Charlotte, North Carolina and Algeciras, Spain
8:00 am EST, July 1st, 2023
Today, Fútbol Coalition, an American company founded by serial entrepreneur Mac Lackey, announces the acquisition of Spanish soccer club, Algeciras Club de Fútbol (Algeciras CF).
Algeciras CF is a 114 year old Spanish soccer club located near the bottom of the world famous Costa del Sol, right on the Strait of Gibraltar. The rock of Gibraltar is visible over the back of the stadium, and Morocco is visible only 14 km away across the Mediterranean. The club currently competes in Premiera Ref (Spain’s 3rd Division against clubs like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid’s second teams, as well as Malaga FC, Recritvo the oldest club in Spain, and other great, historic clubs across Spain.
Although the details, including the timing and total value of the purchase are subject to confidentiality clauses, Mr. Lackey confirmed he and his company, Fútbol Coalition, acquired 100% of the ownership of Algeciras CF. He further noted the purchase was all cash, AND also included assumption of the club’s debt.
As part of the acquisition, Ramon Robert, (former CEO of Espanyol – a multi-hundred million dollar LaLiga club located in Barcelona), became a minority shareholder as Mac’s business partner and assumed the role of the full time, operating CEO of Algeciras CF. Mr. Robert was announced as CEO during this past season and has been actively living and working in Algeciras since the announcement. Mr. Lackey and Mr. Robert became friends while Lackey and his family were living full time in Barcelona back in 2014.
Asked about his motivation for the acquisition, Mr. Lackey said: “Soccer has been an incredibly big and important part of my life. As a player it allowed me to travel and play in other countries. It was my path to college. I was able to achieve some of my dreams as a player, then continued to pursue my interest in soccer as an entrepreneur – starting, building and selling several companies over the past 25 years where soccer was a major component… but for me this is not only a bucket list dream (owning a professional team in Spain), but truly an amazing business opportunity.”
Mac continued that after working with Mr. Robert for almost three years looking for the right opportunity, he fell in love with this unique situation in Southern Spain. “For my family and I, this beautiful part of Andalusia is simply a place you want to spend time. With Algeciras we have amazing, passionate fans… extremely talented players… the food is some of the best in the world, and I know, without any doubts, that we have an opportunity to do something truly special with this club”.
Ramon Robert shared, “I see this as the opportunity of a lifetime. Mac and I share a vision for the future of Algeciras CF, and I am incredibly excited to work hand in hand with our staff, the City of Algeciras, our fans and our players to maximize the potential of our club. The future is very bright”.
As of this announcement Mr. Lackey will publicly assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Algeciras CF, and add both Ramon Robert (Club CEO) and Robert Taylor (a Fútbol Coalition collaborator with Mr. Lackey, who represents a group of minority shareholders and supporters of Fútbol Coalition) as directors. Additional board members will be announced in the coming weeks.
