December 2008
Two Month Deadline To Sell West Ham - 31/12/2008
The owner of West Ham United, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, has just two months to sell the club before his holding company, Hansa, faces the possibility of being declared insolvent...
Credit Crunch Hits Transfer Spending - 30/12/2008
Spending in the January transfer window has soared in recent years from £33m in 2003 to £175m last year...
George's Folly - 28/12/2008
Dubbed 'George's Folly' the Reynolds Arena on the southern edge of Darlington cost its creator, the former Darlington FC owner George Reynolds...
£100,000 Lifetime Tab For Being A Fan - 27/12/2008
Dedicated football fans will spend £100,000 in a lifetime supporting a club according to research by Virgin Money...
Carlsberg Hit Out At Liverpool Stadium Delays - 24/12/2008
Carlsberg, Liverpool's biggest sponsor, has criticised Liverpool's owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, for delays in building...
Smith Wants Rangers Out Of Scotland - 24/12/2008
Glasgow Rangers manager Walter Smith has revealed that the club would be prepared to field a 'B' team to fulfill their Scottish League obligations in order to bridge the gap with Europe's elite clubs...
Sunderland Takeover Near - 23/12/2008
Ellis Short, the American businessman, could complete a full takeover of Sunderland by the summer of 2010...
Plymouth Feel The Pinch - 22/12/2008
The credit crunch is making itself felt at Championship club Plymouth Argyle in terms of falling attendances...
Quota System For Home Grown Players - 21/12/2008
Football League chairmen have voted to bring in what is thought to be the only quota system on foreign players anywhere in Europe. The new rule requires that four of the 16 players in a matchday squad should be 'home grown'. Foreign players registered in England for three years before their 21st birthday would qualify as a domestic recruit. The rule will have little immediate effect as all but two of the 72 Football League clubs already comply. However, Football League chairman Lord Mahwinney insisted that this was just the start. 'Now that the principle is established, it will be for the future to decide whether those numbers should be cranked up,' he said.
Conference Clubs In Tax Trouble - 21/12/2008
At least nine Conference clubs have tax bills threatening their existence...
'Business As Usual' at Arsenal - 21/12/2008
It's 'business as usual' at Arsenal with Arsene Wenger claiming he did not see the upheaval that has rocked the boardroom...
More Foreign Players in Top European Leagues - 19/12/2008
The annual review by the Professional Football Players Observatory of the European players' labour market shows that the percentage of players having grown up in a different country to that of their club of employment in the 2007/08 season reached a new record...
West Ham On The Market, Newcastle Off - 18/12/2008
At Upton Park the financially stricken Icelandic owner of the club, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, is inviting offers for the Premiership club...
Arsenal Up For Grabs Again - 18/12/2008
The ownership of Arsenal could be up for grabs again after a boardroom row effectively ended the board's lockdown agreement under which directors agreed in 2007 to sell shares to each other...
Two Conference Clubs In Trouble - 14/12/2008
Blue Square Premier clubs Lewes and Weymouth may face administration and even closure...
More Financial Worries At Hearts - 14/12/2008
Once again there are rumours that the Edinburgh club are up for sale as uncertainty persists over the finances and intentions of their backers...
Wrexham's Ambitious Plan - 14/12/2008
Blue Square Conference side Wrexham has revealed an ambitious £40m investment plan designed to transform the former league club's finances and lead to the rebuilding of the historic Kop...
Bigger Hit For Scottish Football From Credit Crunch - 13/12/2008
Many of those involved in Scottish football think that it will take a bigger hit from the credit crunch than the game south of the border...
Liverpool Lose Their Sheikh - 11/12/2008
It looks as if the ruler of Dubai is no longer interested in buying Liverpool who are having difficulty in raising funds for their new stadium...
Mawhinney's Salary Cap Plan - 11/12/2008
Lord Mawhinney, chairman of the Football League, is proposing to extend the salary cap that already operates in Coca-Cola League Two...
Pay-TV Football Boom in Africa - 08/12/2008
GTV is pan-African pay-TV company which is building its offer around football, although it also has news and entertainment channels...
Rangers Supremo Awaits Right Offer - 07/12/2008
Glasgow Rangers owner Sir David Murray has made it clear that he is ready to sell the club which he purchased for £6m in 1988...
Supporters Takeover At Berwick Nears - 07/12/2008
Berwick Rangers is a unique club as it is located in the English borders towns (which has had a convoluted and turbulent history) but plays in the Scottish League...
Premiership Agrees To Debt Probe - 07/12/2008
Barclays Premier League officials have signed up to a voluntary investigation into debt levels among their clubs as part of their efforts to head off threats of regulation by Europe...
Controversial Chester Bid Rejected - 07/12/2008
A controversial bid for League 2 outfit Chester City has been rejected by owner Stephen Vaughan...
Britain Defeats French Threat To Premiership - 06/12/2008
Britain has fought off an attempt by France to use its rotating presidency of the European Union to impose a French-style regulatory system on British football clubs...
The M Word - 06/12/2008
Ground sharing between clubs is always unpopular with fans, but mergers of clubs attract even more opposition as they destroy a cherished identity...
Saints Post Big Loss - 02/12/2008
Southampton have announced a loss of £4.9m in the last financial year even after making £12.7m through player sales...
Brit's Bid For Spanish Club - 01/12/2008
Paul Davidson, the colourful City entrepreneur knwon as the Plumber, is running out of time to clinch a €38m bid to become the first foreign owner of a Spanish football team...
November 2008
Leeds Turn Their Finances Around - 30/11/2008
They may have been knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Histon, but the financial position at Leeds United is looking a whole lot brighter...
West Ham Try To Reduce Bill - 30/11/2008
Some time ago we forecast on this page that West Ham would have to pay compensation to Sheffield United over the Carlos Tevez affair, but the Blades would not get as much as they hoped. That is the way it looks like turning out...
Credit Crunch Starts To Hit Matchday Revenues - 23/11/2008
The standard assumption in the sports economics literature is that demand for tickets at top flight clubs in any sport is relatively inelastic, i.e., relatively unaffected by changes in (real) prices. That may apply in normal economic conditions, but...
