December 2005
Villa Deal On - 23/12/2005
The businessmen hoping to take over Aston Villa for £64.4m are hopeful that a deal can be completed with chairman Doug Ellis before the new year...
Wembley; 'Don't Panic; Says FA - 22/12/2005
Despite a statement by the Football Association advising that there is no need for panic, it looks increasingly unlikely that Wembley Stadium will be handed over by the scheduled date of...
Blades Buy Chinese Club - 14/12/2005
Sheffield United have announced that they are about to acquire Chinese second division club Chengdu Five Bull...
It's Tough At The Bottom - 11/12/2005
While this page often highlights financial problems encountered by big clubs, small clubs can also run up surprisingly big debts and can find it even more difficult to get out of them...
Champions League Exit Poses Funding Problems For Glazers - 09/12/2005
Wednesday's night exit of Manchester United from the Champions League poses funding problems for their American owners...
Will Takeover Change Brazilian Football? - 06/12/2005
The takeover of top Brazilian football club Corinthians by British-based Media Sports Investment (MSI) has led to speculation about whether it will initiate a process of change in the organisation of the country's football noted for its corruption and amateurism...
FA In Sponsor Search - 04/12/2005
The Football Association has begun a search for a new commercial partner after Nationwide, the building society that has been its sponsor for six years, said it would end its contract after next year's World Cup...
United Step Search For New Shirt Sponsor - 01/12/2005
Manchester United commercial director Andy Anson is engaged in a search for a shirt sponsor, under orders from the Glazers to generate more revenue than from the £9m a year deal with Vodafone that ends...
Is There Really A Crock of Gold At The New Den? - 01/12/2005
The acquisition of Millwall by property developer Peter de Savary (or PDS as he likes to be known) has prompted some puzzlement in football circles...
November 2005
Secret Meetings Hope To Solve Club Versus Country Row - 14/11/2005
Leading figures in world football have begun secret meetings aimed at resolving soccer's club versus country dispute...
Vodafone Ends Shirt Deal Two Years Early - 23/11/2005
Vodafone has ended its shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United two years early. The £36m (£9 million a year) deal...
Final TV Deal Leaves BSkyB In Top Spot - 21/11/2005
The Premiership and the European Commission have finally settled their long battle over the sale of television rights which at one time threatened the top league with a hefty anti-trust fine...
More Sofa Fans, Fewer In Grounds - 21/11/2005
The latest television audience and gate figures for the Premiership show that more fans are watching games from the comfort of their sofas while fewer are going to the grounds...
UK Initiative To Clean Up Football - 21/11/2005
Britain is using its presidency of the European Union in an initiative to 'clean up football'. Sports ministers from the five top football markets are to meet...
Secret Meetings Hope To Solve Club Versus Country Row - 14/11/2005
Leading figures in world football have begun secret meetings aimed at resolving soccer's club versus country dispute...
Liverpool 'A Great Brand' says Kraft - 14/11/2005
American billionaire Robert Kraft has told Radio 5 'Liverpool is a great brand and it's something our family respects a lot...
Liverpool Could Lose Stadium Funding - 13/11/2005
Liverpool could lose a major source of funding for their new stadium at Stanley Park if, in three months' time, they failed to secure the estimated £120 million...
Bournemouth Running Out Of Time - 13/11/2005
League One club Bournemouth could have to go into administration...
High Cost of Failure for Glazers - 6/11/2005
The Glazers' finely balanced business plan, initially described as 'potentially damaging' by the then United board, was based on a series of performance forecasts...
Tractor Boys Look For A Benefactor - 2/11/2005
Only four years ago Ipswich finished 5th in the Premiership, qualified for the Uefa Cup and splashed out £4.75m on an Italian goalkeeper. The Uefa Cup was in many ways their undoing...
Irish Consortium in for Villa - 01/11/2005
Aston Villa has received a preliminary takeover approach from an Irish property consortium. Although no offer has been tabled...
October 2005
Profits Slump At Newcastle - 30/10/2005
Newcastle United saw its profit to disappear in the year to 31 July 2004 as television and broadcasting revenues fell by 17 per cent to £27.9m and...
BT Won't Bid For Football Rights - 30/10/2005
BT has ruled out taking on BSkyB and other broadcasters bidding for live rights to Premiership football...
New Oz League Under Way - 29/10/2005
Following a government enquiry into the failure of the National Soccer League which lasted from 1977 to 2004, the Hyundai A-League has been launched in Australia...
Seagulls To Get A New Home At Last - 28/10/2005
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has ruled that Brighton and Hove Albion can build a new stadium at Falmer on the city's outskirts...
Blades May Buy Chinese Club - 24/10/2005
Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe has revealed an interest in buying an unnamed Chinese football club...
Commission Close To Deal With Premiership On TV Rights - 23/10/2005
The European Commission looks like it is close to a deal with the English Premiership on the auction of tv rights. The deal could preserve football's income position but make life more difficult for fans...
Match Fixing Scandal In Germany - 23/10/2005
German football has been rocked by the match fixing scandal involving referee Robert Hoyzer...
Football Ambitions End In Conviction - 23/10/2005
The old joke says, how do you end up with a small fortune? You make a large fortune and then buy a football club. Unfortunately, George Reynolds, the former chairman of Darlington...
Referee Scandal In Brazil - 16/10/2005
Football administration has been known for years to be rotten in Brazil, so it should perhaps be no surprise that the country has been hit by a refereeing scandal...
Huge Pay Bill At Chelsea - 16/10/2005
Some of Sepp Blatter's comments about a handful of club owners controlling the global game could well apply to Chelsea. The latest accounts for the club suggest that the average employee earns about as much as the boss of a FTSE 250 company. In the year to June 2004 aggregate payroll costs for 124 employees reached £102.5m...
Blatter Sounds Off, And Upsets Baggies - 16/10/2005
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is nothing if not controversial and having written an outspoken article about the state of the game which received front page billing in the Financial Times, he then made remarks on Radio 5 which offended West Bromwich Albion...
Clamp Down On Top Club's Tax Dodge - 16/10/2005
Arsenal have been hit with a bill of nearly £12m after an investigation into a tax avoidance scheme used on payments made to players and agents. The club is the first high profile hit for a campaign by HM Revenue and Customs against tax avoidance in the game...
Hearts Shake Scottish Duopoly - 15/10/2005
Hearts drew 1-1 with Celtic away today to maintain their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. The match was discussed beforehand in a way that was formerly reserved for clashes between the two dominant Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers...
Comission And Premiership Close To The Brink - 9/10/2005
EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has warned that she will charge the Premiership with breaking EU law over its allocation of television rights 'very shortly'. If the Commission determines that competition rules have been violated, it can impose fines up to 10 per cent...
Fergie Is Too Famous For His Shirt - 9/10/2005
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed that his human rights are being abused after he was denied the right to stop people from selling posters bearing his name. The United manager had sought to gain exclusive rights to the use of his own name on...
Preston Hit Financial Trouble - 9/10/2005
Preston have a reputation as one of the better run clubs in football. Last year they reached the Championship play-off final. But now the club has hit financial problems that may lead to the sale of top players...
Blues In Battle To Win Casino - 6/10/2005
Birmingham City is locked in a battle with the National Exhibition Centre to host a new regional casino. Later this month both sides will announce plans intended to win an exclusive endorsement from the city council...
