London, May 14: Once the preserve of the working class and the hub of the community, English soccer clubs with more than a century of local tradition are fast becoming playthings for the international jet set.
News that Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is set to buy a 100-million dollar stake in Liverpool is the latest example of just what a global phenomenon English football has become.
Thaksin is a former telecommunications tycoon who also showed an interest in buying Fulham earlier his year. He says the Premier League's huge popularity in Asia will enable a company formed with other private investors to profit from use of ''the Liverpool brand''.
While the commercial opportunities are clear -- many leading clubs are frantically forging links in China, Japan and South-East Asia -- Thaksin's investment is likely to have as much to do with status by association.
With an estimated 1 billon dollar to his name, what better way to spend some of it than on buying a stake in one of the world's most famous football clubs?



Roman Abramovich certainly thought it was a good idea, the Russian billionaire investing hundreds of millions of pounds at Chelsea in his out-of-the-blue takeover last year.



''I don't want to throw my money away but it's really about having fun and that means trophies,'' Abramovich said at the time.



His investment, a tiny fraction of his estimated 5 billion dollar fortune, has failed to bring home any silverware in the first season but it is only a matter of time, and the casually-dressed Russian certainly seems to enjoy his trips to Stamford Bridge.



Egyptian businessman and Harrods owner Mohamed al Fayed, usually at odds with the British establishment, managed at least to buy the respect of Fulham fans after his 177-million dollar investment helped to turn the club from third-division strugglers to a top-10 premier league team.


Bureau Report