WG

Swindon Town FC Exemplifies Lower League Problems

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Lower league clubs are increasingly talking of big cuts in the size of their squads in the summer. The problems they face are exemplified by Swindon Town FC, lower mid-table in League 1. The Wiltshire club had one season in the Premiership, but has recently been in administration twice. A consortium bought it in January last year and paid off its £5m debts. The club was just beginning to get back on a sound financial footing when the recession struck. It is now difficult to find match sponsors at £1,250 a game or sponsors of individual players.

UEFA Denies Fair Play Tax is Attack on Premiership

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Uefa have denied that their plans for a fair play tax are the latest shot in a campaign to undermine the English Premiership. Europe’s richest football clubs, many of them in England, would have to pay a luxury tax on their star players that would be passed on to poorer clubs under plans being considered by Uefa. The tax idea is an attempt to redistribute wealth in a sport Uefa believes is heavily dominated by powerful teams such as Manchester United and Real Madrid.

Ian Ridley Returns To Rescue Weymouth FC

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I thought that the television programme that ran some five years ago about the challenges facing Weymouth was one of the best warts-and-all programmes that has been produced about football in recent years. Both the programme and the associated book Floodlit Dreams did not go down well on the terraces at Weymouth.

Fall in copper price hits Zambian football clubs

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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.

Compensation Claims Against Hammers Multiply

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If West Ham thought they had finally settled the Carlos Tévez affair with an out-of-court settlement to pay £25m to Sheffield United, they were sadly mistaken. Numerous individuals have jumped on the compensation bandwagon, including one of the most controversial figures in football, Ken Bates. In a statement West Ham said that it was becoming evident that the arbitration panel’s ruling ‘has encouraged a potentially endless legal chain of claims and counter claims which can only be damaging to English football.

Football Levy Called For in Germany

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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.

Lower Level Troubles | Merthyr Tydfil FC and Bromsgrove Rovers

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I was rung by a leading national newspaper today about the financial problems League 1 and League 2 clubs. There are fears that as many as six could go into administration in the next few weeks. That may be an exaggerated forecast, but the credit crunch has hit the local businesses that support clubs at that level. The answer in terms of a strategy is to have a lean and mean financial model that takes account of what is possible. Darlington got themselves into trouble by building a stadium that was far too big for their potential support.

Liverpool FC’s Commercial Problems

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Liverpool FC may be on track for what their fans hope will be another Champions League triumph which would offset their less satisfying Premiership performance. However, in progressing as far as they have, they are punching above their weight financially. When it comes to money as compared with performance on the pitch, Real Madrid are way ahead of them with a financial Deloitte money list table topping annual revenue of £290m compared with £167m at Liverpool. That puts them seventh in the Deloitte European money league, a quarter-finalist’s performance.

Sepp Blatter Forecasts Economic ‘Tsunami’

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Anyone who follows football is familiar with the agenda of Fifa president Sepp Blatter. He, like Michel Platini, resents the success of English clubs in the Champions League (even though both of them may deny it). He also does not like the involvement of big business in football. It is therefore no surprise that he should welcome the global financial crisis as an opportunity to return football to what he sees as its roots, although some of us are sceptical about whether the era of rule by local small businessmen who invested nothing in the team or the stadium was such a golden age.

Stockport County FC In Trouble

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League 1 side Stockport County have hit financial problems. Considerable efforts are being made to prevent the club going into administration. Stockport MP Ann Coffey managed to negotiate a stay of execution over its massive bill owing to the Inland Revenue (no suprise to learn that they, and hence the taxpayer, are the main creditors).