Gazza Consortium Makes Bid For Kettering - 5/10/2005
A consortium involving former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne have made a bid to buy Nationwide Conference North side Kettering Town. Consortium leader Imraan Ladak said that he was confident a deal would be concluded soon...
Roman's Windfall A Further Boost For Chelsea - 2/10/2005
Roman Abramovich, already Russia's richest man, has had a good week. The Chelsea owner is estimated to have made £5.1 billion pounds from the sale of Sibneft, the oil group in which he has a substantial stake, to Gazprom...
Make Your Mind Up Time For FA On Training Centre Project - 2/10/2005
The Football Association has been criticised for its standards of governance in recent years and one of its most controversial decisions was the attempt to build a national training centre near Burton upon Trent modelled on France's successful Clairefontaine academy...
Regulator Decides No Action Needed On Chelsea Village - 2/10/2005
The Financial Services Authority has concluded what is a rather long 26-month investigation into the 'nature and status of certain' shareholdings in Chelsea Village, former owner of Chelsea Football Club before its takeover by Roman Abramovich in 2003...
The Missing Element In The Football Crowds Debate - 1/10/2005
The marginal early season decline in football crowds has been attributed to all sorts of factors: price (with good reason); saturation television coverage; predictable outcomes; defensive formations in the Premiership; and awkward days and times for matches. However, one key factor is generally overlooked...
September 2005
Premiership Boss Steps Up Fight Against Brussels - 26/09/2005
The FA Premiership has denounced a plan by the European Commission to limit the number of games screened by any one broadcaster to fifty per cent...
Falling Crowds Row Rumbles On - 25/09/2005
The media continues to pursue the story of falling football crowds: I got asked about it when I appeared on a breakfast radio show this morning. The view that this page has taken is that there is a problem which needs attention, but not a crisis...
Fergie Blasts Chelsea Ticket Prices - 25/09/2005
Chelsea, chastened by their Anderlecht experience, are cutting ticket prices for FA Cup and Carling Cup games, as well as arranging discounts for seniors and juniors for future Champions League fixtures, but this cuts no ice with Sir Alex Ferguson...
How Far Is Live Television Hitting Crowds? - 25/09/2005
One of the explanations advanced for the decline in football attendances this season is extensive live television coverage of matches. However, the relationship is quite complex and difficult to isolate from other factors...
Football Chairman Who Nearly Wrecked Club Gets Four Years - 25/09/2005
A former British Gas showroom trainee who nearly bankrupted Chesterfield, the fourth oldest league club in England, has received two concurrent gaol terms of four years at Nottingham Crown Court...
Russians In For Villa - 19/09/2005
Aston Villa has confirmed that they have received a 'preliminary approach' to buy the club after weekend rumours that a Russian consortium was about to launch a £60m takeover...
Drop In Football Crowds Is A Big Story - 18/09/2005
A relatively small drop in football crowds this season has attracted widespread attention...
Premiership To Be Formally Charged - 18/09/2005
The Premier League will soon be formally accused of breaking European law by developing too close a relationship with BSkyB...
Foreign Clubs Benefit From Summer Spending - 11/09/2005
Thanks to £56m of spending by Chelsea and £38m by an increasingly desperate Newcastle United, England's top football clubs have spent 10 per cent more on player transfers this summer compared with last year...
Saudi Soccer Hit By Fatwa - 10/09/2005
The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported recently that Islamic extremists were inciting Saudi soccer players to quit their teams and wage jihad in Iraq...
Saints' Profits Slump - 06/09/2005
Southampton's pre-tax profits fell from £2.9m in the previous year to £200,000 in the 2004-5 financial year...
Value of Footballers Questioned - 05/09/2005
Football clubs should write down the value of players on their balance sheets according to new research from accounting academics at Cass Business School...
Football Broadcasting Rights competition hots up in Germany - 05/09/2005
German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere plans to branch into free-to-air television as part of a deal under which it has secured the German rights to show the Uefa Champions League soccer competition for the next three years...
August 2005
Start Of Season Chaos For Serie A - 30/08/2005
The Italian football season is about to get under way accompanied by the usual chaos...
Football Clubs A Bad Investment - 29/08/2005
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...
Big Problems At QPR - 21/08/2005
It's an unusual state of affairs when armed police are called to a football ground after a confrontation between a group of men and a director who he said forced him to sign a resignation letter. But that is what is said to have happened to...
More Bidders Chase TV Rights - 21/08/2005
Apax, the private equity house advised by former BBC director general Greg Dyke, is the latest contender to throw its hat in the ring in the race for Premiership television rights...
Rise In Policing Costs Could Ruin Some Clubs - 21/08/2005
Clubs in England and Wales are facing the possibility of massive increases in match day policing costs. In a move that could be the final blow for lower league clubs facing administration or financial hardship...
Arsenal Pin Hopes On New Stadium - 21/08/2005
Arsenal expect to receive about £50m more in income each season when they move to the Emirates stadium next season....
Brazilian Based Bid For Irons - 19/08/2005
West Ham may receive a takeover offer from Iranian born British national Kia Joorabchian whose company last year bought Brazilian club Corinthians...
Brussel's Steps Up Pressure On Premiership - 18/08/2005
The Premiership is coming under increasing pressure from the European Union for alleged breaches of competition (anti-trust) law. It may now face formal charges for breaking EU competittion law over its television rights deal with BSkyB...
FA Faces Shake Up - 14/08/2005
With the final report from businessman Lord Burns now available, the structure of the FA faces a major shake up, if the opposition of the 'blazer brigade' to modernisation can be overcome...
UEFA's Rules On Homegrown Players Will Have Increasing Impact - 14/08/2005
New Uefa rules on homegrown players are likely to have an increasing impact, with the European governing body hoping that national associations will implement similar rules despite protests from top clubs...
The 'Chelsea Effect' On Transfer Market - 09/08/2005
Chelsea's buying power is having an increasing impact on the transfer market in English football...
July 2005
Polish Football Hit By Corruption Scandal - 24/07/2005
Just when Poland's bid to host the 2012 finals together with Ukraine is making progress, Polish football has been hit by a major corruption scandal...
League Fixture Income At Risk - 17/07/2005
A Court of Appeal verdict against the British Horse Racing Board has placed at risk the lucrative rights the Premier and Football Leagues enjoy from selling the publishing rights to their fixtures...
Wigan Need To Sort Policing Row - 15/07/2005
Greater Manchester Police have issued promoted Wigan with a High Court summons over a long running row over the cost of policing matches...
June 2005
Glazer Family Now Control Manchester United - 30/06/2005
The three sons of Malcolm Glazer made their first visit to Old Trafford yesterday(29th September 2005), following secret meetings with the FA in London on Tuesday...
Ellis May Go At Last - 27/06/2005
Aston Villa boss Doug Ellis may be a few weeks away from accepting a bid for the club...
Top Ten Champions League Money Earners - 14/06/2005
Liverpool, the European champions, topped the Champions League money earners table with television and performance bonuses making the club £20.5 million....
Football League Gets 40% Boost In TV Contract - 12/06/2005
The Football League has signed a new three-year deal with Sky Sports and ITV worth about £110m, a 40 per cent increase on the present contract...
FA Needs 'Substantial Reform' - 11/06/2005
The interim report by former Treasury mandarin Lord Burns charged with reviewing the Football Association has said that its structures need 'substantial reform...
