and partners.
Our attendances are up and as I understand it the overall wage bill is down so maybe we're on a more sustainable pathway which would make us more attractive to potential investors.

Macbonzo wrote:

What I find fascinating about Anders Povlsen, is that he has no particular interest in football. He likes to create communities and allow other people (coaches, supporters and other stakeholders) to  build them. As a club we punch above or weight in terms of attendances, DUSF and being able to source overlooked talent. His motivation is ultruistic. He wants to give back to communities.

One other thing worth mentioning - he lost three children in a bomb explosion in Columbo in 2019.

 
We must be an attractive proposition to any of these multi-club organisations who want to buy a club in Scotland. A rich and storied history, and a match-going fan base that has grown massively over the past few years. I’ve never seen us get the crowds like we are currently getting, most home games are close to or sold out every week in the GF and ET. Every away game much the same. I think our average attendance so far this season is about 11.5k. We’re near enough closer to Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs attendances than we are to the Funsters, Killie, Well etc.

The only drawback is our debt, which is down to Ogren and Asghar’s reckless spending.