Formed in 2022, the Black Knight Football Club (BKFC) have seen an enormous growth of ownership across football.
BKFC is fast becoming one of the biggest multi-club ownership and their full acquisition of FC Lorient this morning
The leading chairman of the group is American, Bill Foley, who became owner of AFC Bournemouth in December 2022.
Foley led the Cherries as chairman to their joint highest finish of 9th in the 2024-25 season.
AFC Bournemouth’s growth since Foley and BKFC took over has been influential for the club, one of which saw a reported net spend of around £150m last summer.
This included sales of players like Dean Huijsen for £62m who the club bought for only around £17m, Miloz Kerkez for a profit of £25m and Ukrainian Ilya Zabarnyi left to go to PSG for £60m.
An advantage of being under a multi-club ownership is the youth development, in the Cherries case, signing young players from Lorient has proved vital especially this season and the season just gone.
Forward Dango Ouattara joined the Cherries in January 2023, BKFC’s first transfer window, for a fee of £20m.
At this stage Foley only had a minority share in Lorient but was still able to bring players across from France.
Ouattara was sold to Brentford for £40m this summer, his departure wasn’t long lived as it paved the way for another Lorient youth player to come through in Eli Junior Kroupi.
Kroupi was signed for £12m in January 2025 before being loaned back to Lorient for the remainder of the season, but made his debut in the south coast this season.
The Frenchman has hit the ground running scoring seven goals in the Premier League this season.
Although this has been positive for Bournemouth, French football has also faced trouble when it comes to multi-club ownership as Lorient aren’t the only club who share owners with Premier League clubs.
The biggest one in recent weeks is RCSA Strasbourg who have shared ownership with Chelsea FC under the Blueco model since 2023.
Chelsea recently appointed Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior to replace Enzo Maresca this January and Strasbourg fans kicked off in protest as they believe they are seeing their side become a feeder team for Chelsea.
French side, Nice, are owned by Manchester United owner Jim Ratcliffe and his company Ineos.
Nice fans have been reprimanded by the Ineos-owned club after they spat at the players when the club recorded their ninth straight loss and fans believe that Ineos are prioritising Manchester United over them, leaving them to feel distanced from the club.
Although the BKFC has been positive so far, it’s unclear what the future could hold down in the south coast.
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