American billionaire Shahid Khan withdrew his offer to buy Wembley Stadium from the Football Association on this day in 2018.
The proposed deal was worth £900million and the FA was planning to spend the money on transforming grassroots facilities across the country over the next 20 years but the idea of selling the stadium, which cost £757million to build, proved to be controversial with many in the game.
The owner of Fulham and NFL side the Jacksonville Jaguars felt his offer to buy Wembley proved more divisive than initially anticipated and decided to pull out.
In a statement, FA chief executive Martin Glenn said: “Shahid Khan has informed us today that he will be withdrawing his offer to buy the stadium – and we fully respect his decision.
“At a recent meeting with Mr Khan he expressed to us that, without stronger support from within the game, his offer is being seen as more divisive than it was anticipated to be and has decided to withdraw his proposal.”
The proposed deal had the support of the FA’s senior leadership, including Glenn himself, and was also backed by the government but there were significant doubts elsewhere, most notably at the grassroots level itself.
Khan’s intention was to eventually use Wembley as a home for his relocated Jaguars but was also willing to agree on several highly restrictive conditions on how he would run the national stadium, one of them being to keep the venue for all of English football’s biggest games.
However, wider concerns about whether the FA was selling the family silver too cheaply, its ability to spend the money wisely and Khan’s long-term plans for the stadium all led to the downfall of the sale.
In a statement, Khan, 68, said: “I’ve been clear publicly as well as in my correspondence with the FA Council that it would require a proper partnership, with the full and enthusiastic commitment of all involved, to maximise the benefits to the FA and game of football.
“At this moment, following last week’s FA Council hearing, it appears there is no definitive mandate to sell Wembley and my current proposal, subsequently, would earn the backing of only a slim majority of the FA Council, well short of the conclusive margin that the FA chairman has required.
“The intent of my efforts was, and is, to do right by everyone in a manner that strengthens the English game and brings people together, not divide them.
“Unfortunately, given where we are today, I’ve concluded that the outcome of a vote next week would be far from sufficient in expressing the broad support favoured by the FA chairman to sell Wembley Stadium.
“I am respectfully withdrawing my offer to purchase Wembley Stadium.”