Gap Between Championship And Lower Leagues To Widen - 23/11/2008
The Championship will get a big boost next season from a new television contract, but the gap between it and the lower divisions of the Football League will widen...
Pompey's New Stadium In Doubt - 21/11/2008
Portsmouth's ambition to move to a spectacular new waterside stadium could hit the rocks because of the club's need to include shops in the development...
West Rules OK in Bundesliga - 20/11/2008
Not one side from the former East Germany (DDR) has won a Bundesliga title in the nineteen years since the fall of the Berlin Wall...
More Uncertainties At Newcastle - 17/11/2008
Long suffering Newcastle United fans face further uncertainties about the future of the club...
Fiery AGM at Norwich - 16/11/2008
Nearly 440 fans attended the annual general meeting of Norwich City FC and remarks made by Delia Smith attracted a subsequent clarification from would-be investor Peter Cullum...
Fire Sale At Liverpool? - 12/11/2008
Keith Harris, the chairman of investment bank Seymour Pierce, and a key intermediary in football takeovers, believes that the American owners of Liverpool could be forced to sell leading players...
Promoted Teams Need Careful Business Strategies - 11/11/2008
Getting promoted to the Premiership can seem like a bonanza, but getting relegated can bring a cold dose of reality. Once the parachute payments run out, life becomes very difficult...
Setanta Seeks New Supremo As TV Rights Battle Looms - 09/11/2008
Setanta Sports is searching for a new chief executive of its British operations after the broadcaster fell foul of football fans for failing to sell highlights of England's win over Croatia to ITV...
Intermediary Says There Will Be More Gulf Sales - 09/11/2008
Amanda Staveley has emerged as a key figure in major deals with Britain and the Gulf States, recently facilitating the purchase of a 16 per cent stake in Barclays Bank for Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan...
Two U.S. Investors In For Magpies - 05/11/2008
Seymour Pierce who are acting as advisers on the sale of Newcastle United have confirmed that the original field of seven potential bidders has been whittled down to two...
Pompey Look For Buyers - 03/11/2008
Europe's richest man, Rinat Akhmetov, has turned down an opportunity to buy Portsmouth...
Abramovich Really Is A Chelsea Fan - 02/11/2008
Roman Abramovich really is a Chelsea fan - and we have a 134-page ruling from Mr Justice Christopher Clarke to prove it...
October 2008
Spurs Go For New Stadium - 30/10/2008
Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed their intention to build a new 60,000-capacity stadium near their current White Hart Lane ground...
Recession Hits Non-League Clubs - 27/10/2008
Non-league clubs are taking a big hit as the economy slips into recession. Conference outfit Grays Athletic have cut their players' wages by a 50 per cent payment deferral...
The Hull Phenomenon - 26/10/2008
Hull City were tipped for an instant return to the Championship at the beginning of the season, but their victory against West Brom on Saturday made them joint first at the top of the Premiership before today's matches...
Figures Don't Add Up At Liverpool - 26/10/2008
Ultimately Liverpool's ability to compete on the highest level depends on moving to a new stadium, a project that poses the most serious questions about the stewardship of the current owners...
Chelsea Aim To Reduce Reliance On Benefactor - 26/10/2008
Chelsea chief executive believes that the club will be less dependent on Roman Abramovich next year...
Two Tier Premiership Idea Revived - 25/10/2008
The idea of a two tier Premiership has been revived by Bolton chairman Phil Gartside...
The Most Costly Bench Warmers - 22/10/2008
The Premiership's most costly bench-warmers have been revealed in a new list published by football website IMScouting.com...
Premiership Faces Political Challenge - 19/10/2008
The Premiership faces perhaps its biggest ever political challenge from what is in effect a combined front of the new culture secretary, Andy Burnham and FA chairman Lord Triesman...
BT's Vision - 19/10/2008
BT admit that it will be 'challenging' if not impossible to hit its target of having 2-3m BT vision customers by 2011 by organic growth alone but it would be easier to reach the target if BT Vision can offer its customers the live football available on BSkyB's channels...
Conflicts of Interest? - 19/10/2008
Press reports over the weekend have suggested that Dubai based Zabeel Investments have lost interest in unglamorous south-east London Charlton Athletic, available at a knockdown price, and switched their attention to Everton...
Success Against the Odds - 18/10/2008
A new footballing force has risen in Germany rapidly and rather unnoticed over the past few years. TSG Hoffenheim were competing as an amateur team back in the early 1990s...
Hammers Take Their Case To Court - 14/10/2008
West Ham will step up their fight against paying Sheffield United compensation by lodging an appeal in the High Court this week...
What Relegation From The SPL Means - 13/10/2008
The impact of relegation from the English Premiership is a familiar story, but what about the implications of being relegated from its Scottish counterpart?..
Financial 'Meltdown' and Football Clubs Debt - 12/10/2008
The International Monetary Fund has talked this weekend of a 'meltdown' in the world's financial system. As we have emphasised before, we think that the real threat could come to lower or non-league clubs in the near future...
Dubai Bid For Charlton - 10/10/2008
On a day in which global markets have been in turmoil, unfashionable south-east London club Charlton Athletic have received a bid from a Dubai-based investment group headed by His Excellency Mohammed Ali Ali Hashimi...
UEFA Threat To Debt Ridden Clubs - 09/10/2008
Uefa are threatening to ban debt ridden clubs from their competitions. This is a major threat to leading English clubs to whom Champions League football is a key slice of their income...
Triesman Blasts Football Debt - 08/10/2008
Lord Triesman, the chairman of the FA, and Richard Scudamore, the chairman of the Premiership, got in an argument yesterday about the effect of the credit crunch on football at the Football Leaders conference, ironically held at Stamford Bridge...
Blatter Hits Out At Foreign Ownership - 07/10/2008
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has called for stricter rules on foreign ownership of clubs in the UK and elsewhere in Europe...
No Worries At West Ham As Icelandic Economy Collapses - 07/10/2008
West Ham, already hit by the collapse of its shirt sponsor last month, said that the club was not for sale and that its Icelandic owner remained 'as committed as ever' in spite of the financial services...
Credit Crunch Could Hit Non-League Clubs - 06/10/2008
There has been a lot of speculation about whether the credit crunch will hit a leading Premiership club, but it may be non-league clubs that will be first in the firing line...
