Its 2012 annual report describes Manchester United as “an emerging growth company”. Fans of a football club founded in 1878 have always found that amusing. In his nearly 27 years as manager, Sir Alex Ferguson has won 38 trophies. When it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the summer of 2012, the club had a “global community of 659m followers” – aka fans. Few companies in its particular line of business are as mature as Manchester United.
曼联(Manchester United)在2012年年报中将自己描述为“一家新兴成长型公司”。考虑到这家足球俱乐部早在1878年便已成立，球迷们总是认为这一描述很搞笑。亚历克斯•弗格森爵士(Sir Alex Ferguson)在执掌曼联教鞭的近27年里，率队夺得38座奖杯。当曼联2012年夏在纽约证券交易所(NYSE)上市时，该俱乐部已“在全球拥有6.59亿拥趸（也就是球迷）”。很少有公司能在自己所在的行业像曼联那般成熟。
The term begins to make sense, however, with Sir Alex’s retirement, announced yesterday. More than most businesses, successful football clubs suffer an extreme form of key man risk. In the psychology of football – a sport that manufactures dreams and illusions, not an industry that makes widgets – success and failure embody the personal qualities of the man in charge. That is the manager, not the owner. This risk looms so large at Manchester United that it was among the risk factors in the listing prospectus.
但随着弗格森昨天宣布退休，“新兴成长型公司”一词又开始有了一些道理。关键人物的离去会为企业带来很大风险，这一点在成功的足球俱乐部身上表现得尤为突出。足球是一种制造梦想和幻想的运动，而不是什么生产小物件的行业。在足球界的心理中，成败是“主政者”个人品质的体现。这位“主政者”是主教练，而不是球队老板。“主政者”离职对曼联影响之大，甚至被列入该俱乐部上市招股说明书中的“风险因素”部分。
Sir Alex’s successor will have to start from scratch, as all football managers inevitably must. Sir Alex’s tenure has coincided with the death and rebirth of Manchester United – from has-been in November 1986 to a global behemoth valued at $3bn today. Its shares have risen a third since the IPO. It is on target for fiscal 2013 revenue of £350m. The route to financial nirvana has been sponsorship, including a deal with insurance company Aon to rebrand its training ground. That followed its $600m, multiyear shirt sponsorship deal with General Motors.
弗格森的继任者必须从头做起，这是所有足球教练不可避免的任务。在弗格森的任期内，曼联经历了覆灭与重生——1986年11月的曼联犹如明日黄花，如今的它却已是价值30亿美元的全球巨头。曼联股价在首次公开发行(IPO)后已累计上涨三分之一。该俱乐部正向2013财年营收3.5亿英镑的目标迈进。赞助合同造就了曼联的“财务天堂”——它先是与怡安保险(Aon)签下了训练场的冠名合同，而后又与通用汽车(General Motors)签下了为期多年、价值6亿美元的球衣赞助合同。
With David Gill stepping down as chief executive next month, the club faces a lot of change. That would be cause for alarm at many companies. For Manchester United, it should not matter – most investors must also be fans. If they are not, there are other “emerging growth companies” out there for those unprepared to live the dreams and illusions of football.
随着大卫•吉尔(David Gill)于下月卸任行政总裁一职，该俱乐部将面临重大变革。这种情况若发生在其他公司身上，市场恐怕有理由感到担忧。但这对曼联而言应该没什么大不了的——它的投资者肯定大多也是它的球迷。如果这些人不是它的球迷、没打算体验足球的梦想与幻想，那么有其他的“新兴成长型公司”在向他们招手。