The Joburg hedge fund manager behind English soccer's latest fairlytale

Retired hedge fund manager Clive Nates is not your average celebrity. But in the soccer-mad English city of Lincoln there's nobody more loved right now than the introverted hedge fund manager from Johannesburg. Nates, formerly of Peregrine Capital, became involved with the Lincoln City football club three years ago. That was half a dozen years after its relegation from the bottom rank of English professional football and with creditor banks grumbling about their loans, like many other clubs that were long on pedigree but short on cash. The Imps seemed headed for permanent obscurity. But the introduction of Nates and a handful of other Saffer investors was a watershed. Their cash enabled the club to hire a new management team in the gifted Cowley brothers, a detail-obsessed duo who were able to give up their jobs as teachers for full time football management. The result has been astonishing - two promotions in three years and the first non league club in 103 years to reach the quarter finals of the famous FA Cup. I was at The Imps's Sincil Bank stadium on Saturday for milestone in English football's fairlytale story, witnessing them secure an upgrade to a league that haven't played in for over three decades. And got the feeling this may well be just the end of the beginning..... - Alec Hogg