American owners may not be popular in Manchester or Liverpool but Sunderland's Ellis Short is a hero

By Brian McNally

Published 10:33 12/03/10

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American owners of Premier League clubs have a popularity rating at present that is somewhere south of greedy bankers and grasping politicians.

But at Sunderland a publicity-shy Yank by the name of Ellis Short is winning the sort of plaudits that have so far eluded the Glazer family at Manchester United and Tom Hicks and George Gillett at Liverpool.

Short may not be in the same financial league as Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City or Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, but he has emerged as a genuine and generous benefactor at a time when football is awash with tales of speculators trying to take money out of clubs.

Short quietly took control at the Stadium of Light in 2008 when the recession in Ireland forced the Drumaville consortium to pull out of football.

With a minimum of fuss and publicity, billionaire Short ensured that chairman Niall Quinn and chief executive Steve Walton had the funds and backing to keep chasing Sunderland's dream, of becoming a top ten Premier club.

The departure of the tempestuous and big spending Roy Keane from the managerial office didn't faze Short although the subsequent upheaval no doubt slowed down the Black Cats progress as first Ricky Sbragia and then Steve Bruce took control in the aftermath.

But Short's commitment to ensure that Sunderland would have a squad of  quality players to give them a realistic chance of making a fist of their Premier League chance saw him find nearly £30million to bring in striking sensation Darren Bent, Lorik Cana, Lee Cattermole. Michael Turner and Matt Kilgallon.

That sort of investment means that Sunderland will post a loss of around £26million when their accounts are published in the next few days, while wages have risen by £12million in the last year.

But Short has shown a willingness to back Sunderland with hard cash  for transfers even to the extent of paying for Turner and Cattermole up front so that the Black Cats got their men for the minimum price.

But Short's most impressive act of generosity was to effectively write off £48million worth of loans that he was owed by the club.

Sunderland's books have been significantly strengthened by the wealthy American's decision to follow the lead of Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour by transforming his  loans to the club into equity.

Short's generosity in writing off the loan repayments he was due in exchange for shares has put Sunderland on a solid financial footing and added to the club's stability.

Their bankers, Barclays, are more than happy with the financial performance of the club and the balance sheet that has been solidified by Short's philanthropy.

The only way Short can get his money back is by selling the club for a profit in the future. No wonder Chairman Quinn is unstinting in his praise for the man from Kansas- whose strategy is radically different to what we have seen from his fellow countrymen at United and Liverpool.

Short and Sunderland accept that virtually every Premier League club runs at a loss but they are determined to show that their model can be  both sustainable and successful.

And their caution and transparency is in marked contrast to the fiscal fiascos at Portsmouth and West Ham.

Chief executive  Walton said: "The money is effectively there forever and can't be withdrawn – so it's a very powerful thing to do.

"We just did it and didn't make a song and dance about it. That made us much stronger."

And Quinn revealed:  “If we hadn’t bought those players we’d have turned over a healthy profit but we’ve chosen to invest in top players because we believe they will make us a better club.

“People will read our accounts and see a “loss” but the reality is that we’ve invested additional money, above our income, to bring significantly better players to the club, including breaking our all-time transfer record to secure the signing of Darren Bent."

Sunderland may still have some way to go to reach the Premier League's top ten but their business plan is far more sensible than most of their counterparts.

And for that they owe a huge debt of gratitude to Ellis Short.