Minor Set Back For Sky TV - 05/10/2008
Decisions by the media regulator Ofcom on live television rights represent a setback for Sky, but not the major blow they could have been...
Only Three MLS Teams are Profitable - 02/10/2008
Only three of the teams in North America's Major League Soccer competition are profitable: Los Angeles Galaxy, FC Dallas and Toronto FC...
September 2008
Newcastle Sale Price Cut - 30/09/2008
Mike Ashley will now settle for a price of £280-£300m for Newcastle United which would still leave him with a profit of £30-£50m...
Financial Worries At Pompey - 30/09/2008
Although Harry Redknapp has denied that there will be any 'fire sale' of players in the January transfer window, concern about the financial situation of Portsmouth FC persists...
Blades Rule Out Appeal - 29/09/2008
Sheffield United will not allow West Ham to take the judgement by an arbitration panel over the Carlos Tevez affair to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne...
Asian Billionaire Sounds Out Spurs - 29/09/2008
Bottom Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur may be rescued by an Asian billionaire...
Why Buy A Premier League Club? - 29/09/2008
Nine out of the 20 clubs in the Premiership are wholly or partially owned by non-British entrepreneurs and the number may well increase soon...
Owls Top Of Empty Seats League - 29/09/2008
Sheffield Wednesday are top of the Championship empty seats league with Hillsborough the most under-occupied stadium...
Heart of Midlothian Sort Out Pay Problems - 26/09/2008
Last month, the weekly paid players at Hearts didn't get paid and those on monthly salaries faced delayed payments, but the problems should all have been sorted out this week...
The Credit Crunch and Football - 24/09/2008
How will the credit crunch hit football? The financial storm is not over yet, but at the moment, within the Premiership at least, the top clubs are sitting pretty, while smaller clubs in less prosperous areas are having to be more innovative in their response...
Blades Win Case Against Hammers - 23/09/2008
A FA arbitration tribunal has ruled in favour of Sheffield United and against West Ham in the Carlos Tevez affair...
African Bid For Newcastle? - 23/09/2008
If a bid by a Nigerian consortium for Newcastle United comes to fruition, they could become the first African owned club in the Premiership...
Arsenal Boost Their Defences - 21/09/2008
Arsenal's board members have reinforced their position against a possible takeover bid from leading shareholder Allsher Usmanov by making US sports franchise owner Stan Kroenke a fellow director...
Shirt Sponsors Are Harder To Find - 21/09/2008
The turmoil at Manchester United's sponsors, AIG, has focused attention on football shirt sponsors. Football shirt sponsorship has enjoyed steady growth in recent years. According to sports marketing consultant Sports Markt, total revenues last year were...
Canaries' Troubles Are All Too Typical - 21/09/2008
The financial problems being encountered by Norwich City have their own specific local causes, but they are also typical of the challenges being faced by many lower league clubs...
Pompey Deny Ownership Claims - 15/09/2008
Portsmouth have dismissed as 'absolute rubbish' claims by the father of owner Alexandre Gaydamark that he, rather than his son, is the owner of the Premiership club...
Lots Of Bidders For Newcastle - 14/09/2008
There will be no shortage of bidders for troubled Newcastle United after owner Mike Ashley put the troubled club up for sale. A Chinese businessman is said to be interested, a North-East consortium is waiting in the wings and, as we discussed in an earlier story, there is also a possible Indian bidder...
Bidders Line Up for Premiership TV Auction - 14/09/2008
Negotiations on the next Premiership television package are due to start in the first three months of 2009 and already potential bidders are lining up...
Record Profits At Arsenal - 14/09/2008
Arsenal to announce record turnover figures later this month, making the club the world's third richest behind Real Madrid and Manchester United...
England TV Highlights Mix-up - 14/09/2008
Pay television company Setanta took the unusual step last week of suspending its encryption technology so that fans could watch highlights of England's World Cup qualifying match against Croatia...
The Liverpool Stadium Shambles - 14/09/2008
George Gillett made a rare visit to Liverpool yesterday to see his club beat Manchester United, but while fans celebrated their victory, large numbers of them protested against the American owners...
The Future of Scottish Football - 08/09/2008
In many ways Scottish football has never been in better shape. Per head of population, more of Scotland's inhabitants pay to watch top-flight football in their country than anywhere else in Europe. In 2004-5, 73 per cent of SPL players were Scottish. However, when one is talking about Scottish football, one naturally focuses on 'The Old Firm' because they dominate the game far more than the top four do in England...
Norwich City Up For Sale - 03/09/2008
Norwich City FC has effectively been put up for sale by majority shareholders Delia Smith and her husband Michael Wynn Jones...
Belles In Distress - 03/09/2008
Doncaster Belles, the oldest club in the Women's Premier League, are on the verge of bankruptcy...
August 2008
Thaksin Shinawatra and Manchester City - 23/08/2008
Thaksin Shinawatra is 'embarassed' about the damage that his legal, political and financial circumstances have inflicted on Manchester City of late. He has offer to resign from the club's board in order to alleviate any growing pressure from the Premiership whose 'fit and proper person' test he no longer appears to satisfy...
Smaller Premiership With No Relegation Urged - 21/08/2008
Manchester City executive chairman Gary Cook believes that the Premiership remains too parochial in its outlook and the future lies in an elite league of perhaps 14 clubs with no relegation...
Police Bid To Make Football Pay Starts Row - 21/08/2008
There has been a strong reaction to a proposal by the Association of Chief Police Officers that football should pay all the costs of policing games with some commentators suggesting that the plan is based on envy and class hatred...
Foreign Player Dominance Confirmed - 21/08/2008
A study for the Professional Football Players Observatory shows that foreigners represent 59.5 per cent of the players in English Premiership clubs compared with...
Brazil is Leading Exporter of Foreign Players - 22/08/2008
Professional Football Players Observatory, percentage of foreign players with clubs in the top flight, five main European leagues, England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, number of Latin Americans among the foreign players rose by 2 per cent...
Cork City's Money Problems Rock Eircom League - 20/08/2008
In a season that has already seen Cobh Rangers, Sligo Rovers, Galway United and Kildrae County facing serious problems, the situation at Cork is worrying for the League of Ireland as a whole.
