In the final part of my series of articles based on my trip to Cambodia in March 2022, I have taken a look into the elusive Mr King, Wang Yaohui. While Wang was born in China, I’ve previously published a copy of his Cambodian diplomatic passport in the name of Wan Sokha and mentioned his connections with businesses there. Were the rumours of his connections with Vong Pech true?
In the second of my series of reports from what I learned in Phnom Penh, I want to talk about the businesses Vong Pech owns. One of them, Graticity Real Estate Development Ltd own a stake in Birmingham Sports Holdings and provide one of the streams of revenue that the Hong Kong listed company have that isn’t Blues. The big question is though how much money is coming in from Cambodia – and will it ever be enough to potentially help release BCFC from its Hong Kong parent.
Last week I visited Phnom Penh, Cambodia to attempt to understand and report more about the convoluted ownership of Birmingham City. While the appointment of Ian Dutton as Managing Director in Birmingham has bought some much needed change to the way the club Is being run on a day-to-day level, I wanted to learn more about the owners above him; who they are and what their intentions are.
While Birmingham City played out a draw with Hull City in the race to mediocrity in the Championship on Saturday, more uncertainty has been heaped on Chelsea in the Premier League following sanctions placed on their owner Roman Abramovich by the UK Government. Watching things unravel at Stamford Bridge has got a few Blues fans twitchy wondering if a Chinese atrocity akin to Russia invading Ukraine could put Blues in a similar boat.
Birmingham Sports Holding Ltd announced their interim results to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday following a board meeting held by the company. The results, which are unaudited, cover the six month period to December 31, 2021.
Birmingham City crashed out of the FA Cup with barely a whimper on Saturday, losing 1-0 to League One side Plymouth Argyle. The final result might say that the Pilgrims won after extra time but the sad fact is a 4-0 scoreline in 90 minutes would not have flattered them. Yet the worst part of it all seems to be the number of Blues fans (including myself) who were just resigned to defeat and numb to the pain.
Birmingham City slumped to a 4-0 defeat on Saturday at Blackburn Rovers, leaving them 17th in the table. While the heavy defeat has brought out some critics of Lee Bowyer’s tenure as Head Coach, there has also been an increasing amount of talk online about how the ownership of the club might change.
Last month I wrote about the family connections between the elusive Mr King, Wang Yaohui and Vong Pech, who has the largest financial interest in Birmingham City. Feedback from that article suggests there is still some confusion as to just who this Mr King guy is, and why I’ve dedicated so much of my time to uncovering connections between him and the titular shareholders of Birmingham Sports Holding. In this article I’m hoping to rectify that somewhat.
Birmingham City blew a 2-0 lead on Saturday to draw 2-2 with Cardiff City at St Andrew’s. It was a bitter pill for Lee Bowyer to swallow, with the Blues Head Coach admitting that his side weren’t good enough in either box. With 22 games gone Blues lie in 15th place, eight points shy of the playoffs and the same number shy of the drop zone.
One of the most complex things to understand about Birmingham City is just who owns the club. While the simple answer would be to point to the Hong Kong listed company Birmingham Sports Holdings, the ownership of that company is opaque due to the number of investment vehicles incorporated in the British Virgin Islands who own stakes in the company. Throw into the mix people owning stakes in the club directly and you’ve got a mess.
