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Has there ever been a sector where the shares have performed so badly as football clubs? This is the question posed by the Financial Times in a survey of the sector. Some 22 British clubs have floated yet only 12 are still listed on the market. Most of them floated in the mid 1990s as the riches of the Premiership became apparent. Of the ten that were delisted, all were very poor investments if held from flotation to the often bitter end. The sole exception, for the wrong reasons from a fan's perspective, is Manchester United. The United shares were a quarter off their peak levels when the club was delisted in June but they had risen nearly twenty times while the club was listed. Only one of the 12 clubs still trading, Spurs, has seen an increase in the value of its shares. But this has been largely the result of inflation since flotation in 1983. The real gainers from the Premiership's riches have been the players and the directors. The players had annual compound growth of wages in the last decade of 23 per cent. A survey of directors' pay by The Independent earlier this year showed six directors earning over £700,000 in the latest year and 20 earning over £200,000.
For the record the clubs still listed and the latest share price in brackets are: Aston Villa (property development potential, 393.5p); Birmingham City (23p); Celtic (50.50p); Charlton Athletic (29p); Hearts (33.5p); Millwall Holdings (0.05p); Newcastle United (57.5p); Preston North End (floated at 400p, 11p); Sheffield United (9.5p); Southampton Leisure (38p); Spurs (45p); Watford Leisure (floated at 1250p, 45p). The delisted clubs are Aberdeen, Burnden Leisure (Bolton), Chelsea Village, Leeds Sporting, Leicester City, Loftus Road (QPR), Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, West Brom.
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