Canadian entrepreneur looks to revive Spanish soccer team, help it climb the ranks

Football

Published 15.06.2023

Canadian entrepreneur looks to revive Spanish soccer team, help it climb the ranks

Canadian Steve Nijjar has all the time dreamt huge. So reviving a soccer franchise in Spain just isn’t out of character.

A former goalkeeper, coach, boxer, fitness center proprietor, bodyguard, movie actor and producer, Nijjar is a person of his many hats. His newest ardour undertaking is Racing Madrid FC.

Nijjar, from Nobleton, Ont., initially got here to Madrid to accompany his youngest son Tejpal, a 14-year-old goalkeeper who’s in Rayo Vallecano’s academy. While there, his son’s adviser Morris Pagniello launched him to Racing Murcia, a staff within the fifth tier of Spanish soccer.

Nijjar, 57, was satisfied to turn out to be Murcia’s president however ultimately stepped away — whereas retaining an possession stake — as a result of the staff was three hours away from Madrid and he felt he wasn’t shut sufficient to do the job justice. But he stated he was open to a different lower-division soccer possibility nearer to house.

“I’ve always had a dream of building something up and taking it to the top,” he stated.

Last 12 months, they discovered sixth-tier membership Cenafe Club on the market and purchased it. Nijjar determined to rebrand it Racing Madrid, not understanding there had been a franchise with that very same identify that had folded a long time earlier than.

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The unique Racing Club de Madrid was based in 1914 and went out of business in 1932.

“When I looked up the history of Racing Madrid, I was very taken aback,” Nijjar stated. “To the purpose like ‘Oh my God, Did we simply get a membership that’s the third-oldest staff in Madrid?’

“And so that’s how our journey began. Unknowingly. But sometimes things are meant to be. When I found out the history of the club was, I took a lot of pride as a Canadian to say ‘OK. We’re really going to get behind this club and make sure we do justice to it.”’

Racing Madrid joins La Liga powerhouses Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as soccer groups with Madrid of their identify.

Racing Madrid ending eighth within the desk final season, simply failing in its bid to safe a spot within the Copa del Rey cup competitors.

Nijjar, who co-owns the staff with Pagniello, says folks initially thought he would deal with the staff like a toy. But he says his hands-on strategy to the membership as president has gained folks over.

“I am at every training if not every second training. I’m at the games, I talk to the coaches. I talk to the players, make sure everything’s functioning the way it should be,” he stated.

Still, there may be loads of work to be accomplished, with the language barrier not serving to.

“So from that perspective, it is very frustrating for me because I’m a very hands-on guy,” stated Nijjar, who’s on the method of studying Spanish. “If I was in Toronto, I’d know where to do it, who to do it with, who to call, what to get, but here I’ve got to rely on people.”

Nijjar is holding tryouts in Toronto on June 27-28, in search of two gamers aged 17 to 23 to signal for Racing Madrid.

Nijjar and his spouse Shinaazcontinue to run their different business, Titan Security and Investigative Services, dividing their time between Canada and Spain.

“We are enjoying (Madrid),” he stated. “At the end of the day we are Canadians. We miss our home. And we look forward to coming back and spending time at home. Home’s always home and that’s Canada for us. But this is our home now.”

His different three sons are grown up, dwelling their very own lives

Nijjar’s life story is instructed in a 2021 documentary titled “Anatomy of a Warrior: The Steve Nijjar Story.”

Nijjar was a boy when his household left India for Toronto in 1974. It was not a simple transition. As a younger Sikh, he was bullied and abused for being completely different.

His first job was a buggy boy on the Knob Hill Farms grocery store the place fellow staff had difficulties together with his first identify, Kulwant. So they determined to name him Steve after Knob Hill Farms proprietor Steve Stavro.

Soccer was his escape. He began drawing consideration for his expertise in aim at West Humber High School and somebody prompt he prepare with Dick Howard, a former goalkeeper and coach who’s in Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.

Thanks to Howard, Nijjar had trials in England in 1985 — after highschool — with Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers and Wolves. After a 12 months overseas, Nijjar returned house and signed with the Toronto Blizzard the place he performed alongside the likes of Mike Sweeney, Igor Vrablic and Hector Marinaro.

After soccer, Nijjar tried his hand at appearing and producing in movies. He began as an additional, utilizing Spike Lee’s “Gotta Have It: Inside Guerrilla Filmmaking” ebook to be taught extra about film-making.

Low-budget motion motion pictures like “The Final Goal” with Erik Estrada in 1995, “Safety Zone” in 1996 and “The Protector” in 1998 adopted. He says they did properly abroad however, not understanding the business, he didn’t reap the rewards.

In 1999, he introduced a franchise in Canadian Professional Soccer League, later teaching the semi-pro Brampton Hitmen to the title earlier than promoting the franchise to a associate.

There have been onerous occasions.

“Anatomy of a Warrior” particulars how he battled his ex-wife to have entry to their three sons. When his fitness center went underneath, he resorted to collaborating in pharmaceutical trials to place meals on the desk.

But he discovered his toes once more, constructing his safety business, serving as a bodyguard to Bollywood stars and returning to different initiatives.

In 2006 he was concerned in a actuality TV present referred to as “Soccer Dreams,” a seek for younger expertise to take to England’s Everton. And in 2015, the movie “The Last King,” a longtime undertaking of his, was launched.

He is presently engaged on a documentary sequence on Racing Madrid referred to as “Racing to Madrid.”