Supporters Trusts Formed At Two Clubs - 11/06/2005
Supporters trusts have been formed at two clubs in the last week: Southampton, a relegated club where many fans are angry with club chairman Rupert Lowe and Charlton Athletic where fans have had a supporters' director on the board...
Premiership Has Most Of The Money Whilst Wage Inflation Slows - 09/06/2005
Most of the money in English football is concentrated in the Premiership according to Deloitte's football finance report...
Cole Legal Challenge Could Change Transfer Rules - 06/06/2005
The legal challenge planned by Ashley Cole's lawyers could change the rules relating to the 'tapping up' of players...
May 2005
Play Off Victory Gives Irons Big Cash Boost - 30/05/2005
West Ham fans will be delighted at their club's return to the Premiership after a two year absence following their play off victory over Preston. But it will also mean a much needed cash boost for the club...
United Nike Contract Under Threat - 30/05/2005
Nike could pull out of its £303m merchandising deal with Manchester United if the club's performance doesn't improve...
Four Points For Away Win in Premiership? - 29/05/2005
The Premiership's Attendances Working Group has suggested that clubs could receive four points for an away win in a bid to make games more entertaining...
Liverpool Get Champions League Boost - 29/05/2005
The chances of Liverpool defending their Champions League title have improved after the intervention of Uefa president Lennart Johansson and other senior officials...
Football League Crowds Highest Since End of 1950s - 28/05/2005
Crowds in the Football League are at their highest level for forty-five years after a 3 per cent rise during the 2004-5 season...
Turmoil At Villa After Chief Executive Resigns - 21/05/2005
Disgruntled Villa fans are calling for an emergency general meeting to probe the shock resignation of chief executive Bruce Langham...
Chelsea Executive Fans Face Big Price Hike - 17/05/2005
Some executive fans at Chelsea are facing having to pay £6,000 for a seat that cost them £1,750 for the season last year...
Premiership Gates Down - 14/05/2005
Aggregate crowds for the Premiership this season are set to fall below the 13m level for the first time since 2000-01...
Glazer Wins Control Of United - 14/05/2005
Controversial American tycoon Malcolm Glazer has won control of Manchester United and looks likely to secure enough shares to delist the club and take it private...
Relegation Would Hit Southampton Hard - 09/05/2005
One of four teams will escape relegation from the Premiership next Sunday, but the least likely candidates for survival are Southampton...
Chelsea Aim To Break Even By 2010 - 08/05/2005
Chelsea has been bankrolled by Abramovich to the tune of £500m since he took over in 2003, but the club aims to break even by 2010...
Latino Team May Boost US Soccer - 08/05/2005
Major League Soccer is still a minor league player in American sport. The average match attendance last season was just 15,600, compared with over 60,000 for all but two teams in the National [American] Football League...
Problems Over Liverpool Shirt Deal - 02/05/2005
Liverpool may not be able to produce replica shirts in time for the start of next season if it does not secure a new sponsorship deal soon to replace that with Carlsberg...
'We Want Our Stadium Back!' - 01/05/2005
That was the chant of passionate Cambridge United fans who stayed behind at Nene Park on 30th April after their team's 1-0 victory over local rivals Rushden and Diamonds,...
Old Firm Slip Behind The Elite - 01/05/2005
Two of the highest attendances in Europe are at Parkhead and Ibrox. Celtic regularly fill their 60,000 seats and Rangers their 50,000. Yet the Old Firm are slipping behind the football mainstream...
April 2005
Fans Go For Big Stake In Manchester United - 30/04/2005
Following this week's 'put up or shut up' warning by the Takeover Panel to Malcom Glazer, Manchester United fans group Shareholders United was reported to have written to two of the largest investors in the football club and offered to buy their shareholdings...
Are Crisps / Chips A New Way For Clubs To Make Money? - 22/04/2005
They're called crisps in the UK and chips elsewhere in the world, but the often highly salted snack products are popular with consumers, including football fans...
Manchester United directors under pressure over Glazer Bid - 14/04/2005
Manchester United's directors are under increasing pressure in relation to the forthcoming bid for their club from Malcolm Glazer and his family expected on April 16th...
Bid Rumours Swirl Around Arsenal - 11/04/2005
There has been a recent flurry of share buying activity around Arsenal and it has been revealed that Birol Nadir and his friends and business associates now own about 7 per cent of the club...
Election Setback For English Football Clubs - 10/04/2005
When an election is called the political parties have to agree what is going to happen to outstanding legislation. Bills not passed usually have to be gutted to make them acceptable to the opposition and this is what has happened to the controversial gambling bill. The number of 'super casinos' permitted has been reduced from eight to one, a blow to football clubs that thought they had identified a new source of revenue...
Mixed Results Off The Pitch For Toon - 10/04/2005
Newcastle have been trying to put the recent fisticuffs on the pitch between Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer behind them. Presenting the club's interim results chairman Freddy Shepherd commented, 'There's still a lot happening off the pitch, apart from the boxing matches on it...'
One Per Cent Fall In Attendances Likely - 03/04/2005
League football in England will show a drop of one per cent in attendances this year forecasts Charlton statto Colin Cameron, an equivalent of 143 fewer people per game...
March 2005
Liverpool Stadium Worries - 31/03/2005
Spiralling costs are raising questions about the viability of Liverpool's new stadium project at Stanley Park...
Possible Bid For Charlton as plc Reports Half Year Loss - 31/03/2005
Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) that is spending £1 billion to resurrect the Millennium Done which can be seen from Charlton's home at The Valley has emerged as a possible bidder for the Premiership club...
Man United Could Earn £15 million By Going It Alone - 28/03/2005
Manchester United could earn an additional £15m by dismantling its Premiership broadcasting contract and striking its own media deals, according to accountants Ernst and Young...
MLS Hopes To Continue To Grow - 28/03/2005
With the soccer season kicking off in the United States on April 2nd, it's an appropriate time to review the progress made by Major League Soccer (MLS)...
Profits Halve At Manchester United - 22/03/2005
Manchester United's half-year profits have more than halved, hit by falling television income and the cost of buying new players. Pre-tax profits for the six months to 31 January were down from...
Saha Sale Puts Fulham In The Black - 22/03/05
Fulham look set to make their first profit since Mohamed Al Fayed acquired the club from the Muddyman family in 1997, largely thanks to the £12.8m transfer of Louis Saha to Manchester United...
Fans Plan Counter-Attack As Glazer Bid Looms - 13/03/2005
Manchester United fans are planning their counter attack against the bid for the club expected from Malcolm Glazer and his family by the end of the week...
Wigan May Have to Play Games behind Closed Doors - 07/03/2005
They may be top of the Championship but Wigan Athletic may have to play their home games behind closed doors after a dispute with Greater Manchester Police escalated...
February 2005
Vale Could Fail - 28/02/2005
League One's Port Vale faces financial problems in part because their shirt sponsors have not paid up on their contract. Loss-making mobile phone group Tricelli owe the Burslem club £92,000...
Chinese Market Does Not Bring Quick Cash Rewards - 27/02/2005
There's plenty of interest in football in China, but it's not generating much cash flow for leading clubs. It is estimated that Real Madrid derives just four to five per cent of its revenue from Asia...
Glazer Takeover Could Lead To Breakaway Team - 23/02/2005
When the period of due diligence is completed at the end of this week, Malcolm Glazer is likely to make his takeover bid for Manchester United. If he pitches his offer as high as 311p a share, he may well tempt the Irish racing tycoons...