Top 10 Brazilian Football Clubs - 12/08/2008
We've recently received the latest report from Casual Auditores Independentes on the finances of Brazilian football clubs. 21 clubs are covered.
Will Credit Crunch Hit Arsenal - 11/08/2008
Arsene Wenger has had to be careful in his acquisitions of players, possibly affecting on pitch performances, as Arsenal services the debt it took on board to build the Emirates Stadium...
Credit Crunch Hits Scottish Clubs - 11/08/2008
Scotland's top clubs are feeling the effects of the credit crunch, according to research by leading accountants and business advisers PKF...
South Australia's Oldest Club in Trouble - 11/08/2008
Port is said to be headed towards a massive operating loss this season - perhaps more than A$500,000...
Cherries Accept Points Deduction - 08/08/2008
Bournemouth have joined Rotherham in accepting a 17 point deduction in order to play in League Two in the coming season...
Man City Deny Club Is Up For Sale - 04/08/2008
Manchester City has denied reports that the club is up for sale. Owner Thaksin Shinawatra is facing corruption charges in Thailand and reports suggest that he is thinking either of selling the club outright or bringing in new investment...
Two Eastern Bids For Magpies - 02/08/2008
Anil Ambani, the head of one of India's largest companies, and the country's second richest man, is reported to be interested in buying Newcastle United...
Miller's League Place In Doubt - 02/08/2008
Rotherham United could be barred from the Football League and unable to start the new season if they are unable to provide assurances over their future...
Football Defies The Credit Crunch - 02/08/2008
The credit crunch seems to be having a limited impact on the football transfer market. Cristiano Ronaldo, we are told, would cost Real Madrid £80m if Manchester United decided to sell him. United themselves are reporting to be considering a £30m bid for Berbatov, while Chelsea have offered a world record fee for Kaka...
July 2008
Row At The Rams - 31/07/2008
Former Derby County chairman Peter Gadsby has hit out at the owners of the club following his departure from the board last week...
Bundesliga Faces Television Rights Battle - 30/07/2008
The Bundesliga, the German government and pay-TV company Premiere are locked in a three-way batle over the Bundesliga's exclusive TV rights for the future...
Chelsea's Big Wage Bill - 27/07/2008
Chelsea are bracing themselves for another huge increase in player salaries that could take their annual wage bill close to £150m...
Revival Of The Pools - 27/07/2008
They were once a great national institution. 10 million people, a third of the eligible population, did the football pools each week in the hope of transforming their lives...
Saints In Financial Hole - 26/07/2008
Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe has revealed that the club's finances for the year ending June 2008 are 'radically worse' than they were 12 months earlier...
Clubs In Tax Trouble - 21/07/2008
Half the clubs in the top four divisions are significantly behind in payments to the taxman...
Reality Check For Fantasy Football - 20/07/2008
'Own the club, pick the team' was the offer to bring fantasy football to life made to the 30,000 members of MyFootballClub. Eight months after the web-based company took control of Conference side Ebbsfleet...
Plan for All-Ireland Football League - 19/07/2008
A plan for an All-Ireland Premier League, with prize money of nearly €4m a year, has been drawn up by Fintan Drury of Platimum One, a sports marketing group...
Thirty Point Deduction For Luton - 13/07/2008
Luton face likely relegation to the Blue Square Conference and possible extinction after the Football League deducted them a total of 30 points...
Vlad Pumps £12m Into Hearts - 07/07/2008
Hearts' debt could be reduced by £12m if a 'debt for equity' plan is ratified at an extraordinary general meeting on July 31. The proposal, announced by Vladmir Romanov, the club's majority shareholder, would see UBIG...
Why The 39th Game Is Still On - 07/07/2008
Premiership chief executive Richard Scudamore still thinks that a 39th game played abroad is essential to secure the future of the competition...
June 2008
Millwall Head-to-Head With Mystery Tycoon - 29/06/2008
A mysterious entrepreneur who has set himself at loggerheads with the board of Millwall, has links to the American property tycoon Stan Thomas...
Everton Fans Oppose Kirkby Move - 29/06/2008
A group of Everton fans is trying to convene an extraordinary meeting of the club to discuss the proposed move to Kirkby...
Economic Downturn Could Hit Clubs - 26/06/2008
An economic downturn will see more football clubs default as the strength of their fan base comes under pressure from high ticket prices, claims rating agency Standard & Poor's...
European Pot Of Gold - 26/06/2008
Manchester United made £33.9m from playing in Europe last season. They were followed by Chelsea with £28.7m, Liverpool with £21.1m and Arsenal with...
Liverpool Bosses Make Up - 22/06/2008
George Gillett Jr. has revealed that his relationship with his co-owner at Liverpool, Tom Hicks, has improved in recent weeks...
Football Faces Money Laundering Probe - 09/06/2008
Claims that football clubs are being used as a conduit for money laundering are to be investigated by the global watchdog on criminal fund flows...
Setanta Cut Back On Non-League Games - 16/06/2008
Setanta Sports are cutting back on coverage of the Blue Square Premier by almost a third...
Conference Tightens Up On Club Finances - 15/06/2008
The Conference are to scrutinise expenditure of all their clubs in an attempt to avoid the end-of-season financial problems that are plaguing the top non-league competition...
Chelsea's Hollywood Agency Deal - 15/06/2008
The fact that it is the age of celebrity football is emphasised by the deal struck by Chelsea with Creative Agents Agency...
If A Top Four Breakthrough Is Very Hard Will Foreign Investors Pull Out? - 13/06/2008
I recently had the opportunity of participating in a long informal discussion with the chairman of a former Premiership club. He thought that few American and Russian or other foreign investors were likely to come into English football because breaking into the top four in the Premiership was becoming increasingly difficult...
Owls Saga May Be Nearing End - 13/06/2008
Sheffield Wednesday's takeover saga could finally be nearing an end as Geoff Sheard steps up his bid to end the stalemate and buy the club...
Baggies Up For Sale - 12/06/2008
Chairman Jeremy Peace has effectively put West Bromwich Albion up for sale. He said in a statement that he will listen to any 'substantive and sensible proposals which are in the best long-term interests of the club'...
