Mike Garlick, former president of English Burnley, with whom he was promoted to the Premier twice and reached the Europa League in 2018, is the new owner of Antequera, a Malaga team that plays in the Primera RFEF. The businessman seeks to repeat the feat he achieved with the British team: “I felt I could do something like in Burnley because it is a community that lives football from the heart,” he said.
The English billionaire was in charge of his city team for six years, from 2015 to 2021, when he chose to sell the club in exchange for 200 million pounds (about 234 million euros). Later, in 2022, he decided to acquire St. Joseph’s FC of the Gibraltar league, with which he is competing to become champion.
Although Burnley achieved two promotions to the Premier League with him at the helm, Garlick wants to go “step by step, continue with the project that Ángel González (current president) has started and take it to the highest possible level in the future”. Likewise, the businessman has declared: “I come so that the club evolves, not to make a revolution.”
Furthermore, the former president of Burnley wants citizens to get involved with the team, since “the project will not be mine, but will belong to the city. To do this, I would like to have players from Antequera playing for Antequera,” he commented.
The figures have not yet been revealed, but the club has become a Sports Limited Company (SAD) so that Garlick could acquire 100% of the shares. The billionaire has also acknowledged that Antequera was not the only option he had, since “he was looking for a club that was close to where I live, Marbella. I have seen several teams in the south of Spain, but here football is experienced differently.” “he noted.
The 41,000 inhabitants of this Malaga city are excited. Currently, his team is in seventh position in Group II of the First Federation, five points from the playoff. Garlick’s arrival is extra motivation for fans who dream of seeing his team in the First Division.