Dortmund In Danger - 21/02/2005
Borussia Dortmund, the only publicly listed club in Germany, have revealed that their position is 'life threatening' after reporting a loss of €27.2m for the first half of the year...
Chelsea Have 3 Million 'Fans' In The UK - 21/02/2005
Three million people in the UK should be crying in their breakfast cereals this morning after Chelsea's exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Newcastle United if we are to believe a survey by SPORT+MARKT...
United Top Rich List - 18/02/2005
Manchester United remain the world's richest club, but Chelsea are closing the gap according to a report from accountants Deloitte. In 2003/04 United's income was £172m and Chelsea, who moved from tenth to fourth spot in the list, made £144m...
Second Sponsor For Championship - 13/02/2005
Wickes, the DIY chain, has signed a three-year deal to be a second tier sponsor of the Championship. Coca-Cola is paying £5m a year to be title sponsor of the whole Football League...
Glazer Renews Bid For United But Board Not Interested - 12/02/2005
Manchester United's board have given as little help as they can to the Glazer family's bid for the club bearing in mind their legal duty to shareholders. Indeed, some City analysts think...
Homegrown Quota To Be Kept Out Of Premiership - 06/02/2005
The Premiership will resist any attempt to introduce Uefa's new quota of 'homegrown' players into England's top league. Under the new rules clubs' 25-man squads for the Champions League and Uefa Cup will have to include two players whom they have...
ITV Likely To Sell Arsenal And Liverpool Shares - 01/02/2005
ITV is thinking of selling its holdings in Arsenal and Liverpool. A decision will be taken following the completion of a £30m share deal that will see its Arsenal holding rise from 5 per cent to almost...
January 2005
Villa Halves Loss - 31/01/2005
Aston Villa saw their interim pre-tax loss cut by almost half to £8.7m from £16.5m. Reduced player costs, rising attendances and new sponsorship deals all helped...
Southampton Take Financial Hit - 31/01/2005
The latest financial news from St.Mary's is not good for Premiership strugglers Southampton. Parent company Southampton Leisure slipped to an unusual pre-tax interim loss of £1.66m...
Chelsea's Record Loss - 30/01/2005
Chelsea, or rather Roman Abramovich, have paid a high price for their likely Premiership crown. The club lost £87.8m in the year to June 2004...
Cambridge Fans Unite To Save Club - 30/01/2005
University cities are perhaps not the best sites for football clubs given their transient student populations and the fact that many staff have footballing loyalties formed elsewhere...
Glazer Revives United Bid - 29/01/2005
American sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer has revived his bid for Manchester United. He has appointed investment bankers at NM Rothschild as his advisers...
Liverpool In Danger of Becoming 'Relic' Club - 25/01/2005
Liverpool are in danger of becoming a footballing relic according to former captain and television pundit Alan Hansen...
Ken Bates Takes Over At Leeds United - 23/01/2005
Ken Bates has inherited a tangled financial web at Leeds, although such situations are not new to him. There are still liabilities of £6.86m to former staff, including no less than £2.1m to Fowler, £1.8m to Danny Mills, £1m to Nick Barmby, plus outstanding six-figure sums to...
Umbro Hit By Early End To Chelsea Deal - 23/01/2005
Football kit manufacturer Umbro saw its shares fall by nearly 6 per cent on 20 January after it announced the early end of its sponsorship agreement with Chelsea...
Berlusconi Targets TV Football Market In Italy - 23/01/2005
Mediaset, the media empire of Italian billionaire prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, is launching a new television product that could expand its domination of the television market by transforming the way people watch football...
Top Scottish Clubs Further In Debt - 23/01/2005
Scottish Premier League clubs lost £53m in 2002-3, the most recent year for which figures are available. This was £10m down on the previous year and early accounts for 2003-4 suggest...
Liverpool To Go It Alone - 18/01/2005
Liverpool hope that work on a new £120m stadium at Stanley Park could start within months after they formally rejected a Government-backed proposal for a groundshare with Everton...
Bates Linked With Leeds United? - 10/01/2005
Former Chelsea chairman Ken Bates has denied that he has agreed to put in £10m to save Leeds United. Sebastian Sainsbury, great-grandson of the supermarket chain founder, said that he had held a meeting with Bates last week...
Was Cup Third Round A Financial Success? - 10/01/2005
The 3rd round of the FA Cup provided plenty of the classic news stories about giant killing, not least Exeter holding Manchester United to a draw at Old Trafford. When the draw for the fourth round was held...
Everton Money Has Not Turned Up - 10/01/2005
As well as facing a blip on the pitch, Everton's much needed injection of cash has not turned up. The club has issued an ultimatum to Geneva financier Chris Samuelson who is yet to come up with the £12.9m investment he promised...
Birmingham Profits Up - 09/01/2005
Good performances on and off the pitch have meant that Birmingham City has been able to report a 61 per cent rise in pre-tax profits from £3.3m to £5.6m...
December 2004
Morgan Pulls Out Of Liverpool Deal - 22/12/2004
Entrepreneur Steve Morgan has pulled out of a £70m investment offer to Liverpool, letting it be known that he has 'lost patience' with the club's board...
Carlsberg To End Liverpool Sponsorship - 22/12/2004
Carlsberg is expected to end its twelve year old deal with Liverpool at the end of the season. The brewer considers that it is not getting value for money from its £6m a year shirt sponsorship deal...
Glazer Ready For Second Go At Buying United - 21/12/2004
American sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer is thinking of mounting a second attempt to buy Manchester United. The news came after secret talks in Florida last week between Glazer and United chief executive David Gill...
TalkSport Wins Probe Into Beeb - 19/12/2004
The BBC's radio broadcasting rights to FA Cup matches are under investigation after rival station TalkSport complained they breached British and European competition law. Ofcom, the media and communications regulator...
Cash Strapped Everton Bring in Tesco Chief - 12/12/2004
Everton reached 2nd place in the Premiership after their defeat of Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on 11 December, but the club continues to face serious financial problems...
Premiership Viewing Figures Fall - 12/12/2004
The television audience for Arsenal v. Chelsea today may well exceed the 3,079,000 UK viewers who watched the clash between Manchester United and Arsenal. However, the general trend is for domestic television audiences to fall...
United's Plea To Glazer: Let Us Have Our Directors Back - 06/12/2004
The inherent instability of the current situation at Manchester United is that the club has had to appeal to one antagonistic shareholder and one apparently indifferent one to try and get their commercial director reinstated...
It All Goes Off At Liverpool - 05/12/2004
Outside of Manchester, most genuine fans have considerable respect for Liverpool Football Club. But the club has been going through a troubled period off the pitch which, whatever anyone says to the contrary, can have implications for what happens on the pitch...
Promotion Is Vital For Sunderland - 05/12/2004
Ever since they were relegated from the top division in 1958, Sunderland have been a classic yo-yo club, even going down to what was then properly called the third division...
They Also Served: The History of FA Chief Executives - 05/12/2004
One of the problems that surrounds Brian Barwick's role at the FA is that no one is quite sure what it is. But it is also true that many of his predecessors did not seem to know what they were doing...
Value of Shirt Sponsorship Falls - 05/12/2004
The value of the shirt sponsorship market in the Barclays Premiership has fallen this year despite the increased exposure of England's top clubs through more live televised games...
