Gino Pozzo

Last updated

Gino Pozzo
Born1965 (age 58–59)
NationalityItalian
Alma mater Harvard University [1]
OccupationBusinessman
Known forManaging director and owner of Watford
SpouseCarla
Children2 daughters, 1 son
Father Giampaolo Pozzo

Gino Pozzo (born 1965) [2] is an Italian businessman and managing director and legal owner of Watford, who owns a sports investment group focused on the football sector.

Contents

Early life

He is son of Italian businessman Giampaolo Pozzo and a member of the prominent Italian business-owning Pozzo family.

Career

Pozzo got his start in football as soon as he left university in his early 20s and has built his career around talent scouting and development of high-potential players. [2] Pozzo is reportedly heavily involved in the day-to-day running of Watford, [3] as well as negotiating transfers between his father's football club Udinese in Italy. [4]

Over the past decade, Pozzo and his family have become notable for their multi-club ownership strategies, including transferring players between Watford, Udinese and Granada (with Granada sold to Chinese businessman Jiang Lizhang in June 2016). [5] [6]

Pozzo runs an international scouting team of 25 to 30 people who seek players through attending every significant competition around the world, especially in developing markets like South America, Africa and Eastern Europe. [7] [8] Pozzo is reported to have a pattern of investing small sums of money into high-risk players. His larger clubs' network has helped his business to minimize player acquisition costs while maximizing the profit from surging transfer fees as players are transferred and loaned among 'sister clubs' and later sold at a premium achieving high returns. [9] [8]

Pozzo's career experience and business model has led to identifying talent at his three clubs and has been consistently applied to Udinese for over 25 years, leading some to call it the "talent factory". [10] Granada and Watford achieved promotion to La Liga and Premier League, respectively, through Pozzo's network and transformation from distressed situations. Pozzo's success includes the development of the clubs' own stadiums. [7] [8] [11]

Watford

In June 2012, he and his father acquired Watford from previous owner Laurence Bassini. [12] Pozzo became the sole owner in 2014. [13]

Pozzo is often found at the training grounds and has been known to monitor all players through GPS devices that track the players' performance data while in training. [7] He is known to have minimal contact with players and addresses them as little as once per year, yet observes his teams locally on a weekly basis. [2]

All major decisions regarding the trading of players are made between Gino Pozzo, Scott Duxbury (chief executive of Watford), and Gianluca Nani (sporting director of Watford). They have been known to acquire many players from South America, citing lower wage costs however still being highly skilled athletes. [2] [9]

Watford were promoted from the Football League Championship to the Premier League on 25 April 2015. [11] Since 2015, Watford's annual revenues have increased by more than £100m. [9]

In 2019, Watford made it to the FA Cup Final but were beaten by Manchester City. [14]

In the 2019–20 season, Watford finished in 19th place in the Premier League and were relegated to the EFL Championship.

In the 2020–21 season, Watford finished in second place in the EFL Championship and were promoted back into the Premier League.

In the 2021–22 season, Watford finished in 19th place in the Premier League and were relegated back to the EFL Championship.

In the 2022–23 season, Watford finished in eleventh place in the EFL Championship and remained in the division. In the 2023–24 season, Watford finished in 15th place, their worst result since the 2009–10 season.

Personal life

Pozzo is married to Carla Pozzo and they have two daughters and a son together. They have been living outside London since they left Spain. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watford F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Watford Football Club is a professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orestis Karnezis</span> Greek footballer (born 1985)

Orestis-Spyridon Karnezis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odion Ighalo</span> Nigerian footballer (born 1989)

Odion Jude Ighalo is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Saudi Pro League club Al-Wehda and the Nigeria national team.