Euro 2008 Cash Bonanza For Uefa - 09/06/2008
Sponsors and broadcasters are providing Uefa £1bn in revenue for Euro 2008, some 35 per cent more than the amount raised from the 2004 tournament in Portugal...
Clubs Chase Vacant SFL Place - 08/06/2008
There has been plenty of interest in the vacant SFL place created by the resignation of Gretna from the competition last week. Eight clubs have asked for application packs...
Two Clubs Thrown Out of Champions League - 08/06/2008
Two qualifying clubs, one in Bulgaria and one in Portugal, have been thrown out of next year's Champions League competition...
New Doubts Over 'Pool Stadium - 07/06/2008
The head of the North Western Regional Development Agency has cast doubts on the ability of Liverpool's co-owners to raise funds for a new stadium...
Season Tickets Sales Slump - 04/06/2008
Premiership clubs have been warned that above-inflation increases in season ticket prices could hit sales, with up to one in seven supporters refusing to renew their seats...
Is Germany a Fans' Paradise? - 02/06/2008
State of the art facilities at German football grounds include designated standing areas, and clubs have kept ticket prices relatively low...
The £2 Million Game - 01/06/2008
The publication of Deloitte's authoritative annual review of football finance is always a major event and we shall be publishing a number of articles reporting their results. This article looks at some of the highlights...
€1 Billion Revenue Increase for Europe's Top Leagues - 01/06/2008
The annual report of football finance by Deloitte Sports Business shows that the total market for the 'big five' European leagues grew to €13.6 billion in 2006/7...
May 2008
FIFA Backs Blatter's 6 + 5 Plan - 31/05/2008
Football's governing body Fifa has backed president Sepp Blatter's 'six-plus-five' scheme which would limit the number of foreign players in a team to five...
The Hardest Division? - 25/05/2008
The English Championship is now officially the fourth most watched league in the world. With a total crowd of 9.3m, it attracts a million more spectators than Italy's Serie A...
Hull Gain £44m Boost In Turnover - 24/05/2008
Hull City have gone from being a £16m to a £60m turnover business after their victory in this afternoon's Championship play off final...
End Game At Gretna - 20/05/2008
Gretna Football Club is closer to extinction after all remaining employees, including the playing staff, were sacked...
Television Cash Boost For Clubs - 18/05/2008
Television income has boosted payments to Premiership clubs by about £300m. Payments for the season ranged from £29.1m for relegated Derby County to...
The Price Of Relegation - 18/05/2008
Relegation from the Premiership affects every aspect of a club's activities. Television money disappears, sponsors want to pay less and those players who stay can expect smaller pay packets. The Deloitte Sports Business Group calculates that...
Hicks Insists Stadium Plan On Track - 18/05/2008
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has insisted that the club's plans for a new stadium remained on track and were unconnected to his decision to delay a development project in the US because of the credit crunch...
Is The Premiership Boring? - 12/05/2008
The end of the football season has brought renewed discussion of the dominance of the Big Four clubs and suggestions that the Premiership is so predictable that it is boring. Nevertheless, plenty of armchair fans were attracted by the championship and relegation struggle on the last day...
Wounded Stags - 11/05/2008
Mansfield Town's relegation into the Blue Square Premier (also known as the Conference) is accompanied by serious off the pitch problems which many fans feel contributed to this year's poor performance...
Halifax Goes Bust - 11/05/2008
Former Football League club Halifax Town has gone bust and faces a challenge to re-form at a lower level next season. The club collapsed on Friday with debts totalling more than £2m...
Success Breeds Success - 11/05/2008
More than ever, it would seem, success is breeding success. Winning teams become locked in a virtuous circle: victory brings money, which brings better players and thus yet more money...
Arsenal Will Pay Top Dollar For New Supremo - 05/05/2008
Arsenal are prepared to make their new managing director the highest paid chief executive in football, exceeding the £1 million plus salaries of Manchester United's David Gill and Chelsea's Peter Kenyon...
Profits And Interests Costs Rise For Glazers - 04/05/2008
The holding company that owns Manchester United saw both its interest costs and pre-tax profits rise last year, according to results the owners said represented a more stable financial footing...
MLS Comes Of Age - 04/05/2008
The distances involved don't make it easy to get to away games in North America's Major League Soccer but suddenly away fans are appearing, suggesting that the game is putting down real roots...
April 2008
End Game At Wednesday - 25/04/2008
Supporters' group Wednesdayite are convinced takeover talks between the club and a consortium headed by Lancashire-based businessman Geoff Sheard are nearing completion...
The Millers' Tale - 24/04/2008
The administrator of Rotherham United, Jeremy Bleazard, has announced that he has received five bids from people prepared to take on the tough task of reviving the stricken Millers...
Off The Pitch Action At Anfield - 22/04/2008
Tonight's Champions League fixture between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield may be overshadowed by the latest development in the battle for control of the Merseyside club. Senior officials from Dubai International Capital (DIC), including the chief executive Samir Al-Ansari, will be in the directors' box...
Descent From Glory - 22/04/2008
Only two years ago Nuneaton Borough were the talk of the land after holding Middlesbrough to a draw in the third round of the FA Cup, today the Blue Square North club is in financial trouble...
What is Bolton Wanderers For? - 20/04/2008
That is the question posed by the Financial Times yesterday in an article on the Lancashire side's struggle against relegation from the Premiership which was boosted by an away win at Middlesbrough...
The Strange World Of The Administrator - 20/04/2008
Over the past decade more than 30 professional football clubs have entered administration. It is rare for there not be to at least one club in administration in the British leagues (currently Gretna and Rotherham). However, the special nature of football as a business means that...
A Tale Of Two Clubs - 19/04/2008
Football in Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh has always been overshadowed by the economic power of the two 'Old Firm' clubs in Glasgow, Celtic and Rangers. But now a gap is opening up between the two clubs in 'Auld Reekie' in terms of their perceived competence and image...
It All Goes Off At Liverpool - Again - 17/04/2008
Some newspapers have published complicated diagrams in the last week showing who is out with whom - or still in with whom - at Liverpool Football Club. However, fans probably don't need to consult them for another flare up of the bad feeling between co-owner Tom Hicks and chief executive Rick Parry...
