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Expatriates Dominate Champions League - 25/6/09

Expatriate players dominated the 2008-9 season in the Champions League, according to data from www.eurofootplayers.org. Expatriates made up 55.9 per cent of all players, 2.1 per cent more than last season. They also played just under 60 per cent of all minutes played. The club that used the most expatriate players was Arsenal with 82.8 per cent in the squad and 92.7 per cent on the pitch. As in last season, the North London club was also the club with the youngest players, 22.7 years on average. With 90 players, Brazil was the most strongly represented country, but the number of Brazilians was 17 down on last season. France, Spain and Italy, followed by Argentina, were next in the rankings. England was represented by only 30 players, positioning it 7th in the ranking, just ahead of Germany. The club that played the most home grown players (46.7 per cent) was also the winner, Barcelona.

How will Real Madrid pay for Ronaldo? - 14/6/09

Real Madrid have said that they have a €300m transfer budget his summer, but €68m went on Kaká followed by €92m on Ronaldo. It is understood that €100m will come from cash in hand, €100m from additional revenues hopefully generated by new players and €100m from bank loans. The Spanish economy may be in dire straits, with banks not lending to anyone, but they have been prepared to give Real Madrid a four year €300m facility. Real has been hit by the loss of sponsors and corporate hospitality during the recession, but it is still among the richest clubs, if not the richest, in the world in terms of cash flow and assets. With 50 per cent of the commercial rights, and the chance that signings like that of Ronaldo, will boost merchandising income, the club believes that the deal makes business sense. A club insider told the Financial Times, 'It is better to buy Ronaldo for €92m than pay €20m for a player of slightly less calibre and profile.'

Real's spending is being masterminded by Florentino Peréz who was restored to the club's presidency on June 1st. He has promised to spend heavily to restore the club to the summit of Spanish and European football. His 'galacticos' spending spree at the beginning of the decade was underpinned by the proceeds of the redevelopment of the club's old training grounds on Madrid's northern fringe. Pérez is the chairman and main shareholder in construction group ACS. As Spain's largest builder and civil works contractor, the company has been hit hard by the global recession. But ACS is in better shape than most, which is a testament to Mr Pérez's commercial acumen and a huge circle of influential friends and contacts. He has a net worth of £1bn and was taken to his first Real match at the age of four. During his first presidency of the club from 2000 to 2006, his big spending ways and ambition won him many admirers.

Spanish Football Broadcast Rights Settled For Next Three Years - 12/6/09

While most of the Spanish sports media concentrated on the double transfers of Kaká and Ronaldo to Real Madrid, another important football-related event occurred last week in the Spanish capital. After three years of court cases, confusion and chaos the broadcast rights to La Liga and the Copa del Rey (the Spanish FA Cup) were finally settled. From next season and lasting until season 2011/12, following an accord between Sogecable and Mediapro, all matches will be shown on Digital + except for the final of the Cup which is considered an event of national importance and will therefore be shown on terrestrial free-to-air. The agreement means Digital+ get the Sunday night match exclusively with the rest of the games shown on a non-exclusive basis - two games a week on pay TV and the rest most likely to be shown on a pay-per-view basis.

The dispute had started in 2006 when an agreement was drawn up between Sogecable and Mediapro which meant any future rights acquired by Mediapro had to be transferred to AVS (owned by Sogecable), while it had to pay for transmitting AVS games and not show any others. By 2007/08 Sogecable was insisting that Mediapro held to the 2006 agreement, while Mediapro on the other hand believed that the agreement was void. From 2007, Mediapro had been steadily acquiring individual broadcast rights from football clubs, reaching agreements with all of Spain's leading football teams, including Barcelona and Real Madrid, for five years starting season 2009/10 (the Real Madrid deal alone was worth €1.1bn and that with Barca €1.0bn). To the anger of Sogecable, Mediapro had been showing some first division matches live through its free-to-air La Sexta channel while AVS had been transmitting the same matches through its pay-per-view channel Digital+.

Confused? So was the judge presiding over the dispute. It was he who had originally ruled that he did not want to prohibit games being transmitted that could be contrary to the legal obligation to transmit free-to-air games of "national general interest" and it was this ruling that had allowed the dispute to fester. Not only that, but although the broadcast schedule has been settled the case for Sogecable's compensation is still continuing.

Serie A The Fastest Growing League - 7/6/09

Serie A was the fastest growing league in Europe in the 2007/8 season reveals the latest Deloitte Football Finance report. Total revenue increased by €357m (34 per cent) to €1.4 billion. The change of mix of clubs in Serie A for 2007/08, notably Juventus' return, contributed two-thirds of the increase. The other clubs increased revemues by c. €120m aided by new broadcasting contracts. La Liga recorded a 8 per cent (€112m) growth in revenue to €1.4 billion, placing it joint second with the Bundesliga which grew by 4 per cent (€59m). La Liga's growth was driven by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, the world's highest and third highest club revenue earners in 2007/08.

