Glamour of the big names but football is just about winning
Tom Brady is the latest big name from America to get involved in English football.
He is now a minority owner of Birmingham City and there was a blaze of publicity as the announcement was made last Thursday.
He has been a winner all during his own sporting career and, indeed, is viewed by many as the all-time greatest NFL player.
He won seven Super Bowls, a quite remarkable achievement.
I’m sure he’d be happy with one promotion over here to get Birmingham back into the English Premier League.
But it takes a helluva lot of money and commitment to do so.
He is just one of a few guys from the US. There is also Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas at Leeds United.
The Ryder Cup golfers have invested in the Elland Road side and we’ll see where that leads after the relegation to the Championship last season.
It remains to be seen what the overall aim will be from Tom, Jordan and Justin at their respective clubs.
But I think that Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have set a standard at Wrexham.
They have been all in and really embraced their club and the local community.
They all got their “Hollywood moment” last season when they won promotion to English League Two.
It was great to see them being rewarded as Ryan and Rob really rolled their sleeves up and got wired in.
But it’s a constant thing and not something that you can dip in and out of.
It can also be financially draining and you need deep, deep pockets to keep things going.
So, let’s see where all of this goes in the coming campaign at Birmingham, Leeds and Wrexham.
The publicity is great and the big names being attached is attractive. Ultimately, though, it all comes down to winning games of football.