The 2024/2025 Premier League season concluded two weeks ago with Liverpool crowned champions for the 20th time. Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle also secured qualification for the Champions League, alongside Liverpool and Tottenham, the latter earning their spot as Europa League winners. Meanwhile, Manchester United endured their worst season in recent history, finishing 15th in the league.
For those of us who follow football or any team sport, and also invest regularly, it’s easy to see the parallels between managing a football team well and being successful in managing our investment portfolio.
Both Are Team Sports, But We Tend To Focus On The Stars
Since young, we’ve known that football is a team sport.
You need 11 players on the pitch (or 5 if you’re playing futsal), and a victory is shared by the entire team, including not just the players playing, but also the coaching staff and substitutes.
Yet, even the most dedicated fans often focus on the stars. Take Liverpool’s title-winning season, for example. Many casual observers may credit their success primarily to Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah, who topped the scoring charts with 29 goals and was named Premier League Player of the Season.
While Salah certainly played a crucial role, attributing Liverpool’s triumph solely to him overlooks the contributions of his teammates such as Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alexis Mac Allister and Luis Díaz. More importantly, it perpetuates the idea that success can be replicated just by having a single star player such as Salah, while conveniently ignoring the rest of the team playing alongside him.
Investing works in much the same way. It’s easy to think that if we had just picked the right stock, like Tesla or Nvidia, five years ago, we’d be sitting on an excellent portfolio today. But just as in football, long-term success in investing is rarely about a single star performer. It’s about how your entire portfolio works together for you over the long term.
Different Players Play Different Roles in a Team
Manchester United’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson once said, “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.”
While players like Lionel Messi (think Apple) and Cristiano Ronaldo (think Amazon) are the most well-known stars, and deservedly so, many championship-winning teams owe their success to strong defensive performances. For example, Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with captain and centre-back Fabio Cannavaro leading a defence that conceded no goals from open play. Chelsea’s Premier League titles in 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 were also built on rock-solid defence, conceding just 15 and 22 goals in those respective 38-game seasons. Remarkable achievements that often go underappreciated because it’s easier to notice a good offence rather than a solid defence.
A similar principle applies to investing. In a bull market, high-growth stocks often dominate the headlines, surging in value much like star forwards scoring goals. But we also know that markets are cyclical, and that corrections and recessions are part of the game. That’s where the more defensive elements of a portfolio come in: government and corporate bonds, gold and stable dividend-paying stocks. They may not be flashy, but they help protect your portfolio during tough times, just like a solid defence anchors a football team.
Off-Pitch Preparation Matters
As fans, we often see the football match as the game itself. We focus on the goals scored or the shots missed, the tackles made, the fouls committed, and, of course, the final result.
But ask any footballer, whether professional or amateur, and they’ll tell you the real game extends far beyond the 90 minutes that you see on the pitch.
Behind every match are hours of daily training, individual fitness routines, tactical discussions and video analysis. During the off-season, teams regroup, review their strategies, bring in new players, or make coaching adjustments, all to improve performance. These behind-the-scenes efforts are just as critical as matchday itself.
Likewise, investing isn’t just about the buy, sell, or hold decisions we make on any given day. Being a successful investor requires consistent habits and preparation. This includes disciplined saving to ensure we have funds to invest regularly, researching the stocks, ETFs, or asset classes we are considering, and being part of a community that encourages continuous learning.
We shouldn’t only invest when we feel like it or when everyone else is doing it, just as footballers don’t only show up to play when there’s a big match they are interested in.
Join Us At Our EverydayInvestor Event. How To Manage Your Portfolio Like A Winning Football Team
The EveryDayInvestor (join the movement here on Telegram!) is an initiative by DollarsAndSense to make investing a daily habit.
Our vision is simple: everyone can be an investor, and not just those who studied finance or work in the industry. Just as staying healthy is a life skill that anyone can adopt, building good investing habits is also a valuable skill. Investing shouldn’t be reserved for a select few; it should be part of everyday life.
As part of the EveryDay Investor movement, DollarsAndSense is excited to present our flagship event for this year – Manage Your Portfolio Like a Winning Football Team(this is a ticketed event). This event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at SGX.
In this event, we will explore how the principles of managing a successful football team—strategic planning, team balance, discipline and long-term thinking—can also help you build and manage a resilient investment portfolio.
Alongside the DollarsAndSense team, we’re thrilled to welcome several renowned speakers, including:
Loo Cheng Chuan, founder of the 1M65 movement. He will be speaking on “Are You A Fair-Weathered Investor?”
Dawn Cher, better known as SGBudgetBabe, will be launching her first book at the event! She will be talking about “How To Take Back Control Of Your Money”
Former professional footballers, who will share their experiences about “Beyond the Game: Financial Lessons From Being A Professional Athlete”
Through this event, we hope to inspire you to become a better investor by applying lessons you already understand through the beautiful game of football.
Registration for this event is $5. This would include lunch, refreshments, a goodie bag packed with treats, and a shot at winning exciting prizes—either at our interactive booths or in our lucky draw.
Seats are limited, and registration will close once all slots are filled. Be sure to secure your spot early. Register here.
This EveryDay Investor event – Manage Your Portfolio Like a Winning Football Team, is proudly organised by DollarsAndSense, with the generous support of our event sponsors, SGX and Tiger Brokers.
Read Also: Anyone Can Be An Investor: What Type Of Everyday Investor Are You?
Photo Credit: iStock/coward_lion
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