Lower Level Clubs Want Independent Regulator - 05/12/2004
Half the professional and semi-professional football clubs below the Premiership would prefer an independent regulator to oversee the sport rather than the FA, according to a survey...
Gill Makes Sure Shares Do Not Go To Glazer - 05/12/2004
Manchester United chief executive has made sure that some shares he acquired could not be purchased by Malcolm Glazer. Gill took up two lots of share options...
Wrexham FC Docked Ten Points After Going Into Administration - 03/12/2004
Wrexham have been docked ten points after they were granted an order to go into administration, the first time this has happened in the Football League...
Give Us A Stadium, Gold Tells Brum - 02/12/2004
Birmingham chairman David Gold has urged the city of Birmingham to provide the Blues with a stadium equivalent to the City of Manchester stadium...
November 2004
'It's Dog Eat Dog' Says Magpies Chairman - 30/11/2004
Large and financially successful football clubs should not be concerned about those struggling at the lower end of the industry, 'popular' Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd told a football conference in Dubai...
Financial Crises Help To Clean Up Clubs - 29/11/2004
The annual State of the Game report from the Football Governance Research Centre at Birkbeck, University of London, sees signs of some positive progress on the corporate governance front...
Chief Executive Appointment Does Not Solve FA Problems - 28/11/2004
Brian Barwick, the controller of ITV sport, has been appointed chief executive of the Football Association, but he inherits a difficult situation at football's governing body...
Weymouth in Trouble - 28/11/2004
Considerations of time and space do not allow us to spend much time on the problems of non-league clubs, even though the writer of these pages is vice-president of a non-league club...
Top European Clubs Plan To Extend G14 - 28/11/2004
Europe's top clubs are planning to expand their exclusive organisation, G14. They have already expanded the membership from fourteen to eighteen...
Are Academy Programmes Working In The Premiership? - 28/11/2004
Considerable emphasis is placed on Academy programmes in modern football. Thousands of youngsters sign up each year in the hope that one day they will tread the hallowed turf of a great club...
Tigers and Foxes To Share Ground - 28/11/2004
Leicester City FC and Leicester Tigers hope to become joint owners of the Walkers Stadium. The professional rugby union club have outgrown their Welford Road ground...
Ferguson Tells Glazer To Leave United Alone - 21/11/2004
Sir Alex Ferguson has dealt the latest blow to Malcolm Glazer's attempt to take over Manchester United by declaring, 'We don't want the club in anyone else's hands.'...
West Brom Go Private - 21/11/2004
West Bromwich Albion have followed Sunderland and the owners of Bolton Wandererers in taking themselves off the stock market and converting into a private company...
Everton Hopeful of Investment Deal - 21/11/2004
Everton's debts rose to £42m in the last financial year, but the club is confident that a £12.8m investment deal will be in place by next month's annual meeting...
Good News For Bolton Off pitch - 21/11/2004
Bolton Wanderers' successful season on the pitch has been matched by good news off it. A pre-tax profit of £2.6m...
United Board Tried To Deal With Glazer - 18/11/2004
The Financial Times has revealed that the Manchester United board tried to do a deal with Malcolm Glazer before repudiating him...
United try to make Glazer put up or shut up - 15/11/2004
Manchester United are following a strategy of increasing the pressure on Malcolm Glazer to clarify whether he intends to make a hostile bid for the club....
Wrexham face Winding Up Order - 15/11/2004
Wrexham FC face a winding up order over a £900,000 tax debt in the High Court on Wednesday. It is more likely that the club will face a period of voluntary administration...
Leeds Sell Off Elland Road After Deal Collapses - 14/11/2004
After the collapse of takeover negotiations with a British-American consortium fronted by Sebastian Sainsbury, Leeds have resorted to Plan B and are close to completing a deal for the sale and leaseback of Elland Road...
Now Glazer Gets The Sack - 13/11/2004
Malcolm Glazer's victory in ousting three members of the Manchester United board and voting down a new share issue has turned out to be a pyrrhic one...
Glazer Ousts Three from United Board - 11/11/2004
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer has used his 28.1% stake in the club to oust three members of Manchester United plc's board...
Premiership is getting less competitive - 11/11/2004
A study by the Football Governance Research Unit at Birkbeck College, London has confirmed what many fans have long believed to be the case: the Premiership has become much less competitive...
Glazer May Try To Oust Directors - 06/11/2004
Malcolm Glazer may oppose the re-election of United directors at annual meeting...
October 2004
Clash Looms Over Photo Rights - 31/10/2004
If a dispute over press photo rights cannot be resolved, reporters and photographers may be excluded from Premier and Football League matches...
United Board rebuffs Glazer - 31/10/2004
Manchester United's board has rebuffed Malcolm Glazer and ended discussions with him about his share offer...
West Ham profits up - 31/10/2004
West Ham made a pre-tax profit of £11.8m for the year ending 31 May 2004...
Latest Bid For Leeds Greeted With Scepticism - 31/10/2004
Leeds United's board asks for proof of funding for potential £25m takeover bid by Sebastian Sainsbury...
Parker Sale Boosts Charlton Profits - 31/10/2004
The sale of Scott Parker to Chelsea helped to boost annual pre-tax profits at Charlton to £11.2m...
Wrexham FC in Danger - 31/10/2004
Wrexham, the only league club in North Wales, faces a winding up order on 17 November after its chairman, Alex Hamilton,...
Premiership Crowds Fall - 23/10/2004
There has been a five per cent year-on-year decline in Premiership attendances in the first quarter of the season...
Japanese Bank Tries To Block Glazer - 23/10/2004
Nomura, Japan's largest investment bank, is trying to find a way of blocking a takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer who has increased his stake in the club once again to 28.1%...
Glazer Ups Stake - 19/10/2004
Malcolm Glazer bought another 6.1 million shares in Manchester United on Monday to increase his stake to 27.6 per cent. It is understood that he will continue buying until...
Leeds Reduce Debt With Casino Deal - 19/10/2004
Leeds United had cashed in on the nation's gambling boom to reduce their debt by £5m. They have disposed of a disused seven acre site next to Elland Road to Stanley Leisure to build a casino...
Glazer Fights Back After Rebuff - 17/10/2004
Malcolm Glazer has increased his shareholding in Manchester United to 25.5 per cent after Irish horse racing millionaires J P McManus and John Magnier rebuffed his attempt to buy their stake in the club...
Would Glazer Buy Fulham? - 16/10/2004
Would Malcolm Glazer be interested in buying Fulham if he was thwarted in his bid for Manchester United? Mohamed al Fayed says he is unwilling to sell Fulham, but there is a growing belief that the right price may sway him...
QPR Get Cash Injection - 16/10/2004
Queen's Park Rangers have made a good start on their return to Division 1 and their financial position has been boosted by two deals...
Chester City in Trouble - 16/10/2004
Chester City's return to league football is being marred by the threat of going into administration...
United Fans Fight Takeover - 10/10/2004
Manchester United's biggest shareholders, Irish racing tycoons John Magnier and J P McManus, are reported to have said they will sell their shares in the club... - Meanwhile, Manchester's Altrincham Moss Lane ground was the setting for bizzare scenes when the reserve game against Birmingham City was halted for five minutes...
New Liverpool Offer - 10/10/2004
Property tycoon Steve Morgan has indicated that he is prepared to invest £100m in Liverpool Football Club, a substantial advance on the £70m he offered three months ago...
