"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant." Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme
WG Bradford City’s co-owner Edin Rahic was the first German to become involved in owning an English league club. He commissioned a detailed analysis of all 72 Football League clubs looking at history, transport facilities, manager turnover, squad size and average age and potential fan base. The Bantams ticked all the boxes.
Arsene Wenger argued in a weekend interview that the Champions League counts for less than it used to financially. He said, ‘financially the Champions League does not have the impact any more that it had five or six years ago because of the influx of television money.’
Why, then, are teams competing so intensely for a top four place? In part it’s a matter of prestige. A Champions League place also helps to attract and retain top players. But, on the downside, one needs a larger and higher quality squad which wipes out a lot of the financial benefits.
Manchester City’s owners are assessing a number of locations as they consider expanding their network of clubs. The City Football Group already owns New York City and Melbourne City and has a share in Japanese side Yokohama F Marinos.
The Chinese Super League has been identified as a market with potential, while there have been reports of a possible move into South America. Neither of these locations offers much in the way of gate money, but City may see commercial revenue opportunities.
It’s a results business in football, not least in the Premier League, confirmed by Middlesbrough sacking Aitor Karanka today with the club in the relegation zone (although it was presented as by mutual agreement).
Middlesbrough are the fifth Premier League club to change manager in 100 days and the 25th to change out of the 92 clubs in 101 days. Only eight Premier League clubs have had a manager in post for more than one year.
Coventry City might have had to play in an empty stadium after two pitch invasions by fans protesting against owners Sisu. The City Council wrote to demand improvements in matchday security. They considered the possibility of issuing a ‘prohibition notice’ which would have meant the club would have had to play behind closed doors.
Following rumours that a sale of Charlton Athletic might be close, a statement from the club has said that it is not for sale ‘at the present time’ which does not mean that it could not be available next week.
Former Liverpool striker and football consultant Ronnie Rosenthal was reported to be advising an interested consortium and is said to have been shown round The Valley.
Russian football is facing serious financial problems. 26 of the 36 teams in the top two divisions are owned by local government; a further five are owned by state-run corporations.
Two consecutive years of recession following the 2014 oil price crash and western sanctions over the Ukraine have seen regional budgets take serious hits. Many regions have struggled to keep up with benefits payments and public sector wages as revenues plummeted when oil prices crashed. State-supported sports teams were among the first victims.
The Mayor of London has approved Chelsea’s plans to buid a £500m stadium on the site of Stamford Bridge. Sadiq Khan said that the planned 60,000 stadium would be ‘the jewel in London’s sporting crown’. Capacity at the ground will be boosted by 18,500.
The club still needs permission from Chelsea Pitch Owners, a fan group that owns the freehold of the stadium’s pitch and stands, to temporarily leave Stamford Bridge.
In August, after nearly three decades at the helm of A.C. Milan, Silvio Berlusconi announced that he had sold his 99.93 per cent stake in the club to a Chinese investment group called Sino Europe for €520m (about £450m).
According to the terms of the deal, Sino Europe made an immediate down payment of about £85m, the rest to be paid in December. This down payment was non-refundable.
It is difficult to see how Sunderland are going to escape relegation. Even in the old days of Division 1 and Division 2, Sunderland were a yo-yo club, but the financial consequences these days are more serious, not least for the staff who face redundancy.