Everton

Although it sounds simple to consider possible strategies of a football club, in reality the situation is more complicated.

Let me explain in a slightly convoluted way:

Some of you may know I am an inherent fan of the Liverpool FC because my father was one. Nonetheless, if you want to study business strategy, Everton, the less famous club of the same city, would be far more interesting.

You see? Liverpool is the leading club at the Merseyside county. It is a global brand. Its  annual income is over €250 million,  expenditure on salary  around €150 million. It had won 18 trophies of the English League Championship  (a record only broke by Manchester United recently), and 5 in the European Cup / UEFA Champions League (only surpassed by Real Madrid and A.C. Milan).

And, Everton? What do we have here? The annual budget is around half of its wealthy neighbour. However, when I check the record, it's not at all humble: It had 9 trophies of the English League Championship (but the most recent one was in 1987), and once in the now obsolete European Cup Winners' Cup. The problem is the Club is very much less famous, and the brand is, if any, local. For example, have you ever heard of a fan of Everton in Hong Kong?

PS. The most famous product of Everton, at least for all foes of Manchester United, is David Moyes. That's another story.