When silver-haired Formula One magnate Flavio Briatore took his seat at Loftus Road for his first game as Queens Park Rangers' potential new owner, he received a standing ovation from the football club's faithful.
Briatore, who owns the Renault F1 team, has, in partnership with fellow F1 impresario Bernie Ecclestone, put in a £14m offer for the club, which has been recommended by the board. This figure would be enough to pay off its £13m debt, and the potential new owners have so far made the right noises about providing funds for manager John Gregory to strengthen the team.
Promotion to the Premier League by 2011 is the goal. But if the examples set by Fulham, owned by Harrods chief Mohamed Al Fayed, and Chelsea, which Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over in 2003, are anything to go by, the 'homely' London club is likely to change beyond recognition.
For QPR fans, the new owners represent a chance to dream. 'We don't complain about foreign ownership,' said one supporter. 'We have been struggling along for so long that we are grateful that someone is going to invest in us. We don't mind where the money has come from.'
Darren Miller, marketing manager of Cargiant, the team's shirt sponsor, whose headquarters is a short walk from Loftus Road, believes it is also good news for his company's investment. 'They [Briatore and Ecclestone] said they will lend the club the money they need to get into the Premiership within four years,' he says. 'With that comes a higher profile for the club and for the sponsor.'
There is little to suggest that either Miller or the fans' optimism is misplaced and, for now at least, QPR appears to be in the hands of people sympathetic to its place in the local community.
'We are fully aware of the history of QPR and the loyal fan base that it has, and are totally committed to bringing success back to the club,' said Briatore when the deal was announced.
Elsewhere, however, the enthusiasm of football supporters is tempered by the negative impact of new owners on the reputation of their clubs. The fear is that in the rush for on-field success, much of what connects fans to the club is lost.
The influx of foreign owners is largely due to the lure of the media income
generated by the Premier League. Eight top-flight clubs are owned by overseas investors, with the future of Arsenal and Birmingham under intense scrutiny.
'I am sure that there are people who wish every player was English and every owner a local businessman made good, who supported the club as a boy,' says Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. 'It is not about who the owners are. It is about how they perform and behave.'
Scudamore's statement sits uneasily with the presence of Manchester City's new owner, Thaksin Shinawatra. The former Thai prime minister is in exile in London, after being ousted in a military coup a year ago, and faces a series of corruption charges. This seat on City's board has riled human-rights groups, despite the fact that he has passed the Premier League's 'fit and proper persons' test.
'Ownership has become purely a commercial play,' says Dan Bobby, managing director of brand consultancy Dave. He adds that clubs' reputations rest on the calibre of owners. This can embrace their empathy with the sport, but also the way in which a takeover bid is structured.
'The Glazer takeover of Manchester United was done using a great deal of leveraged debt, which gives rise to the suspicion that they are not in it for the long term,' says Bobby.
The experience of Chelsea under the Abramovich regime is an example of how a club's brand can quickly change. Chief executive Peter Kenyon's master-plan of becoming 'the biggest club in the world by 2014' has at its heart a need to take the club's brand to the Premier League's substantial international audience. Abramovich's money has ensured that Chelsea can compete on the pitch. However, Kenyon has much to do to match the brand equity of his former employer Manchester United, not least when it comes to wooing fans in the growth markets of the Far East and US.
'The Chelsea brand is one of ruthless efficiency - it is admired rather than liked,' says Bobby. This image is the result of the team's style of direct football and the way in which the club has conducted its business. A string of PR gaffes, such as the transfer of Ashley Cole from Arsenal and dalliances with Sven-Goran Eriksson, have made Chelsea hard to love.
There is also a harder commercial edge. Kenyon axed the club's kit tie to Umbro in favour of a bigger deal with Adidas, while Samsung took over from Emirates as the club's shirt sponsor in 2005 for £10m a year, a UK record.
Bobby says Kenyon is striving to create a luxury brand - tough for a club new to European football's top table. 'Chelsea comes over as status-oriented, and people are not sure what it stands for,' he says. 'Winning gets you only so far.' Nonetheless, should QPR's new owners match Chelsea's recent record, few fans will care much about that.
Data File: Premier League's foreign invasion
Aston Villa
Snapped up by US businessman Randy Lerner, owner of the Cleveland Browns NFL franchise, for £75m last year.
Chelsea
Roman Abramovich bought the club in 2003, transforming it from a debt-ridden underachiever to Premier League winners.
Fulham
Bought by Harrods' Egyptian owner Mohamed Al Fayed in 1997 when it was in the third tier of English football.
Liverpool
George Gillett Jr, owner of NHL side Montreal Canadiens, and Tom Hicks, who owns the Texas Rangers baseball side, completed a £200m takeover in 2006.
Manchester City
Acquired by former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra this summer.
Manchester United
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer paid £1.02bn for the club in a controversial buyout in 2005.
Portsmouth
Taken over by Alexandre Gaydamak, son of a Russian billionaire, last year.
West Ham United
An Icelandic consortium led by Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson bought 95% of the East London club last autumn.
Who's next?
Arsenal
Billionaires Alisher Usmanov, from Uzbekistan, and Stan Kroenke, from the US, are circling the North London club.
Birmingham
Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung paid £15m for a 30% stake and has indicated his desire to take control.