England has become a particularly attractive place of investment for foreign owners who want a chance to get on the Premier League gravy train and who better to recruit to be the public face of consortiums than ex-footballers?
And in a week that has seen Brad Friedel come close to buying Shrewsbury and Alexandre Pato purchase Northampton Town, here’s a full XI of former players who now own clubs in the country.
Friedel has successfully passed the owners’ and directors’ tests meaning he is a few dotted Is and crossed Ts away from becoming Shrewsbury director as part of a takeover of the League Two club.
This is the latest American gamble on English football with a consortium led by businessman Scott Davidson hoping they can move the Shrews up the EFL.
They’ve got a long way to go though after Shrewsbury followed relegation from League One with a 19th place finish in League Two last season.
Neville was part of the Class of ‘92 that famously took over Salford. But since May 2025, he and Beckham have been the only two former United players left.
Fans were not initially happy, especially as the owners changed the club colours from orange to red, but there has undoubtedly been success on the pitch.
The club have experienced four promotions in five seasons, but now find themselves stuck in League Two where they have been since 2019.
A return to orange and a new badge was met with pre-season predictions that Salford would be one of the favourites to win League Two this season, but they are currently in seventh following a slow start.
A YouTube star running a football club will have plenty of raised eyebrows from ‘proper football men’; but Hashtag United’s endeavour gained a lot of credibility when Cesar Azpilicueta came on board as a shareholder in 2018.
The former Chelsea man said he was inspired to do so after meeting creator Spencer Carmichael-Brown and that he “believed in its ambition, its people, and its vision for building a football club with a genuinely engaged community.”
The men’s team had recently made it to the Isthmian League Premier Division but requested to be relegated due to being financially “unsustainable”.
The women’s side meanwhile is in the FA Women’s National League, the third-highest division.
Former Arsenal flying fullback Bellerin has always been known for doing things a little out of the ordinary and has a focus on projects he believes in.
One of those is Forest Green Rovers, in which Bellerin became the second-largest shareholder in 2020.
Bellerin is a vegan and Forest Green were declared by FIFA as “the greenest football club in the world”. They are currently 13th in the National League.
While Inter Miami is his more famous investment, Beckham gets on this list through his Salford connection.
He was part of the initial Class of ‘92 takeover, although he appeared in far fewer promotional photoshoots, and alongside Neville was the only survivor of a change in ownership in 2023.
Former midfielder Palios made over 200 appearances for Tranmere in his playing days and after finally hanging up his boots at the age of 58 (yes, 58) he would go on to own them.
He was the FA’s chief executive in the early 2000s but resigned in 2004 and in 2014, he and his wife took a controlling stake in Tranmere.
He has been chairman ever since with the club in League Two, although he has said there is a proposed takeover in the works.
The Ballon d’Or winner was bizarrely part of a consortium that took over Swansea in April 2025.
The Croatian is just one of a number who are part of the investment group owned by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen and other names include Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.
On the announcement, Modric said “This is an exciting opportunity. Swansea has a strong identity, an incredible fanbase, and the ambition to compete at the highest level. Playing at the highest level, I believe I can provide my experience to the club. My goal is to support the club’s growth in a positive way and to help to build an exciting future.”
Considering he is still playing, it’s fair to say Modric is not overly involved with the day-to-day running of Swansea as of yet.
Bromley-born boys Zaha and Stormzy teamed up in 2023 to purchase local non-league side AFC Croydon Athletic.
The club was founded in 2012 after Croydon Athletic folded and play their football in the Isthmian League South East Division, which is the eighth tier of English football.
Cantona has always been a hipster and decided after visiting FC United of Manchester’s Broadhurst Park, that he would become a co-owner of the breakaway Manchester United club.
This is not quite the financial commitment as others on this list as FC United is owned by 1682 co-owners and anyone can join as a member, but it is still a reputable move for a man who clearly does not like Jim Ratcliffe.
One way to ensure you never get dropped is to literally own the club you play for.
Carroll has opted for that route, having purchased a stake in Dagenham and Redbridge in February of this year, joining them as the rarely seen player-owner.
They are currently second in the National League South, but Carroll did manage to get himself sent off in a match against Dorking. One of a few recognisable names still playing in non-league.
Brazilian football and Northampton Town is not something that had perhaps ever been linked until recently.
The former AC Milan striker Pato was the surprise public face of a consortium looking to buy 70% of the League Two club and the deal was confirmed at the end of September,
Pato was even seen pitchside at Sixfields in a claret-coloured suit so he must be serious.
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