A year ago today, when Sport Republic entered the halls of Staplewood for the first time following its takeover, the firm realised a lot of their initial fears were misplaced.
Prior experience from going into business and sporting infrastructures meant that Sport Republic’s co-founders, Rasmus Ankersen and Henrik Kraft, suspected their arrival at Southampton would be met with scepticism. They were prepared for it to take time to convince those inside the club that their acquisition was not solely for personal gain.
Instead, they felt warmly greeted. They noted a distinct openness from staff, who all seemed to share the view that the change of ownership was refreshing.
From the outset, Sport Republic made it clear that they were keen for their work and vision to demonstrate substance, rather than empty gestures. They wanted to be judged on long-term results.
At ownership level, Ankersen (putting a sweet towards his mouth in top image) recognised there was very little he could do to affect short-term performance on the pitch. So the Dane focused on assessing and developing the existing structures, including the people who oversaw them. He was impressed by the “alignments” between departments at Staplewood, with the already youthful make-up of the squad and staff fitting into that notion.
The 39-year-old’s extensive footballing background began as a player at FC Midtjylland in Denmark before coaching in their academy and eventually becoming chairman. Then, between 2015 and 2021, he worked as Brentford’s director of football. Both he and Kraft (wearing an open-collar blue shirt and to Ankersen’s right in top image) say their respective strengths complement one another, with the latter openly admitting he would not have invested in a football club without Ankersen.
Kraft’s previous career in commercial investment means his strengths lie in managing budgets and finding ways of mitigating risk, which inevitably comes with running a football club. His governance in ensuring Southampton have a “functional board” — something Kraft acknowledged the club did not have prior to Sport Republic’s arrival — provides him with a platform to monitor finances and, as he says, constantly push for higher standards.
The 12 months since Sport Republic acquired a controlling stake in Southampton — in a deal worth over £100million ($120m) — can be split into two, with the first half centred on carrying out internal assessments of the club and the second about putting plans into action.
Initially, the takeover period coincided with a promising set of results on the pitch. Ankersen, Kraft and lead investor Dragan Solak’s first two visits to St Mary’s saw the 4-1 demolition of Brentford and a buoyant 1-1 draw against Manchester City. The 3-2 win away to Tottenham Hotspur a month later was regarded as one of then-boss Ralph Hasenhuttl’s peak managerial performances.
But that night in London would mark the start of a steep decline. Southampton were 10th after the victory over Tottenham but ended up finishing 15th, just five points clear of the relegation zone.
Southampton’s players trudge off after losing 3-1 at home to Brighton on December 26 (Photo: Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
Southampton accept their summer investment at the end of last season — where they signed 10 players and recorded a net spend of £76million ($91.2m) which was the eighth highest in the Premier League — resulted in a larger turnover of players than they would have wanted. Though it was deemed necessary in order to drive through a new-found vision, Southampton’s squad had grown stale and major surgery was required.
As Ankersen admitted to The Athletic in an exclusive interview, Southampton’s summer of recruiting young talent was “a risk” and a “bet in a way”, particularly if the conditions within the first-team environment proved unstable. Six of the 10 players signed were under the age of 21. In November, Hasenhuttl was sacked with Nathan Jones replacing him.
“We have to do something else and go in and take players that are undervalued and more ready than people think,” said Ankersen. “We knew if results were bad, it was always going to be used as a stick to beat us with. But if it was going well, it would be a genius move.”
Ankersen’s school of thought in youth investment comes from a desire to bring about reform within the infrastructure, laying the foundations for Southampton to prosper in the long term.
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However, it cannot be ignored that this first anniversary is marked by Southampton being rooted to the bottom of the league, having lost their last five Premier League games. In the 36 league matches since their takeover, the team have won just eight times.
Southampton is Sport Republic’s flagship club within its multi-team model. The only other club they currently own are Turkish second-division side Goztepe, and there was slight discomfort in November when the Goztepe director Ivan Mance insisted that his club were “bigger than Southampton”.
Despite Mance’s comments making headlines back in the UK, Sport Republic say they were taken out of context. Irony and jokes do not always translate well across languages and in written form.
The Athletic can reveal that, before Sport Republic arrived, Southampton were looking at potential investment from ownership models that involved a multi-team strategy. Chief executive Martin Semmens actively sought buyers with these credentials and expressed the benefits of utilising a multi-team approach — but only under the assurance that sharing resources and information across teams would make Southampton better.
“The checks and balances will probably change,” Semmens said to The Athletic when the takeover was announced. “However, I once sat for three-and-a-half hours with Rasmus, and he didn’t say a single word I disagreed with.
“They have the same ideas we have. I have the autonomy to run the club, but they will have an input on strategy. They don’t want to be influencing decisions on a day-to-day basis; we will build a plan together, and then they want us to go and execute the plan.”
Ankersen, though, remains the overarching presence in Southampton’s footballing operations, with the deciding say on key decisions.
Semmens, Kraft and Ankersen are committed to ensuring Southampton stick to its modus operandi, irrespective of the turbulence they face.
In essence, the more successful a player is under them, the more expensive they will be when eventually sold to a team outside of Sport Republic’s sphere. It is stressed that they do not just buy young players for the sake of it: they buy them to make a profit later down the line. It’s why they are reluctant to sign anyone older than 27.
This is pertinent for an individual like Kraft, given his background in investment. Buying youth makes it easier to justify the financial outlay, as Sport Republic are more likely to see a return on their money — which is, of course, preferable to being stuck with an ageing squad member who is a drain on the wage bill.
In regards to the appointment of Jones as manager, the club have held an extensive database of coaches that predates Sport Republic. The Athletic revealed that during Hasenhuttl’s tenure, the board were admirers of coaches such as Steve Cooper, Roberto De Zerbi, Bruno Lage and Thomas Frank.
With Ankersen and Kraft, the process of tracking managers has been further augmented. The pair recognise if they are to run a successful multi-team model, there will be a notable turnover of managers. Replacements, therefore, will need to be lined up much earlier through a streamlined process.
In their discussions with Jones, Southampton’s board noted the Welshman’s openness and willingness to address his failings at Stoke City, where he was sacked after nine months in charge. Ankersen and Semmens have previously spoken about the appeal of going with managers who have failed in the past due to their ability to learn from mistakes and, in turn, improve as a coach. Several sources told The Athletic of Jones’ “burning desire” to prove people wrong.
Nathan Jones was appointed in November 2022 (Photo by Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images)
The fact that Jones had never managed higher than the Championship did not concern Southampton’s board either. They would argue the gap between the second tier of English football and the Premier League is not as big as people think. There was evidence, in one footballing study, that the Championship was the sixth-biggest league in Europe. And as a result of having won the Championship’s manager of the year only last season while at Luton Town, Jones was deemed more than capable of bridging the divisions.
Southampton’s Premier League survival this season is essential for the short-term success of Sport Republic’s business model. It’s likely to determine how quickly they can put their multi-team plans into full working order. Relegation would result in inevitable casualties to a squad which already underwent serious change only last summer. The threat of going down is being factored into ongoing contract negotiations with some key players, who would prefer to assess their futures at the end of the season.
In the midst of Southampton’s crucial and potentially defining run of fixtures, Sport Republic will hope early teething issues will soon subside and by the time their second anniversary comes around, the precarious landscape has cleared.
(Top photo: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