Total wage costs for the 'big five' European leagues were €4.8 billion, €588m (14 per cent) higher than in 2006/07. All of the 'big five' leagues experienced significant wage cost growth, with Serie A (€250m) and the Bundesliga (€105m) providing the largest increases. The wages/revenue ratio of La Liga was 63 per cent whilst Serie A's was 68 per cent. France's Ligue 1 joined Serie A in returning operating losses due to limited revenue growth outweighed by significant wages and other costs growth.

Serie A Clubs Form Their Own Premiership - 2/5/09

Italian football clubs look likely to adopt the English Premiership model after 19 of the 20 Serie A clubs voted to break away from the Lega Calcio. The underlying issue is television rights. Serie A clubs sell their rights individually, rather than collectively, which means that the biggest sides such as Juventus or AC Milan earn in excess of £85m for their domestic rights, while smaller clubs, such as Chievo, only receive around £4m. In exchange for this arrangement, Serie A clubs contribute a lump sum to their counterparts in Serie B. This amounted to £90m - about 20 per cent of the television revenue until last year - and was negotiated down to £60m for this season. Because each club's contribution was proportional to the size of their television deal, Serie A clubs went along with the status quo. It did not cost the smaller clubs very much and allowed the bigger clubs to continue enjoying big broadcasting deals.

From the 2010-11 season Serie A rights will be sold collectively as is also the case in the Premiership and most other European countries. This will mean a more equal distribution of television revenues. That is why big clubs have been negotiating to further reduce and eventually eliminate the Serie B contribution. When negotiations stalled, Serie A decided to break away. It's a big blow for Serie B clubs who on average lost £5m last season even with the £90m contribution from Serie A. For a long time many Serie B clubs have lived above their means. They have paid wages comparable with those in the Coca-Cola Championship despite the fact that average attendance is about a third as high and stadium revenues one tenth of those in the English second tier. Serie A clubs feel that they simply cannot afford to continue bankrolling the lavish spending habits of Serie B sides. It seems likely that a settlement will not be reached and Serie A will break away. It looks as if the green light for this has already been given by the FIGC, the Italian FA.

Football Levy Called For in Germany - 19/03/09

Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has suggested each household in Germany pay an extra two euros a month to put German league football back on terrestial television. The levy would be added to the €17.98 monthly television licence fee in an effort to close the gap in television revenue with England, Spain and Italy. Hoeness argued that it was not even the price of a small beer, but those Germans who are not interested in football might resent paying it. It would be a general levy to serve a specific purpose. Hoeness calculates that an additional two euros per month from the country's 37 million households that receive television would generate some €900m in annual revenue. Bundesliga football is currently broadcast on cable television broadcaster Premiere with subscribers paying €25 a month. However, newspaper headlines have been unsurprisingly negative, e.g., 'Solidarity surcharge for footballers' and 'Compulsory fee for millionaire players'. A recession is not exactly the best time to put forward such a scheme.

The 36 clubs in the Bundesliga's two divisions currently receive a total of around €300m from television, a figure set to rise to €412m from next season. Under the Hoeness plan German clubs would receive double their current payment. Hoeness says that while leading clubs around continental Europe received between €80m and €130m annually from national television rights, Bayern earn some €50m from television, €30m of which comes from the Bundesliga. Bayern have said that they may adjust their ticket prices downwards to help fans if the recession worsens. This would be more typical of the spirit of solidarity in German football that is often praised by the likes of Sepp Blatter. However, it comes at a price in terms of the ability of clubs to compete internationally.

Fall in copper price hits Zambian clubs - 18/03/09

The fall in the copper price as a result of the global financial crisis is hitting Zambian football clubs. Four clubs have lost their sponsorship from companies in Zambia's Copperbelt. In the case of Mufulira Wanderers, one of the country's most famous clubs, the withdrawal of sponsorship has led to a financial crisis. They have been given a two week break from matches by the country's football association to give them time to sort out their problems. Without a new sponsor it is going to be difficult for Wanderers to fulfil their fixtures.

USA to Play Sweden in Final of Algarve Cup - 10/03/09

In women's international football (soccer) there are three important tournaments: the World Cup (current holders: Germany), the Olympics (current holders: USA) and the annual 'Algarve Cup' (holders: USA). This last tournament may be invitation only and carry less media coverage than the other two genuinely world events, but it has been held since 1994 and it's final takes place in the Estádio Algarve - a 30,000 capacity ground built for the 2004 European Football Championships. The Algarve Cup's popularity with the national organisations lies in its informality, plus a chance to get a good workout in the sunny climes of Southern Portugal in early spring. Also, the invitational nature allows the organisers to arrange games with countries that might not otherwise meet in regular competitions. 12 teams are invited, with the top eight competing for the championship and a Group C (added in 2002) for second-tier teams, the winner and runner-up both getting a final play-off game with a higher-level team at the end.

The USA will be aiming for their seventh 'Cup' on Wednesday 11th March (all their wins coming since 2000) while Sweden will be looking for their third title - the last coming in 2001. One interesting statistic is that Denmark have been losing finalists five times and never won. This year they lost in the semis.

UPDATE: Sweden beat the United States 4-3 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 1-1 at full-time.

