We asked three of our Fan Zone columnists for their thoughts on the investment interest in Norwich City from American businessman Mark Attanasio


Di Cunningham

Happy days! We Norwich City fans may finally have something to cheer about - the Northeastern US City that brought us the Fonz, Miller Lite and Cordless Powertools may have generated the perfect fit for a new shareholder in the club.

Investment potential aside, Mark Attanasio is principled, community-oriented and fan-focussed; his charter when he took control of Milwaukee Brewers specified team success, fan satisfaction, and attention to corporate social responsibility as a key local business and employer.

Supporters of the Brewers - Major League Baseball’s smallest outfit - rate Attanasio as a good business head, ambitious for the club and delivering results. And according to Forbes Magazine he spends far more than owners of teams of similar size, plus in recruiting and retaining manager Craig Counsell, Attanasio has overseen in the last seven years, a developing culture of expectation and achievement.

There’s no question for me then that the Brewers owner should be fast-tracked into the Colney Board Room. No doubt there’ll be an appetite on all sides to make new investment, and a transatlantic approach, blend with Michael and Delia’s legacy.

Ultimately the alchemy may not work but - if I could get hold of some - I’d raise a glass of the Milwaukee Brewing Company’s finest craft ale to the prospect of good times ahead.

Lee Payne

My initial reaction when I heard that US investors were in talks with Norwich City was surprise.

While I’d been calling for outside investment in the club, I didn’t think it was on the cards. I confess that I had not heard the name Mark Attanasio before. The Milwaukee Brewers, the baseball team he owns, had not previously crossed my path either.

Having read up on the man and the thoughts of fans of the Brewers, I would describe my stance on the matter as cautiously optimistic. A great fear of mine is that my beloved club becomes a rich person’s plaything, or a front for a questionable regime, as we have seen elsewhere.

The Brewers were a bang average team before Attanasio bought them, and in the nearly 20 years since, they have been turned into a competitive outfit that their fans are proud of. This is all I really want as a Norwich fan – for the club to live less hand-to-mouth, to not have to sell its best players in order to buy more, and a bit of extra cash might be the key to us finally cracking the Premier League conundrum. I hope we have a deal.

Terri Westgate

The thing with investors is they are expecting something in return.

They aren’t just giving away their money away for free. Until we know what the whole deal is, and what it means for the club in the long term, it’s difficult for me to make a judgment.

I’m not in favour of chasing the excessive money that has done so much damage to modern football, but we do need a plan as Delia and Michael won’t be around forever.

I do trust our current owners and board to do the proper due diligence before completing any deal, as they have already seen off some dodgy characters in the past. However it does feel like we are on the precipice of a new era at the club.]

Let’s hope it’s another successful one.