The founder of the Right to Dream Academy, Tom Vernon, has revealed that he borrowed ten million pounds (£10m) from a friend to buy Nordsjaelland in 2015.
The Danish top flight club has become a pathway for many Ghanaian talents, including Mohammed Kudus, Kamaldeen Sulemana and Ernest Nuamah, to break into major European clubs from the Akosombo-based academy.
The deal offered academy graduates the chance to gain experience playing in a European league before transitioning to other clubs.
Speaking to Joy Sports in a special all-access interview at the Right to Dream school, the Englishman disclosed that it was a huge risk buying Nordsjaelland.
“I borrowed 10 million pounds from a friend in London [to buy FC Nordsjaelland]. And it was a huge risk.
“We just decided to do that, otherwise we're just gonna stay in the status quo. We think our kids have so much potential. We were so frustrated seeing some of the challenges that we couldn't overcome.
“One day, I was in a board meeting and then one of the board members, Kofi Anku, said, Tom, what's the solution? I said, the only solution is to buy our own club in Europe.
“He was like, okay, go and do it. I knew a guy who'd always said, look, if you ever wanna make a like real player or anything, just call me. His name is Bob Finch.
“I said, look, I've got this idea. Me and a guy, Joe Mulberry, we've done a lot of analysis of all the markets. We think Denmark is unique for a number of reasons and no one's really like thought about it before. And so we wanna like take this big step.
“We went and made a pitch to him and we thought like it would take some months.
“We went and sat in the pub in Wimbledon after the pitch. He called 30 minutes later and said I’ll give you all the money.”
You can watch Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo’s special interview with the Right to Dream founder on Saturday, June 15 at 7:30 pm on the Joy News channel.
Latest Stories
-
Message from the Morning Man: No Choice
14 mins -
Jospong Group and ISSER forge partnership to strengthen social and economic research in Ghana
14 mins -
Food service establishments to apply for advertisement approval from FDA
15 mins -
Tracey Grey releases new song ‘Dangerous’
19 mins -
McDan Group CEO unveils vision for African Logistics Transformation at CILT conference
25 mins -
CAF Awards 2024: No Kudus and Victor Boniface as full list of nominees revealed
33 mins -
AfESC partners with UESD for environmental research collaboration
39 mins -
James Gardener and I are good friends – Benedicta Gafah denies dating rumours
49 mins -
UN@79: Ghana calls for peaceful settlement to ongoing conflicts around the world
52 mins -
Volta Regional Health Director calls for enhanced sub-district healthcare at GPAA’s 21st Annual Conference
57 mins -
Deputy Tano North Chief Imam urges stakeholders to cooperate with EC for successful Election 2024
1 hour -
Independent presidential candidate proposes new economic development model for Ghana
1 hour -
Greater Accra House of Chiefs elects Nungua Mantse as new President
1 hour -
Bank of Ghana hosts high-level Fintech networking event in Washington DC
1 hour -
Cholera outbreak claims two lives in Ada
2 hours