Bond with Valencia fans key for Neville, says commercial chief

By Tim Hanlon

REUTERS – Valencia coach Gary Neville’s determination to build a strong bond with the fans will boost his chances of success at a club with close links to the community, says commercial director Peter Draper.

Neville faces a tough task to win over the notoriously demanding Valencia supporters and was immediately asked by a local journalist during his presentation how he intended to show he deserved the job and was not just another friend of billionaire owner Peter Lim.

His predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo, also arrived with Lim’s backing but little experience, but never managed fully to win over the supporters, despite qualifying for a place in the Champions League.

“The way that (Neville) answered that question and wants to get the fans on board shows he realises the need to integrate,” Draper told Reuters.

“He knows what he is doing and he wasn’t joking when he said about getting up at 6 am to learn Spanish. He realises that it will be important to communicate and speak the language.”

Draper says he has been taken aback since arriving at the club earlier this year by how closely Valencia are followed, both on and off the pitch.

“I have been amazed at how important the club is to the people here and how political it is — I think more so than Barcelona, even,” he said.

“In England people are interested in the football but not really in the other issues off the pitch, but I get situations here where people recognise me in the street.

“This is why we are trying so hard to get the local people involved because we realise how important it is to the club.”

Draper built a reputation as marketing guru at sportswear firm Umbro and then, in 1999, Manchester United, where over a seven-year period he negotiated commercial deals with top brands.

And he recognises Neville’s value to the club in that respect, too.

“Gary is also a great commercial asset for the club as he will bring with him a big following and provide a bigger audience,” said Draper.

“You have the big two here in Spain who make a lot of noise and there are other top clubs like United and Bayern, but we will find our place. We are not fighting for every penny any longer.

“We want Valencia to be a challenger in Europe, win a trophy every now and again, and that is the best marketing that you can get.”

After leaving United, Draper set up his own consultancy firm and was lured to Valencia last May by Lim, a close friend.

“I have known Peter Lim for a long time, for over 15 years. I worked on a company board with him after leaving United,” said Draper.

“At first he asked me to do some consultancy work here alongside the old marketing director, but when he left earlier this year I took on the full role.

“Since then it has been a case of putting the pieces in place.”

Lim rescued Valencia from massive debt, in the region of 320 million euros ($350 million), when he took over in 2014 and promised to bring success back to the club that won La Liga in 2002 and 2004, and reached the Champions League final in 2000 and 2001.

But the Singaporean has alienated some fans with his distant approach, and the resignation of Nuno after a stuttering start to this season was another setback.

Valencia now face a must-win Champions League clash with Olympique Lyonnais in Neville’s first game in charge. They need a victory and hope Ghent fail to win at home to Group H winners Zenit St Petersburg in order to qualify for the last 16.

But Draper says the project is still on track.

“Valencia has been a strong side in the past, especially in the early 2000s and we want to bring that back. What we have been able to do is steady the ship,” said Draper.

“There has been mismanagement, with all due respect to those before, but over the last year the club has been a lot more stable with a good capital base and it is no longer just surviving.

“We are a growing team on and off the pitch and we are reaching out to the people, the businesses here – the local community which has been alienated in recent years. It is a two tier process for us — domestic and international — with Asia an important market.

“Barca and Real are five times bigger than us and we can’t just spend a lot of money these days (with the FIFA Financial Fair Play rules) to turn that around.”

(Reporting by Tim Hanlon in Barcelona, editing by Neville Dalton)