£100,000 Vase Bonanza For Lowestoft - 16/04/2008
In May Ridgeons League Premier Division side Lowestoft Town will be playing at Wembley in the FA Vase final. However, 14 months ago the very existence of the Suffolk seaside club was in doubt. In the winter of 2007 the club was issued with a winding up order over a £13,000 debt to the taxman. Debts of £92,000 also had to be serviced. At an emergency meeting in January 2007 £2,000 was raised in donations and this was followed by a sustained effort to get local businesses involved. By October they had secured the neighbouring social club and by the end of the year Town, one of the best supported clubs at its level, should be out of debt - even without the Vase run. The final should generate around £65,000 in ticket revenue and a possible total payout of £100,000. Crown Meadow is to be upgraded to make promotion to the Ryman League possible and it is also hoped to set up a Player Development Centre.
More Premiership Clubs May Face Police Questioning - 12/04/2008
More Premiership clubs may face a visit from the City of London Police after the questioning of Birmingham co-owner David Sullivan and managing director Karren Brady signalled new developments in the football corruption probe...
Hicks Calls On Liverpool CEO To Resign - 12/04/2008
Tom Hicks has asked Rick Parry to resign as chief executive of Liverpool as the feud between the American co-owners intensifies...
Relegation Crisis At Wrexham - 09/04/2008
Wrexham FC face likely relegation from the Football League. This would leave only two Welsh clubs in the Football League, cup finalists Cardiff City and Swansea City who are likely to join them in the Championship next year...
Thailand and the Premiership - 09/04/2008
We had an interesting discussion with our Thai correspondent today about football and the Premiership in his home country...
Market Listings Go Out Of Fashion - 07/04/2008
Eleven British football clubs floated on the Stock Exchange's main market or on Aim between June 1996 and August 1997 in the wake of the television agreement with Rupert Murdoch's Sky. Today, there are no clubs left on the main board, with just seven on Aim...
Millwall In Row With Largest Shareholder - 07/04/2008
Last week Millwall chairman John Berylson had to inject £3m into the cash strapped club to keep it going. Now the relegation threatened League 1 club is involved in a row with its largest shareholder...
Kroenke Concludes Arsenal Deal - 06/04/2008
ITV is expected to finalise in the next few days a long-awaited deal to sell its stake in a broadband joint venture with Arsenal...
Huntly Aim For Gretna Place - 05/04/2008
The eventual fate of Gretna remains uncertain, however, Highland League Huntly are indicating an interest in the vacancy should one occur...
Who Can Aspire To League Status? - 05/04/2008
Two pieces of recent news raise the broader question of who can reasonably aspire to league status. Kettering Town have now won the Blue Square North and will be promoted to the Conference next season. Worcester City are mid-table in the Blue Square North but have finally sold their ground...
Lowe Launches Bid To Regain Control Of Saints - 05/04/2008
Former Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe has launched a bid to regain control of the relegation threatened club which is likely to succeed...
How Much Administration Can Hit The Community - 04/04/2008
When a football club goes into administration, it leaves a string of large and small creditors behind including the taxpayer. The potential extent of the damage is illustrated by the case of AFC Bournemouth...
Football For Everyone - 04/04/2008
The 2008 African Cup of Nations for Amputee football has been taking place in Liberia this last week...
March 2008
English Test May Hit Top Clubs - 31/03/2008
From the end of this year new signings from outside the EU will have to sit an English test to qualify for a work permit. What is more so will their wives and girl friends. They will have to prove their proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Although the majority of 'foreign' players come from inside the EU, Africa and Latin America are important sources for top clubs. £12.7m Brazilian striker Alfonso Alves barely spoke a word of English when he joined Middlesbrough. Other stars said to have struggled with English include two other Brazilians, Juliano Belletti of Chelsea and Elano Blumer of Manchester City. It is the latest blow for foreign footballers who are also being hit by the Treasury crackdown on 'non-dom' earners. The government has decided to tax foreign sports stars on money earned in this country at UK rates. While some will be able to claim rebates from their home countries, others fear they will face double taxation.
Leave My Team Alone - 31/03/2008
The dream of a real life Championship Manager in which fans get the chance to pick an actual team has run into trouble. Ebbsfleet United supremo Liam Daish has pleaded with MyFootballClub not to meddle with his team until the end of the season...
The Curious Case Of The Championship - 30/03/2008
Sports journalists in search of a story line sometimes reach for readily available narratives and then bounce them off each other. As Hull press for one of the automatic promotion places from the Championship this season, stand by for a lot of comments about the Humberside city being the largest place in Europe never to have had a top flight team...
UK Tax Law Loses Champions League Final For Wembley - 30/03/2008
England has lost out on a bid to stage the 2010 Champions League final at Wembley because European football's governing body has objected to its taxation policy...
Second Half Loss For Spurs - 30/03/2008
Spurs fell to a loss in the second half of last year, thanks in part to the decision to change its management earlier this season...
Blades Land Hotel Deal - 30/03/2008
Sheffield United has announced that it has obtained funding to build a hotel at its Bramhall Lane ground...
Liverpool Co-owner Admits Split - 29/03/2008
Liverpool co-owner George Gillett has admitted what has been widely known for some time: relations with his business partner Tom Hicks are now 'unworkable'...
Three Quit At Worcester City - 28/03/2008
We reported late last year on the planning controversy surrounding Worcester City's proposed move to a new ground near the M5 motorway. Now three directors of the Level 2 non-league side have quit...
Are Football League Clubs Viable? - 27/03/2008
This was the central question posed in a recent Radio 5 programme. One argument advanced was that only one division could really be sustained outside the Premiership if one was looking at normal commercial considerations...
BSkyB Increases Hold On Champions League Games - 23/03/2008
BSkyB is competing with the BBC and ITV to receive the largest remnants of European Champions League coverage in the UK after it secured the majority of the games in a £240m three year deal...
Attendance Worry For Manchester City - 23/03/2008
Sven-Goran Erikkson and Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra held a lengthy meeting last week during which the pair decided that action is needed to halt a big slump in attendances...
Berlusconi and Murdoch in Italian Soccer Battle - 22/03/2008
The Murdoch media group has begun a broadcasting rights battle that could bring it into conflict with its main Italian rival Mediaset, owned by the family of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi...