Football Pulls Out Of The Stockmarket - 10/10/2004
In 2001 there were twenty football clubs listed on the main Stock Exchange, now there are only nine. In many cases clubs have derived the benefit from a listing and now find the costs of remaining on the main exchange too onerous...
Let's All Go To The Emirates Stadium - 10/10/2004
Arsenal fans will be making their way to the Emirates Stadium when the club leaves Highbury for Ashburton Grove in 2006. The club has secured a long-term £90m deal for its new stadium and future shirts with airline Emirates...
Spurs' Profits Fall - 10/10/2004
The poor performance by Tottenham Hotspur on the pitch last season has been reflected in a 12 per cent fall in operating profit before player trading and flat turnover...
Wrexham's Future At Risk - 04/10/2004
The future of Wrexham Football Club is at stake. The club has been given notice to quit the Racehorse Ground, their home for 130 years. The club's majority shareholder, property developer Alex Hamilton...
United Profits Fall - 4/10/2004
Full year pre-tax profits at Manchester United in the year to 31 July fell from £39.3m to £27.9m. Early elimination from the Champions League and a restructuring of the competition saw fewer games played at Old Trafford hitting income...
New Everton Chief Says Ground Share Could Work - 4/10/2004
Everton's new chief executive, Keith Wyness, has said that Merseyside could be the one place in Britain where ground sharing could work on a permanent basis...
September 2004
New Bid For Liverpool? - 26/09/2004
A third bid for Liverpool has emerged from two US-based entertainment executives with Hollywood links. Mike Jeffries and Stuart Ford have Merseyside roots and state that they have started talks with the club...
Manchester United to Reveal Agent Payments - 26/09/2004
Manchester United are to publish details of payments to every agent involved in work at Old Trafford as part of their effort to improve standards of corporate governance...
Bid For Leeds? - 19/09/2004
Nadhmi Auchi, a British-based businessman with a fortune claimed to be worth £1.3 billion, is reported to be drawing up plans to take control of Leeds...
'We Don't Hate Them' - Californians Take Stake in Millwall - 19/09/2004
Lonestar Partners, a Californian hedge fund, have built up a 10.9 per cent stake in Millwall and is now the club's largest shareholder...
Arsenal's Financial Sucess - 13/09/2004
Arsenal's success on the pitch has been mirrored in its latest financial results. Pre-tax profits more than doubled in the year to 31 May...
August 2004
Russian Deal For Everton In Balance - 29/08/2004
Everton fans must have thought that they had found their saviour when it was announced that wealthy Russian oligarch Boris Zingarevich, a rival of Roman Abramovich, was to invest in the club...
Clubs Get Costs Under Control - 27/08/2004
The latest Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finance suggests that clubs are getting their costs under control, but that the gap between the Premiership and Division 1 (or the Championship) is widening...
Premiership Introduces 'Fit and Proper' Person Test - 26/08/2004
Some persons with colourful backgrounds have been owners of football clubs. Now the Premiership has attempted to boost corporate governance standards by introducing a 'fit and proper person' test...
Premiership Has Most Expensive Tickets - 26/08/2004
English football supporters are paying four times as much as their counterparts in Europe's other top leagues to watch matches...
Rising Wages Pose Problems For Celtic - 26/08/2004
Celtic is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain both a quality squad and an affordable wage bill. This in spite of success on the pitch that saw them win the Scottish double for the 13th time last season...
Hearts Leave Tynecastle - 26/08/2004
Financial problems have forced Hearts to leave their historic Tynecastle ground and start playing at Murrayfield from next season...
It All Goes Off At Everton - 11/08/2004
Paul Gregg, a wealthy Oxford-based entrepreneur, has threatened to mount a legal challenge to remove theatre impressario Bill Kenwright as chairman of the heavily indebted Merseyside club...
Are You Serious? - 10/08/2004
Marketing hype is one of the bugbears of modern life. One of my credit card companies recently sent me a letter saying they were cutting back their cashback from 1.0% to 0.5% as part of their effort to 'improve our service to you'. And, of course, you can't keep it out of football...
Sweet FA - 04/08/2004
I am not fan of David Mellor, but he made a good point on Radio 5 on 2nd August when he pointed out that the row at the Football Association is not really about who slept with whom and when (did Sven do a two second tailgate on MP?), but the ability of football's regulatory body to get its own house in order...
July 2004
Bantams Escape Closure - 03/07/2004
Bradford City were threatened with closure on July 2nd unless they found £300,000 to pay rent on their Valley Parade ground...
June 2004
Glazer Raises Stake Again - 27/06/2004
U.S. entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer has increased his stake in Manchester United by paying about £5.9m for less than a further one per cent stake in the club...
Thai Music Group Will Now Lead Liverpool Bid - 20/06/2004
The controversial bid by Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra to bid for a stake in Liverpool 'on behalf of the Thai people' is effectively over...
New Transfer System Hits Football League - 07/06/2004
The Premiership may be prospering, but the new transfer system imposed on football by the European Commission has hit the Football League hard...
Thai Bid For Liverpool Runs Into Trouble - 06/06/2004
The Thai bid to acquire a stake in Liverpool has run into trouble after increased opposition within Thailand...
Club Cuts Ties With Agency Run By Fergie's Son - 06/06/2004
Manchester United is cutting its ties with Elite, the sports agency run by the son of its manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, following an internal review of its player transfer policy...
Premiership in Good Financial Health - 04/06/2004
Deloitte have produced a preview of their annual report on football finances (the final version will appear later in the summer) which shows an improving sitiation at Premiership clubs...
May 2004
BSkyB Outfoxes Commission - 30/05/2004
The European Commission has been outmanoeuvred by BSkyB in its attempt to end its broadcasting monopoly of English Premiership football for the next three years...
Will Protected Status of Football Creditors End? - 30/05/2004
The protected status of football creditors under FA and Football League rules is being challenged in the High Court by the Inland Revenue in cases relating to Wimbledon and Exeter City...
Thais Step Up Interest in Liverpool FC - 15/05/2004
Foreign takeovers are the flavour of the month as the globalisation of sport gathers pace and Bangkok's Thai Rath newspaper has reported that Thaksin Shinawatra, the country's billionaire prime minister is about to sign a deal to take a Bt4.6bn (£64m) 30 per cent stake in Liverpool...
Glazer Ups Stake Again - 07/05/2004
US entrepreneur Malcolm Glazer upped his stake in Manchester United to 18.25 per cent at the end of April. Some of the shares acquired by Mr Glazer were sold by Maurice Watkins, one of the club's...
Could Bradford City Disappear as a League Club? - 12/05/2004
There have been many scares about clubs going out of business in recent years but so far they have managed to pull back from the brink at the last minute. However, the position of Bradford City is looking increasingly perilous...
Relegated Rushden Turn Down Egyptians - 11/05/2004
Relegated Rushden and Diamonds are believed to have turned down a takeover bid from Egyptian club Wadi Degla, humourists claiming that the MK Dons would be joined as neighbours by the RD Pharaohs...
What Now For Leeds? - 09/05/2004
No one who saw the scenes from Elland Road on 8th May can doubt the passion and commitment of the Leeds supporters or the fact that the club has a huge fan base (apparently to be rewarded by a 27 per cent hike in season ticket prices next year)...
April 2004
Norwich Prepare For The Premiership - 09/04/2004
With promotion to the Premiership looking increasingly likely, the Canaries are making sure that their financial house is in order...