Which Are The Biggest Football Clubs In Eastern Europe? - 02/03/09

Using league attendance figures gathered from the excellent European Football Statistics website we have put together this quick list of former-communist bloc football clubs that boasted an average of over 10,000 spectators from league matches.

Country	Club	Ave Attendance*
Russia	PFC Krylia Sovetov	21,700
Russia	Spartak Moscow	21,413
Russia	FK Zenit St. Petersburg	20,578
Ukraine	Shakhtar Donetsk	19,745
Russia	FK Rubin Kazan	18,434
Poland	Lech Poznan	18,010
Russia	FK Amkar Perm	16,494
Russia	CSKA Moscow	15,110
Poland	Wisla Krakow	14,965
Russia	Lokomotiv Moscow	14,108
Russia	Dinamo Moscow	13,067
Poland	Gornik Zabrze	13,062
Russia	FK Tom Tomsk	12,820
Ukraine	FK Zorya Lugansk	12,536
Ukraine	Metalist Kharkiv	12,120
Romania	SC Politehnica AEK Timisoara	12,118
Romania	Steaua Bucharest	11,764
Czech	Banik Ostrava	11,022

* = league matches only - 2007/08


Countries that did not support a club at over 10,000 per league game were:

Country	Top Club	Ave Attendance*
Belarus	FC Gomel	3,700
Bosnia	FK Sarajevo	5,433
Bulgaria	CSKA Sofia	5,313
Croatia	NK Dinamo Zagreb	7,165
Estonia	JK Nömme Kalju	329
Georgia	FC Zestafoni	4,360
Hungary	Diósgyöri VTK	4,464
Latvia	FHK Liepâjas Metalurgs	1,327
Lithuania	FK Ekranas Panevezys	1,768
Serbia	Partizan Belgrade	6,556
Slovakia	FC Spartak Trnava	7,218
Slovenia	NK Maribor	2,502

* = league matches only - 2007/08
All stats from European Football Statistics - please visit to see full league and country breakdowns plus a wealth of other football related information.

Whether these clubs will be able to maintain such levels of support now the economic crisis is engulfing the whole region is open to debate. On the one hand, supporting a football club and attending a match may be one of the few areas of discretionary spending that will remain popular in hard times - where better to vent your frustrations as you watch your swiss-franc denominated mortgage go down the pan? On the other, whilst many football clubs in Eastern Europe have worked hard to recreate themselves in the image of successful western clubs, with marketing departments and merchandising initiatives (e.g. Krylia Sovetov have teamed up with Italian giants Internazionale), many are still reliant upon a single owner for subsidy, are carrying worrying levels of debt, or have opaque governance structures - all of which may come under strain in the new economic reality.

Real Madrid Tops Money League - 14/02/09

Deloitte's annual Football Money League, which analyses revenues in the 2007-8 season, shows Real Madrid, Manchester United and Barcelona retaining their top three positions. Manchester United saw revenue increase by 21 per cent and only the depreciation of sterling against the euro prevented it from coming top. Overall attendances for the top 20 clubs are slightly up in the first four months of the season compared with the same period last year. Seven of the clubs in the top 20 are English, four are from Italy and the same number are from Germany with two each from Spain and France. The other club is Turkish. Real Madrid increased revenue 4 per cent to €365.8m, even though commercial revenue fell, and the club is budgeting for €400m in revenue this season. Barcelona's revenue rose 6 per cent to €308.8m. It is targeting €380m this year on the back of rises in broadcasting and commercial contracts.

African Premiership Broadcaster Goes Bust - 11/02/09

A London-based satellite broadcaster set up to bring affordable Premiership games to Africa has gone bust. GTV raised £141m to launch a pan-African service. Run by Julian McIntyre, a former investment banker, GTV had hoped to bring pay television to the one part of the world thought to be too poor to sustain a subscription service. Premiership officials had little warning of the service's financial problems. The company paid $10m to $20m to show games under a three year rights package and was aiming for 400,000 subscribers, but won only 100,000 in the first 18 months. GTV sought to win customers by charging lower fees that Nasper's MultiChoice or Vivendi's Canal+ which are aimed at western expatriates. The rights reverted to the Premier League which indicated it had received 'most of the money due.' It was expected to negotiate a sale of the rights to Supersports, part of the Naspers group.

1860 Munich Faces Financial Crisis - 10/02/09

1860 Munich, one of the Bundesliga's founding teams, faces immediate financial problems after the club said that investors brought in to turn it around had provisionally pulled out. 1860 Munich, now playing in the second division, said its plan submitted to the German Fooball League (DFL) and which would have brought in a group of investors to bail the club out, was not approved by the DFL. The DFL said so far it had not rejected the plan but wanted to talk the club about its proposal. 1860 Munich were once the city's biggest club, winning the Bundesliga in 1966, three years before their local rivals Bayern Munich won the title and began to be a dominant force in German football. Since 1860 Munich dropped down to the second division in 2004, they have had to sell their 50 per cent stake in the Allianz Arena in Munich to Bayern for €11m to meet their financial needs.

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