The Nigeria Professional Football League delegation made up of Directors of the League Management Company, the Nigeria Football Federation Board members and 11 NPFL Club Chairmen and Managers have been challenged to set clear commercial and sporting objectives for their club with a plan for achieving the vision.
The advice came at a session when Valencia CF of Spain played host to the NPFL delegation to the NPFL All-Star LaLiga tour on Wednesday morning at the club’s 93-year old Mestalla Stadium, during which the club’s Commercial and Marketing Director, Peter Draper, conducted a marketing seminar, presenting the club’s marketing vision as well as touching on global marketing practices.
The delegation included the Chairman of the League Management Company, Shehu Dikko; the Chief Operating Officer, Hon. Nduka Irabor; the Chairman of Club Chairmen, Managers Association, Barrister Isaac Danladi; and independent Director, Dr. Isaac Ayodele.
The lecture came a day after the NPFL Delegation were also hosted at the Valencia CF Academy where it was disclosed that the business culture of the club was to encourage the training and development of local talents through the academy system to provide a minimum of 50 per cent of the first team players and possibly sell the exceptional talents who attract profitable offers in the future to earn revenue.
It was an opportunity for the Club Managers and Chairmen to have firsthand knowledge of the operations of modern club business from Draper, whose CV includes heading the team that laid the foundation for the marketing and commercial direction of English Premier League club, Manchester United, in 1999.
Drawing from his experience in sports administration and marketing, Draper began the session by stating that the starting point in club management rests with understanding and appreciating the simple things football clubs and sports associations ought to be doing and declared that the club chairman or chief executive officer is the number one salesman in the organization.