Comparing the "Old Firm's" football finances - 11/04/2004
The Old Firm provide some interesting contrasts. Rangers are engaged in a three year plan to reduce the club's debts of £68m...
March 2004
Villa Reject Bid But Fans Want 'Deadly Doug' Out - 27/03/2004
Aston Villa have rejected a bid for the 38% shareholding of Doug Ellis but fans have made it clear they would like the 80-year old chairman they call 'Deadly Doug' to leave...
Bates Bids For Owls - 27/03/2004
Chel$ki exile Ken Bates has bid to put some of the £18m he made from the sale of the club into ailing giant Sheffield Wednesday...
First Shot Fired in Battle For Control of Liverpool - 26/03/2004
With Liverpool knocked out of the UEFA Cup, the first shot has been fired in the battle for control of the Merseyside club...
Fire Sale Inevitable at Leeds - 23/03/2004
The Yorkshire based consortium that has taken over Leeds United has put together a canny deal to save the club from administration, but whether or not the club is relegated from the Premiership a fire sale of expensively paid players is now inevitable...
Villa Bid More Likely - 23/04/2004
Trefick, the investment vehicle of property entrepreneur Jack Petchey has increased its stake in Aston Villa from just over 14 to 16.5 per cent...
Wimbledon Rescued - 23/03/2004
Wimbledon were saved from liquidation when the club's creditors agreed to a takeover offer from InterMK, led by the music entrepreneur Pete Winkleman....
Cup Attendances Still Lower - 08/03/2004
For all the superb football played by Arsenal in their 5-1 win over Pompey, and the marvellous spirit shown by the Portsmouth fans, the FA Cup is still not drawing in the crowds...
February 2004
Rushden Up For Sale - 29/02/2004
Second division Rushden and Diamonds is up for sale. With his Doc Martens business encountering troubled trading conditions, chairman Max Griggs can no longer underwrite the club's losses...
Leeds Crisis Deepens - 29/02/2004
The crisis at Leeds has deepened after our consortium interesting in purchasing the club pulled out and the creditors failed to grant another debt standstill agreement...
Bradford In Trouble Again - 29/02/2004
Bradford City's creditors have applied for the club to be taken into administration a second time after the club defaulted on a payment required by its Company Voluntary Agreement (CVA)...
Arsenal Get The Dosh - 29/02/2004
Arsenal have finally persuaded a consortium of banks to lend them the £260m needed to complete the new 60,000 seat stadium at nearby Ashburton Grove...
Forest In Trouble Off Pitch And On - 22/02/2004
At the end of February Nottingham Forest were languishing in a relegation spot in Division 1, but they were also facing money problems off the pitch...
No More Pies As Scottish Clubs Hit The Rocks - 15/02/2004
As a number of Scottish Premier League clubs hit serious financial trouble, one of the most bizarre casualties has been the free pie offer for season ticket holders that was withdrawn by Livingston after they went into administration...
Off Pitch Prospects Look Brighter For Leeds - 08/02/04
Leeds has received a fourth extension to the standstill agreement on its debt, this time to beyond February 13th. A consortium represented by local accountant Gerald Krasner is trying to buy the club...
Fans Back Fergie But Club Admits Damage - 01/02/04
United fans made it quite clear that they backed Sir Alex Ferguson through their demonstrations of support for the embattled manager at the game against Southampton on 31 January...
January 2004
Could Spurs ground share with Arsenal? - 24/01/2004
Spurs have had to face up to the fact that the expansion of White Hart Lane is unlikely to go ahead because of continuing problems over transport links and infrastructure. A new stadium elsewhere has been considered in the past, but the now the club is...
Bolton find their Benefactor - 24/01/2004
One consequence of the downturn in football finances is that finding a rich benefactor is increasingly seen as the way out of financial trouble. This is no less true for unfashionable clubs like Bolton Wanderers....
Darlington In Administration - 18/01/2004
In his book Broken Dreams, Tom Bowyer refers to the 'mavericks, tycoons and opportunists attracted to football.' Step forward, George Reynolds. The former safe-cracker turned flat-pack furniture magnate has...
Will Leeds Be First Premiership Club To Go Into Administration? - 11/01/2004
Unless a suitably wealthy purchaser can be found, Leeds United will be the first Premiership club to go into administration. The main creditors include providers of £60m of senior secured notes and Gerling General Insurance...
Parmalat scandal leaves future of AC Parma in doubt - 04/01/2004
The future of AC Parma, sixth in Serie A at the beginning of 2004, is in doubt after the collapse of its scandal ridden parent company, Parmalat Finanziaria S.p.A...
December 2003
Not Much Natural Justice In Ferdinand Case? - 28/12/03
Whatever one thinks of the rights and wrongs of Rio Ferdinand's eight month suspension for failing to take a drug test, the usual civil remedies for testing the procedures used do not appear to be available...
Who Will Speak For Football In Europe? - 24/12/03
The European Union is going to remain as a significant player affecting the future of football...
TV Deal Leaves Everyone A Winner - 24/12/03
The compromise deal brokered between the European Commission and the Premiership over the future of television rights leaves everyone a winner...
Watford Announces New Fundraising Plan - 24/12/03
Watford announced plans for a £5.25m fundraising aimed at securing working capital and to assist buying back the freehold of the Vicarage Road ground...
Notts County FC Survive - 24/12/03
Founded in 1862, Notts County FC are the oldest professional football club in the world (amateurs Sheffield FC are the oldest club), but at one time it looked as if they could be the first club to fold...
Oz Heads for Premiership Style League - 16/12/03
Momentum is growing towards the creation of a new national soccer competition in Australia which could be called the Australian Premier League...
November 2003
Manchester City's £50 million Debt - 30/11/03
Manchester City's debts have increased to £50m following heavy investment in the team. The club's wage bill rose from £24m to £35m last season...
Rotherham Deny Administration Reports - 30/11/03
Rotherham have denied media reports that the relegation threatened Division 1 club is on the brink of going into administration...
Record Losses At Leeds - 15/11/03
Leeds has reported pre-tax losses of almost £50m, a record for a UK football club. Losses of £49.5m were incurred against the background of a fall in turnover for the twelve months to June...
It All Goes Off At Spurs - 03/11/03
Spurs has been wracked by a boardroom battle over a bond issue that led to the resignation of non-executive director Howard Shore...
Will Arsenal Go To Wembley After All? - 03/11/03
News that Arsenal will not be able to relocate to its planned new stadium at Ashburton Grove for the 2005-6 season as planned has renewed speculation that the club may eventually end up as tenants at Wembley...
EU May Veto Italy's 'Saviour' Law - 06/11/03
The EU is threatening to veto Italy's so-called 'saviour' law which has helped to keep many cash strapped football clubs afloat. It permits clubs to amortise costs of player contracts over ten years rather than the shorter life of the contracts...
October 2003
Grecians In Trouble - 29/10/03
As potential local rivals Yeovil have at last been promoted to the Football League, Exeter City have been relegated to the Conference...
Shared Stadium For Pool? - 11/10/03
With the promise of public funds being made available for up to a third of the cost, the North-West Development Agency has re-opened the vexed question of a shared stadium for Liverpool and Everton...
Newcastle United plc Report Record Profits - 11/10/03
Last year's successful season led to record profits and turnover for the club in the year to 31 July 2003...
