Gino Pozzo is known to many for being the owner of the Watford Football Club of England. He is hailed for being the enthusiastic man that took a team from a place of complete oblivion and made them top dogs. This achievement made him one of the most talked about football figures in the entire Europe. Gino Pozzo speaks about his enthusiasm for football and explains why everyone should be a fan of his team, Watford FC.
Gino Pozzo was born in Udine Italy. Both of his parents were devout football enthusiasts. He spent his early childhood in Italy before he moved to the United States at the age of 18. He attended Harvard and earned his Master’s Degree in finance. Upon the completion of his graduate studies, Gino moved to Spain where he spent a good chunk of his adulthood. It was here where he got married and spent the next 20 years of his life.
In 2013, Pozzo moved once again and this time, he settled in London. He started taking a keen interest in football and became more intricately involved in the daily operations of the club, which is located along Vicarage Road.
The legacy connected to Gino’s Family
The Pozzo family is famous across the globe. They are famous for their passion for football, which seems to be imprinted in their genes. For instance, Gino’s father, Gianpaolo bought the Udinese Football Club in Gino Pozzo’s Italian hometown, long before Gino Pozzo would understand what it meant to be passionate about the game. He bought the Watford Football club with the proceeds from the family’s tool-making business.
There are generations of Gino Pozzo’s family that were involved in the tool-making business. These investments have become the reason the family has gained their fame. They are so good in managing football clubs that in 2008, they had to sell the family business and focus solely on developing and managing their football empire.
When asked about the change in their investment priorities, Gino Pozzo states that while it is true their business focus as a family has changed, they still have the capacity to invest in other fields that they feel would fit them well. Gino was interviewed by the Watford Observer. He explained that football started as a passion for them, and later developed into a full-blown business opportunity.
Business Ownership Model
The secret ingredient which has made their business as successful as it has been Gino. They fondly refer to him as the prodigal son because of the amount of time that he has spent abroad. They continuously state that the move to purchase Granada FC, the Spanish team that Gino scouted and approved purchase of in 2009, was an important step in their sports investment journey.
Buying Watford
Watford is another club that puzzled many when Gino Pozzo set his sights on it. At the time when he made the proposal for purchase, the club was knee-depth in debt, they were struggling to make their ends meet and they seemed to be ready for a complete shutdown. By 2015, all of the Pozzo Clubs were competing at the top of their respective country premier league and other major tournaments. Gino, however, sold most of his shares at Granada FC to concentrate more on Watford.
The Game-Changer
Gino Pozzo admits that running a football club needs you to have more than just passion. He claims that since football is an international and multimillion-dollar business, he always has to make sure that he has all the expertise needed for the smooth and successful running of the empire.
It is clear that with Gino Pozzo’s business acumen and passion for football, the family businesses will reach all possible heights of success.