Giampaolo Pozzo is an Italian businessman, currently the owner of Udinese in Italy. His son Gino is the owner of Watford in England. Pozzo sold the family business, tool maker Freud, to Robert Bosch in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Pereyra</span> Argentine footballer (born 1991)

Roberto Maximiliano Pereyra is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Greek Super League club AEK Athens. A versatile player, he is capable of playing a variety of positions such as on the wing, in central midfield, attacking midfield or as a second striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matěj Vydra</span> Czech footballer

Matěj Vydra is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a striker for Viktoria Plzeň and the Czech Republic national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Deulofeu</span> Spanish footballer (born 1994)

Gerard Deulofeu Lázaro is a Spanish professional footballer from Catalonia who plays for Serie A club Udinese. Mainly a forward, he can also play as a winger on both flanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dimitri Foulquier</span> Guadeloupean footballer (born 1993)

Dimitri Christophe Foulquier is a professional footballer who plays as a right back for La Liga club Valencia. Born in France, he plays for the Guadeloupe national team.

Laurence Bassini is an English businessman. He was the chairman of Watford from May 2011 to June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molla Wagué</span> Footballer (born 1991)

Molla Wagué is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back. Born in France, he represented the country at U19 youth level before switching to the Mali senior national team.

Watford Football Club is a football club from Watford, Hertfordshire, England. The club played in the 2012–13 Football League Championship for the sixth consecutive season since relegation from the Premier League in 2006–07. The club also competed in the FA Cup and the Football League Cup.

Isaac Success Ajayi is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Masina</span> Moroccan football player (born 1994)

Adam Masina is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Italian Serie A club Torino, and the Morocco national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adalberto Peñaranda</span> Venezuelan footballer (born 1997)

Adalberto Peñaranda Maestre is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Categoría Primera A club Atlético Bucaramanga on loan from Sarajevo.

Domingos Quina is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Udinese.

Keinan Vincent Joseph Davis is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Udinese.

Aly Mallé is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for TFF First League club Şanlıurfaspor.

Benjamin Lewis Wilmot is an English professional footballer who plays for EFL Championship club Stoke City. He primarily plays in central defence, though he can also be deployed in midfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matheus Aiás</span> Brazilian footballer

Matheus Aiás Barrozo Rodrigues, known as Matheus Aiás, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Armenian Premier League club FC Noah.

The 2020–21 season was the 122nd season in existence of Watford Football Club and their first season back in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League in the previous season. Watford competed in the FA Cup and in the EFL Cup.

References

  1. ↑ https://theathletic.com/1652962/2020/04/08/pozzo-recruitement-scouting-watford-udinese/ [ bare URL ]
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Burnton, Simon (17 May 2019). "'A demanding perfectionist': how Gino Pozzo did the unthinkable at Watford". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  3. ↑ Smith, Frank (6 September 2014). "The Pozzos increased influence in transfer deals and the running of Watford was a major factor in Gian Luca Nani departure". Watford Observer . Newsquest . Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Smith, Frank (14 July 2012). "Former West Ham United CEO Scott Duxbury explains why the Pozzos bought Watford". Watford Observer. Newsquest. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  5. ↑ Price, Harry (7 March 2013). "Why What The Pozzo Family Is Doing At Watford, Udinese & Granada Is Admirable, Not Wrong". Sport.co.uk. Digital Sports Group. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  6. ↑ Lolli, Andrea (11 July 2009). "ESCLUSIVA TMW – La famiglia Pozzo compra il Granada". TUTTOmercatoWEB (in Italian). Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 Burnton, Simon (4 August 2015). "How the Pozzo family have fuelled Watford's Premier League dreams". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 Marcotti, Gabriele (26 April 2015). "The Pozzos: European Soccer's Ascendant Family". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Ahmed, Murad (31 October 2018). "How to scout a football team". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Smith, Rory (24 August 2011). "Udinese v Arsenal: Italian's ability to buy low and sell high puts Arsene Wenger's eye for young talent in the shade" . Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  11. 1 2 Malin, Ian (25 April 2015). "Brighton 0–2 Watford – Championship match report". The Observer. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Udinese's Pozzo family complete Watford takeover". BBC Sport . 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  13. ↑ Smith, Frank (19 December 2014). "Gino took sole control of Watford in the summer". Watford Observer. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Gray, Ryan (19 April 2019). "Gino Pozzo and Scott Duxbury issue statement of thanks". Watford Observer. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.