Lincoln City owner Ron Fowler: ‘Wrexham is a one-off but shows what can be done’
US money pouring into English football is no new phenomenon, but for an illustration of the appetite among American investors for a slice of our national game you can’t do much better than Lincoln City.
A club that plays in a 130-year-old stadium and has bounced in and out of the English Football League is the latest to have a US sports investor as its controlling shareholder after Ron Fowler, the former owner of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres, increased his stake and succeeded Clive Nates as chairman.
And while Fowler, the 81-year-old chairman of Liquid Investments, insists he is not in it to make money, nor is he about to follow the Wrexham playbook of Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac by bankrolling a departure from the careful financial management that has already taken Lincoln to within sight of the second tier for the first time since 1960.
“To say my ambitions are beyond where they are right now is probably not totally true. I love where we are, the way the team’s competing, and hopefully we will continue to perform at that level,” says Fowler, who first invested in Lincoln in 2024.
“We’re not going to be the Americans coming in, spending a whole lot of money and not knowing what we’re doing. If it was a situation, at my age, where you needed to change everything we wouldn’t be doing it.
“I think Wrexham is a one-off. I’m not an actor with Hollywood money, but it shows what can be done. In our own way, we will do what’s best for Lincoln City, and I think we have the management group to take us beyond where we are now.”
Fowler can draw on his experience in sports ownership, not just at the Padres from 2012 to 2020, but also with the San Diego Sockers, who burned bright in 1980s US indoor football, and sees Lincoln as a plucky David taking on Goliaths.
“In baseball, we were in the same division as the [LA] Dodgers, who had about $300-400m more revenue every year than we had, but we found a way to compete with them. I look at Lincoln being in the same situation. We make a good David,” he adds.
“I lost a lot of money from ‘87 to ‘91 owning the Sockers. They had four beautiful trophies to show for it, but they were expensive. But football, as we call it here, you just have to love it. And I happen to love football, so we’re sure as heck not doing it for the money.”
Lincoln City eye stadium redevelopment
Lincoln’s canny stewardship under CEO Liam Scully has helped them consistently punch above their weight and play a part in the development of Premier League talent such as England international Morgan Rogers and Wales star Brennan Johnson.
If they go up to the Championship, revenues from tickets and media rights will increase, but so will costs in the form of player wages. Sustainable investment, then, is the watchword and Fowler’s additional capital will stay in the club, allowing them to improve the 10,669-capacity LNER Stadium.
“We love our stadium. It’s a phenomenal atmosphere, it’s an outstanding amphitheater and place to play football, but it’s also 120 years old and it needs a bit of love and attention,” says Scully.
“You’ve got to get that balance right between making it a real, authentic place to watch football, but equally a modern sports venue that’s able to deliver the revenues to support, right now, a League One football club.”
Scully is careful not to tempt fate by talking too much about promotion, having been a non-league team as recently as 2017. While Fowler is realistic, he admits he would love to help Lincoln reach the top flight for the first time in their 142-year history.
“Never say never. I’m an old man, I don’t know if they’ll get there in my lifetime, but if you’re in this game, that’s what you’re in the game for, to get to the highest level. From the heart, heck yes, that’s one of the reasons we do this.”