Becks Could Buy MLS Club - 22/03/2008
David Beckham is reported to have an option to buy a club from the US Major Soccer League (MSL) when his contract with Los Angeles Galaxy expires after the 2011 season...
Dons Splash the Cash - 21/03/2008
AFC Wimbledon chairman Erik Samuelson admits the club has spent big this season in a bid win to promotion from the Ryman Premier Division...
Stadium Crisis At Doncaster - 20/03/2008
Doncaster Rovers are being asked to more than double their rental payments at the Keepmoat Stadium which cost £32m to build as a flagship community stadium...
Rotherham In Administration Again - 19/03/2008
Rotherham United are the second Yorkshire club in a week to go into administration and it is the second time in 18 months that the Millers have been in...
Halifax Go Into Administration - 16/03/2008
Conference outfit Halifax Town have gone into administration for the second time in six years...
Arsenal Land Sarkozy Gig - 16/03/2008
Arsenal have landed one of the most unusual fixtures of the season, the summit between new French president Nicolas Sarkozy and British prime minister Gordon Brown...
The Burnley Phenomenon - 16/03/2008
A recent visit to Turf Moor led me to reflect on the football phenomenon that is Burnley. As you drive down into the town, you can see most of it spread out below you. The population is 60,000 and...
'Pool Fans See DIC As Saviour - 15/03/2008
ShareLiverpool are maintaining their dream of owning the club for the fans, but in the meantime they have been having discussions with prospective bidders Dubai International Capital...
Petrol Prices Hit Fans - 15/03/2008
One of the features of modern football is fans travelling up and down the motorway network to reach games. Fifty years ago going to an away game either meant a trip or on a special train or a long trip (sometimes overnight) on an unheated coach...
Scottish Football Round-Up - 15/03/2008
Gordon Strachan on a rebrand and revamp the Scottish Premier League product, The SPL advances Gretna the money it needs to survive until the league end-of-season split and Inverness Caledonian Thistle supremo Craig Brewster on the downfall of Gretna...
The Challenges of Being a Small Club in Ireland - 15/03/2008
Football has flourished alongside more traditional sports in Ireland in recent years but small clubs still face challenges...
A-League Set To Expand - 14/03/2008
Australia's A-league is set to expand beyond ten teams in 2009. Gold Coast Galaxy and a Townsville-based consortium narrowly missed out on inclusion...
Uganda Team Cannot Afford To Travel To Away Match - 10/03/2008
A top Ugandan side cannot raise sh35m [£10,183] for the opening away match of the Super League against Kinshasa's ASV Club in the neighbouring D.R. Congo...
The Rising Cost Of Being A Supporter - 07/03/2008
Virgin Money's latest Football Fan inflation index shows that the average British football fan across all divisions spent around £1,080 following their team in 2007...
Gretna Crisis Deepens - 07/03/2008
The survival of Scottish Premier League benefactor club Gretna is now in doubt. Just 501 spectators, a record SPL low, turned out to watch their latest defeat against Dundee United...
Livingston Goes To The Dogs - 07/03/2008
Livingston owner Pearse Flynn is in talks to sell the First Division club in a £600,000 deal. East Lothian businessman Eddie Ramsay wants to turn Almondvale into one of Britain's leading greyhound racing venues...
Battle For Control Of Liverpool Goes On (And On) - 06/03/2008
DIC, Hicks, Gillett, and now the organisers of ShareLiverpoolFC, are all bidding to take full control at Anfield...
Magpies In Financial Turmoil - 04/03/2008
Newcastle United's accounts have revealed that billionaire owner Mike Ashley had to plough £75m into the club to keep it afloat when he took over...
Philly Team to Join MLS - 02/03/2008
Major League Soccer in the USA has awarded Philadelphia an expansion team that will begin to play in 2010...
York Loses £1m In 4 Years - 02/03/2008
The release of accounts by Blue Square Conference club York City gives an insight into the financial challenges of running a club at that level of football...
February 2008
Non-League Football Costs Money As Well - 27/02/2008
Keeping a semi-professional non-league club going costs money: not the sums required to fund a league club, but still quite substantial sums for an individual to find...
Liverpool Sale Rumours Persist - 26/02/2008
Rumours that Liverpool Football Club may soon have new owners in the form of Dubai International Capital (DIC) continue to circulate despite a robust denial by co-owner...
Big Boost For Britain's Smallest League - 26/02/2008
The chant 'can we play you every week?' has a special meaning for the two teams in Britain's and the world's smallest football league...
Has The Benefector Club Hit The Buffers - 25/02/2008
The history of benefactor clubs that emerge from non-league obscurity into top level competitions has not been a happy one...
Scudamore Defiant On 39th Game Plan - 24/02/2008
The Premiership remains defiant over its controversial proposal to introduce an 'international round' of fixtures, despite being told by the FA board that the plan is not sustainable in its present format...
Chelsea Struggle To Meet Break Even Target - 24/02/2008
Chelsea reduced full year losses but only by a small amount. The club admitted that it faced a struggle to meet its goal of breaking even by 2009-10...
Henry Sale Lifts Arsenal Into The Black - 24/02/2008
The £16.1m sale of Thierry Henry has helped Arsenal to announce a 55 per cent rise in profits for the last six month period...
New Blues Stadium Is Still On The Agenda - 24/02/2008
Birmingham City's plans for a City of Birmingham Stadium remain on the agenda. Since the collapse of the original proposal for a £250m complex in Nechells, which would have been funded by American gaming giant Las Vegas Sands in return for a super casino site, the Blues have maintained dialogue...
Gretna Stop Paying Wages - 19/02/2008
Scottish Premiership club Gretna have confirmed that they have been unable to pay players and staff due to club owner Brooks Mileson's continued hospitalisation...
Vietnamese Tycoon Targets Arsenal - 18/02/2008
One of the richest businessmen in Vietnam has declared an interest in buying a big stake in Arsenal. Doan Nguyen Doc, chairman of the Hoang Anh Gai Lai club...
Is Playing Abroad Plan Finished? - 17/02/2008
Everyone has been piling in during the past week to condemn the Premiership's plan to play one extra game abroad each season. Mohamed bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation - where some of the most lucrative markets are located - opposed the idea...
