WG

Players Seek To Avoid Top Tax Rate

by

Premiership footballers are hoping to avoid the new 50p income tax rate by asking clubs to pay their salaries as interest free loans. This would allow top players to pay as little as 2.5 per cent tax on some of their earnings. HM Revenue and Customes treat loans as a ‘benefit in kind’ and taxes only 5 per cent of the amount borrowed. If a future Conservative government cut the top rate of income tax back to 40 per cent, a club could write off the loan and it would be treated as income with the player ending up paying a rate of tax equivalent to 42.5 per cent instead of 50 per cent.

Setanta’s Situation Gets Worse

by

Second force Premiership television provider Setanta is seeing its financial situation deteriorate and the ultimate outcome may be less money for the Premiership, although its slots could always be bought out by a third party. Shareholders in the company have failed to stump up enough cash to keep it going. It even asked BSkyB for a £50m advance payment on a deal that would have seen Sky wholesale Setanta to its own subscribers.

Fate of Merthyr in Balance

by

The fate of non-league club Merthyr Tydfil FC is in the balance, but it looks as if the club will go into administration tomorrow. A Welsh-Egyptian millionaire has been told that he can have the club for £1, but according to owner Wyn Holloway he has not made an offer. Annis Abraham is a Cardiff City shareholder and has pledged to bring league football to Merthyr. He thinks that the debts are nearer £600,000 than the £315,000 Mr Holloway states. Abraham claims that Cardiff City have already agreed to a link up which may see the club field Cardiff reserve players.

Accrington Stanley Face Winding Up Order

by

Accrington Stanley have been issue with a winding up order by HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid debts, but remain hopeful they will survive. They face a High Court hearing on 10 June, but shareholder Ilyas Khan has pledged to stump up £250,000. He owns 15 per cent of the club, but has said that he does not want a seat on the board. However, he has expressed concerns about what other debts the club might have club given that things have to be serious before the Revenue takes action.

UAE’s Sir Alan Sugar is Buying Pompey

by

They may not be the most glamorous club in the Premiership, but Portsmouth FC now have a glamorous owner with deep enough pockets to help them achieve their ambitions. Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim is the UAE’s Sir Alan Sugar, starring in an Arab version of The Apprentice television show. He has struck a provisional deal to buy the club for an undisclosed sum from its Franco-Russian owner, Alexandre Gaydamak who acquired Pompey for £30m from Milan Mandaric, now owner of Leicester, in 2006.

Sunderland Are Latest American-owned Football Club

by

Sunderland are the latest American-owned club in the Premiership after Irish-American businessman Ellis Short acquired the club. Short, who is the billionaire president of Lone Star Funds, now lives in this country. Short said, ‘Sunderland is a very big club with a lot of fans, a big stadium, and a lot of revenue – and where you are in the position we are, where you are trying to improve things, it takes money.’ Sunderland’s battle against relegation this year was consistent with its reputation as a yo-yo club.

Bid In For Saints | Matthew Le Tissier and the Pinnacle consortium

by

The Matthew Le Tissier backed Pinnacle consortium have entered an exclusivity period with the aim of completing a buy out of Southampton within three weeks. The group have paid the £500,000 non-refundable deposit that will allow the staff and players at the club to be paid their wages for May. They now have the opportunity to complete full due diligence before deciding whether to proceed with their proposed offer for the club, which has been given the seal of approval by the major creditors.

Latest Instalment of the Burnley Phenomenon

by

In October 2008 I went to Turf Moor to watch Burnley play Hull and the chairman noted in the programme that ‘One year in the Premiership would set Burnley up for 10 years.’ He may have achieved his wish sooner than he could have dreamt of. After another visit to Burnley in March 2008, I wrote an article called ‘The Burnley phenomenon’. Burnley will have the smallest population of any club represented in the Premiership and the area is far from prosperous. Yet the football club has punched well above its weight even before promotion to the Premiership.

Blades Blunted

by

Having failed again to secure promotion to the Premiership through the play offs, Sheffield United face their first season in the Championship without a £11.2m parachute payment.  They will be receiving compensation from West Ham over the Tevez affair.  The exact amount has never been publicly disclosed and has been variously stated at £15m or £20m.  It is believed, however, that it is payable over six years so it will not make a big difference to cash flow.   However, the club’s chairman, Kevin McCabe, who owns 75 per of the club which is no longer listed on Aim, m

Relegation Hits Newcastle United Hard

by

Relegation from the Premiership is a big blow for Newcastle United’s devoted fans. But it is also a big financial blow as well. The cost of demotion from the Premiership is usually estimated at £50m – £60m. Newcastle are calculated to have the fifth largest wage bill in the division and a fire sale of players is likely to follow. Magpies owner Mike Ashley put the club up for sale for £300m last September. He abandoned the sale in December saying he would have sold the club if it had attracted an offer of £250m.