The term phoenix club is one used in professional team sports to refer to a new parent company that is set up to replace the parent company of a club that has failed in business terms but not in sporting terms, ideally while maintaining the continuity of the sporting activity. In some cases, the phoenix club is created by the supporters of the club which has ended (or appears to be on the point of ending). A phoenix club will often have the same or similar name, logo and playing uniform to the original club. The term is particularly prevalent in the United Kingdom in relation to association football, though it is also used in other countries.
The term is also occasionally used to refer to a club formed by disgruntled supporters of a major team when a change of ownership or policy causes them to lose faith in the management of their favoured side (as happened in 2005 when F.C. United of Manchester were formed by fans of Manchester United as a protest at the sale of the latter to Malcolm Glazer). although their status as such may be disputed if the original club is still in existence at the time.
The term is taken from the mythical phoenix bird, which is said to resurrect itself from its own ashes. In the Australia-New Zealand A-League the demise of the sole New Zealand team, New Zealand Knights, resulted in the newly created club actually calling itself the Phoenix, albeit that the club moved to a different city, Wellington.
In some cases, phoenix clubs will retain the name of the club which they replaced, implying a continuation from the former team. In other cases, name changes occur, perhaps due to proprietorial ownership existing on the old club's name. An American football example is the Cleveland Browns, the original franchise of which moved to Baltimore in 1995 to become the Baltimore Ravens; the NFL however stipulated as part of the move the franchise would not be able to keep the team history and records of the Browns, a cornerstone NFL franchise. In 1999, the "new" Browns were granted an expansion franchise and were awarded all of the former team's history by the league, even though the extant Ravens had the original Browns players and personnel.
It does not also include teams that relocated and/or have been renamed as a going concern, although many of the former may have their founding date as the day they have moved and still have strong links to their past, however they are considered to be the same club and therefore cannot be a phoenix (unless their previous entity officially folded and was liquidated).
However, the term phoenix club is one that could be disputed depending on the criteria used, as there is no single universally accepted definition. Furthermore, there may be changes in what each country's football governing body and legal system defines as a phoenix club and not a resurrected club.
Video Phoenix club (sports)
Association football
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Costa Rica
a A.D. Generaleña merged with A.D. Pérez Zeledón to become Municipal Pérez Zeledón, de facto only continuing the Pérez Zeledón heritage.
Croatia
England / Wales
a Wimbledon F.C. became Milton Keynes Dons F.C. in 2004, two years after the foundation of AFC Wimbledon; see Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes.
Finland
France
Germany
Indonesia
Italy
In the early 21st century, several Italian clubs endured severe economic problems. Some, most notably Fiorentina, Napoli, Parma and Torino were each declared bankrupt and had to reapply to play at a lower level with new owner and new corporate entity. All are considered to be the same clubs before and after the bankruptcy rather than separate phoenix entities; They obtained the "sports title" to remain in the Italy football pyramid using clauses in the Article 52 of N.O.I.F..
Latvia
Macedonia
Northern Ireland
Peru
Republic of Ireland
Romania
Russia
Scotland
b Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) were liquidated in 2002 but their owners bought Clydebank and rebranded it as Airdrie United (now known as Airdrieonians F.C. (2002)); therefore that club is not a phoenix as it took the place of an existing entity. However the current incarnation of Clydebank is a phoenix, as it was founded by supporters to replace the entity which had moved to Airdrie and had to restart at the bottom of the (Junior) league pyramid.
cThe commercial entity of Rangers F.C. was liquidated in 2012, however the sporting assets were acquired by a new company which allowed its playing membership to continue unbroken (albeit in the lowest division of the Scottish football league system). It is regarded as a continuation of the same club by the relevant authorities.
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
United States
Maps Phoenix club (sports)
Baseball
United States
Basketball
Poland
United Kingdom
Ice hockey
England
Sweden
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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