Mystery Investor Buys Man U Shares - 7/10/03
Manchester United shares hit a two year high on October 3 after one mystery buyer purchased three million shares, or about one per cent of the company, in the last hour of trading...
September 2003
Queen's Park Rangers Struggling Financially- 24/09/03
At the beginning of April 2001, Queen's Park Rangers went into administration and only came out over a year later...
Serie B Start Delayed In Italy - 21/09/03
The start of the Serie B season in Italy was delayed by a row about promotion and relegation which had its origins in a series of contradictory court decisions...
Exodus Of Stars Hits Brazilian Football - 21/09/03
Brazilian fans have been blaming an exodus of star players on globalisation. With the economy in a shambles and clubs facing major financial problems, 53 players from the first division have left the country this year...
Sharp Rise in Half-Time Losses At Villa - 18/09/03
Aston Villa suffered a sharp increases in half-time losses, made worse by expensive player disposals...
FIFA May Buy Catastrophe Bond - 10/09/03
Fifa may buy a catastrophe bond to protect its investment in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Euro-Week magazine has reported that CFSB is reported to be the lead manager in a €400m deal...
August 2003
Kit Pricing Probe Ends in Fines - 03/08/03
Ten companies, including Manchester United and the Football Association, have been fined a total of £18.6m for keeping the price of team shirts artifically high...
July 2003
European Football Market Tops €10 billion - 31/07/03
Accountants Deloitte and Touche have estimated the European football market to be worth around €10 billion in their latest report on football finances...
Sunderland Administration Scare - 15/07/03
Sunderland were once seen as the paradigm case of a well run club with its new stadium and fanatical following. But following relegation they had plunged into financial trouble...
Luton Town in Administration - 15/07/03
Luton Town are the latest club to go into administration with their manager John Gurney losing control...
Tottenham to launch a £15m rights issue - 15/07/03
Spurs announced in July 2003 that they were proposing to launch a £15m rights issue to boost Glen Hoddle's transfer budget...
Russian Purchase of Chelsea Opens New Chapter in Football Finances - 05/07/03
The effective acquisition of debt ridden Chelsea by Russian billionnaire Roman Abramovich opens a new chapter in Britain's football finance saga...
June 2003
Barnsley Rescue Package - 28/06/03
Barnsley are the latest club to survive closure through a last-minute rescue package...
German TV Row To Go To Commission - 28/06/03
Germany's commercial televison broadcasters plan to challenge in Brussels the proposed acquisition of football rights by the public broadcasting system...
Is Becks Departure An Own Goal? - 22/06/03
This was the question posed on the front page of the Financial Times on 11 June after United announced that they were planning to sell their most valuable playing asset, David Beckham, to Barcelona for a fee estimated at £30m...
Premier League and FA to take overseas media sales in house - 15/06/03
The Premier League and the FA are planning to cash in on the popularity of English football overseas by setting up in-house operations to sell media rights to broadcasters in countries such as China and Thailand...
Brazil Attempts To Clean Up Football - 01/06/03
Brazil's new president, Lula da Silva, has signed a new law which is supposed to be a 'statue for fans' despite the opposition of the country's football barons...
May 2003
Desperate Times At Leeds - 04/05/03
The club is considering refinancing in order to cut its debts of almost £80m. Options under consideration include a rights issue and a debt-for-equity swap, though a bond issue has been ruled out...
April 2003
Bayern In Crisis With Bundesliga - 13/04/03
Bayern Munich were fourteen points clear at the top of the Bundesliga in mid-April 2003, but their whole future in the competition is in doubt. They face the prospect of sanctions over a secret marketing deal which gave them a top-up of €21.5 million from the troubled KirchMedia group...
Financing West Bromwich Albion plc - 13/04/03
New Premiership club West Bromwich Albion were relegated after their first season. Controversial chairman Paul Thompson stood down and was eventually replaced by Jeremy Peace...
Latest Results Confirm Strength of Manchester Utd. - 07/04/03
Although they show a 34 per cent fall in pre-tax profits in the six months to 31 January, the latest results for Manchester United emphasise the strength of the club...
March 2003
Champions League Faces Falling TV Revenues - 10/04/03
Uefa is expecting a 'drastic decrease' in television revenue from the Champions League over the next three seasons. The television rights deals that run out after this season's final on 28 May bring in an estimated one billion Swiss Francs a year...
February 2003
Hearts Redevelopment Programme - 01/02/03
Those of us who can remember the mid 1950s recall Hearts as the leading club in Scotland at the time. Now, with Scottish football dominated by the Celtic-Rangers duopoly, the club is the equivalent of a Nationwide Division One club...
Leicester Deal Threatens Insolvency Policy - 23/02/03
The Holmes consortium has managed to buy Leicester City out of administration for just £1.25m, leaving millions of debt unpaid, including more than £6m to the Inland Revenue...
Pressure On To Clean Up The Game - 01/02/03
As increasing numbers of clubs, including famous names like Leeds, fall prey to financial difficulties the pressure is on to clean up the game and give fans more information about what is going on...
January 2003
Arsenal and Spurs Win Kit Trading Cases - 31/01/03
Arsenal has won its court battle over trademarks against Matthew Reed, a Gooner for forty years, who has sold souvenirs outside the ground since 1970...
2002 Articles
York Latest Club To Go Under - 23/12/02
York City are the twelth Football League club to go into administration this year. The administrator has allowed until 18 January for a solution to be found...
Premier League Bosses Threaten To Walk Out On FA - 15/12/02
The four Premier League representatives on the FA board have threatened to walk out. They want more say over the commercialisation of the England team and could even ban their players from commercial work for FA sponsors...
Murdoch Scores In Italy - 10/12/02
Italy is set to have an equivalent of BSkyB in pay television after Rupert Murdoch took over Telepiu, the Italian satellite television group...
French Clubs in Secret TV Deal - 10/12/02
French cable television company Canal Plus has secretly paid £160m to six of the biggest football clubs in France as an 'option' on future television rights...
Cash Problems Grow, But No Club Likely To Fail - 27/10/02
More and more Division 1 clubs are facing cash flow problems, but no club is likely to fail. Administration ensures that the burden falls on creditors and lowly paid non-playing staff...
Clubs Turn To New Ways Of Raising Money - 25/08/02
As the financial plight of football worsens, clubs are turning to new ways of making money. As their shares have dived, clubs are making use of new debt financing instruments...
League Loses Court Case - 04/08/02
The Football League has lost its court case against Carlton and Granada. The High Court ruled that the television companies were not liable for money owed to the Football League by ITV Digital, their defunct pay-TV platform...
MK Move For Dons Sparks Franchise Fears - 03/06/02
The decision of an Independent Commission appointed by the Football Association to allow Wimbledon to move to Milton Keynes has sparked fears that an American style franchise model could be adopted in British football...
G14 Wants Players To Be Paid For Internationals - 17/03/02
G14, the organisation of Europe's top clubs, is asking for compensation when its players are involved in internationals. Driving the desire for a compensation arrangement between the clubs and football authorities is the continual rise of player wages...
Lyngby Go Bankrupt - 12/01/2002
The problems faced by clubs in smaller European countries are illustrated by the news that Denmark's FC Lyngby has gone bankrupt. The club from the suburbs of north Copenhagen were Danish champions in 1992...
Have Media Companies Wasted Their Money? - 21/10/2001
Not so long ago media companies were piling money into Premiership clubs, in so far as the 9.9 per cent shareholding limit allowed...
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