Celtic In Robust Financial Health - 17/02/2008
Celtic's interim financial results for the six months to December 2007 show them to be in robust financial health....
Charlton Seek Bond Issue - 16/02/2008
Following the end of any talks on a possible takeover, Charlton Athletic has announced that it is seeking approval from shareholders to raise up to £20m through the issue of a new convertible bond...
Football Still A Growth Sport - 15/02/2008
Football remains a growth sport, especially at the highest level. Figures from Deloitte show that the top 20 clubs' collective revenue grew by 11% to €3.7 billion...
Real Madrid Outpoint United In Money League - 15/02/2008
Manchester United have climbed two places in the latest Football Money League from Deloitte which has ranked the 20 biggest clubs in the world based on information for the 2006/7 season...
How To Make A Small Fortune - 11/02/2008
The old joke says that the way to make a small fortune is to start out with a large one and invest it in a football club. A salutary tale from Scotland shows how true this is...
All Island League for Ireland? - 11/02/2008
In 2006 the clubs of the Eircom League voted to merge with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) which since then has been responsible for running the league...
Cherries Go Into Administration - 09/02/2008
Bournemouth are the latest club to go into administration. Given that they were re-launched as the first community club in 1997, it is worth looking at what has happened to them since then...
Playing Abroad Scheme Is Controversial - 08/02/2008
The Premiership's scheme to play additional matches outside the UK has caused considerable controversy. Ten extra games would be played at five different venues, with cities bidding for the right to stage them...
Derby Takeover: Some Unanswered Questions - 06/02/2008
£50m was the headline figure quoted as the sum available to launch Derby County as 'a global brand', but some unanswered questions remain about the deal...
Watford Lose £21.6m Over Six Years - 06/02/2008
The financial challenges that face a Championship club with Premiership aspirations are illustrated by the fact that Watford has lost £21.7m over the last six years...
Can Fan Buy Out Plan Work? - 03/02/2008
Can the plan of the Share Liverpool FC Group to buy the club from its American owners work? It has already been welcomed by culture, media and sports secretary Andy Burnham who called the plan, headed up by football academic Rogan Taylor, 'a fascinating development...'
Transfer Window Bonanza - 03/02/2008
Gross transfer spending by Premiership clubs in the January window was £150m according to Deloitte's Sport Business Group...
Pompey For Sale At £60m - 01/02/2008
The Franco-Russian owner of Portsmouth, Alexandre Gaydamak, has put the Premiership club up for sale. He is hoping to receive about £60m which would represent a sizeable profit on what he paid when he acquired full control...
January 2008
Liverpool Secures Refinancing Package - 27/01/2008
The US owners of Liverpool have completed its long-awaited refinancing, securing a £350m loan from Royal Bank of Scotland and Wachovia. The package will need to be refinanced again in 18 months' time...
Deal Done on Player Compensation - 26/01/2008
Clubs with players on World Cup or European Championship duty will be paid about £130m in compensation over the next six years by Fifa and Uefa...
Rams Set For American Takeover - 26/01/2008
Derby County are set to become the fourth American owned Premiership club, following the path taken by Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester United...
Relegation Hits Pars - 25/01/2008
An effort to boost the playing squad in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid relegation took its toll on the finances of Dunfermline Athletic last season, offsetting the effects of a good run in the Scottish Cup which took them to the final...
Turnover And Losses Down At Dundee United - 22/01/2008
The latest set of Dundee United accounts for the year to June 2007 showed that turnover was down for the second year running, but so was the club's operating loss which was £509,000 compared to £761,000 in 2006...
Battle To Control Liverpool Is On - 20/01/2008
Liverpool could change hands for the second time in a year as their American owners run into difficulties in refinancing £350m of debt incurred in taking over and running the club...
G-14 is Dissolved - 19/01/2008
The controversial association of top European clubs, G-14, has been dissolved and it is to be replaced by a new and larger clubs' organisation backed by Uefa...
Irish Clubs Hit Money Problems - 19/01/2008
At least two top flight Irish clubs have hit serious financial problems. Limerick is the second largest city in the Irish Republic, but its football club is in real danger...
Liverpool Could Be Sold Again - 14/01/2008
Liverpool could change hands for the second time in a year as their American owners run into difficulties in refinancing £350m of debt incurred in taking over and running the club...
No Immediate Bonanza For Super Hoops - 13/01/2008
Although the club has been active in the transfer market, there will no be no immediate bonanza for Queen's Park Rangers fans from the involvement of Britain's richest resident Lakshi Mittal...
Luton Needs New Ground - 13/01/2008
In the short term, Luton Town have had to have a fire sale of players, but the longer-term solution to their recurrent financial problems requires a new ground...
Fans Get Shirt Refund - 13/01/2008
A class-action style competition claim over replica football shirts has been settled for less than a top player's weekly wages, damping expectations that the case would lead to a flood of similar actions...
United In Race For Financial Superiority - 07/01/2008
Manchester United is keen to correct the impression that it has slipped down the table of football's money league arguing that recent analyses of its own data and that of its rivals do not compare like with like...
Do Authorities Want To Cut Back Number Of Clubs? - 06/01/2008
Luton manager Kevin Blackwell has suggested that the football authorities may want to reduce the number of clubs. Of course, in any other industry exit and merger is a normal mechanism, but football clubs are different because they are often a core part of a fan's personal identity...
Maximising Stadium Revenue - 06/01/2008
One of the biggest financial challenges for a football club is that they have an expensive fixed asset in the form of their stadium which is used only once or twice a fortnight. Modern stadium designs have tried to get round this problem by...
Owners Ready For Wage Cap Says Rams Boss - 04/01/2008
Derby supremo Adam Pearson believes the growing influx of overseas investment could lead to a salary cap for Premiership players...
Chester City Is Not For Sale - 04/01/2008
Stephen Vaughan who owns 77 per cent of League 2 Chester City and also subsidises the financial shortfalls, resigned from his chairmanship and from the board of directors last month, but has retained ownership...
The Silent Stadium - 03/01/2008
Sir Alex Ferguson has revived the 'prawn sandwich' debate by complaining about the lack of noise from the fans in the game against Birmingham City...
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