It would come as a surprise to many football fans that there are certain football clubs that own other clubs. In most cases, football clubs are typically owned by organizations, governments, businessmen, oligarchs, and even narcos. However, today you will find out about the soccer clubs that own other clubs.
Please note that in this list, we will not include a single person, family, or organization that owns multiple clubs. For example, Watford and Udinese are owned by the Pozzo family. RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, and Red Bull Brasil are owned by Austrian energy drink giants Red Bull. Manchester City, New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Club Atletico Torque, Girona FC are owned by Sheikh Mansour’s private equity company Abu Dhabi United Group.
With that said, here are the football clubs that own other clubs.
1. Atlético Madrid
(Photo by Burak Akbulut/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Atlético Madrid co-owns Liga MX club Atlético San Luis, and the Canadian Premier League side Atlético Ottawa.
Atletico San Luis is a Mexican soccer team based in the city of San Luis Potosi. The 9-year-old club competes in the Liga MX, the premier soccer league in Mexico. The club is owned by Spanish team Atletico Madrid. Madrid took over the club after buying a 50% stake in the Mexican team in 2017.
The goal of the Spanish giants is to use San Luis as a sort of testing ground to groom their exciting talents before returning to the parent club. Los Atleticos play in colors similar to the jersey their owners wear, which is a red and white stripes combination on red shorts and socks.
Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional soccer club that was established in 2020 by Spanish club Atlético Madrid. The club’s crest and colours are also similar to that of Atlético Madrid.
2. AS Monaco
French football club AS Monaco has owned Belgian club Cercle Brugge since 2017.
The Belgian side has been in existence since 1899. They were founded by former students of the Saint Francis Xavier sporting institute. Over the years, they have experienced relegations and promotions but have continued to remain relevant in Belgian football. A series of financial troubles in the mid-2010s led to their eventual take over in 2017 by French side AS Monaco, who in turn are owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.
The relationship between AS Monaco and Cercle Brugge have reaped benefits. In 2018, Cercle won the Proximus League — the Belgian second division — and gained promotion to the Belgian top-flight courtesy of a goal by Monaco loanee Irvin Cardona.
3. Feyenoord
Dutch side Feyenoord owns West African Football Academy (WAFA), a Ghanaian professional football club based in the Volta Region.
The club was established in 1999 under the name Feyenoord academy to find young talented African footballers. However, in August 2014, it was rebranded the name to West African Football Academy and currently competes in the Ghanaian Premier League.
4. Persib Bandung
Persib Bandung is the richest club in Southeast Asia and one of the most successful football clubs in Indonesia.
Persib Bandung owns Bandung United FC. Bandung United is an Indonesian football club that currently competes in Liga 3, the third tier of Indonesian football. The club was established in 2019 after. Persib Bandung took over Blitar United and subsequently relocated it to Bandung. It is now the feeder club of Persib Bandung.
