Like A Sinatra farewell tour, you can never say it’s the last time. And sure enough, in what has become a bit of an annual tradition, Alex Fynn will be giving his annual talk at Birkbeck College tomorrow evening.

Supposedly a seminar for students on their renowned sports business course, they are open to all, and Alex likes to stuff his audience with Arsenal fans (and indeed those of other clubs, he’s not fussed), and invariably leans on the onlinegooner for a plug. So the details are as follows, straight from the Birkbeck website…

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The fifth Birkbeck Sport Business Centre Seminar of the new academic year takes place next week - Thursday 17th November at 6pm - when our guest speaker is Alex Fynn, the well-known commentator on, and consultant to, the football industry.

In this presentation, to mark the occasion of the launch of the highly acclaimed Arsènal: the Making of a Modern Superclub (September 2011) (co-authored by Alex with Kevin Whitcher), the updated paperback edition of the best-selling book first published in 2008, Alex will present an assessment of the current health of the Premier League, and of one of its most successful members, Arsenal Football Club, just as its totemic manager, Arsène Wenger, enters his 16th year as the manager of the club.

The event is free and open to the public. You can download a map indicating the location of the venue here. Access to the Lankester Lecture Theatre venue is via Malet Place the entry to which is directly opposite Waterstones bookshop on Torrington Place.

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Arsenal: The Making of a Modern Superclub

Lankaster Lecture Theatre (University College London)
Medawar Building,
Malet Place (off Torrington Place),
London WC1 7JG

Thursday 17th November 2011 at 6pm

Given by: Alex Fynn

To mark the occasion of the launch of the highly acclaimed Arsènal: the Making of a Modern Superclub (September 2011) (co-authored with Kevin Whitcher), the updated paperback edition of the best-selling book first published in October 2009, Alex Fynn will present an assessment of the current health of the Premier League, and of one of its most successful members, Arsenal Football Club, just as its totemic manager, Arsène Wenger, enters his 16th year as the manager of the club.

It is now twenty years since the Premier League was established. In that time the league has developed to become the world’s richest and most popular national domestic league in terms of the revenue it generates and the broadcasting audience it commands internationally. The Premier League would appear to have been very good for its member clubs during its existence. But what about the rest of English football, for whom many commentators would claim the benefits have been less obvious? Alex will present a current health check for the Premier League, and then assess what this means for its future and that of English football in the current turbulent economic times.

Alex will then go onto assess the role of Arsenal as a beneficiary of the Premier League, and will pose a provocative question; has Arsenal’s experience in the Premier League been a case of missed opportunity? Is it the case, even with all the club’s built-in advantages – huge turnover, gifted manager, successful youth policy – that the wider structural environment of the Premier League means that Arsenal will inevitably struggle to emulate past glories?

Throughout Alex will draw on extensive interview material from Arsènal: the Making of a Modern Superclub to illustrate why even a club like Arsenal, that is widely acclaimed for the quality of its management leadership, must constantly be re-inventing itself in order to continue to compete in one of the world’s greatest sporting competitions.

Reading
•Fynn, A. & Whitcher, K. (September, 2011). Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub. London: Vision Sports Publishing. 3rd edition.
•Fynn, A. & Guest, L. (1994). Out of Time: Why Football Isn’t Working. London: Simon & Schuster.
•Conn, D. (2004). The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Soul of Football Yellow Jersey Press

Biography
Alex Fynn is a well-known consultant to the football industry who has also written extensively on the subject of the football business. His clients have included Arsenal, Celtic, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur football teams, as well as the Football League and the Football Association. Through his work he has been influential in the formation of both the Premier League and the European Champions League. Previously Alex was a director of the well-known advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, latterly as vice-chairman. Throughout his career Alex has acted as an advisor on the negotiation of the sale of TV broadcasting rights for clients such as the Football League and the FA, the latter which led to the award of the first BSkyB television contract. He has advised a number of clubs and federations on media and marketing; including the sale of broadcasting rights by the Polish FA, Galatasaray of Turkey and most recently by Celtic, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Fulham and West Ham.

Twitter: Follow Alex@AlexFynn1

Special Offer: The brand new edition of Alex’s book, “Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub”, can be yours for just £6.99 – including UK P&P (RRP is £8.99.) To take advantage of this offer you need to order the book from the publisher’s website and type the promotion code Fynn into the Promotion Code box on the Shopping Basket & Checkout page. Copies of the book will also be available to purchase on the night.

For further details on this seminar series contact:
Sean Hamil
Department of Management
Birkbeck College
Malet Street
London
WC1E 7HX
Tel: 020-7631 6763
Email: [email protected]