WG

Big Profit For Plymouth Argyle

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Plymouth Argyle made a profit of £1m last year despite funding the highest wage bill in the club’s history. Accounts for the year ending 31 May 2008 show the Pilgrims turned round a loss of more than £700,000 in the previous 12 months to £1.1m profit. The Pilgrims made £3.8m profit on the transfer market last year, enabling them to finance their highest ever wage costs despite their gate income becoming the fourth lowest in the Championship. Chairman Paul Stapleton was frank about the inevitability of transfer fees being used to bail out the club as a trading concern.

Where The Recession Hits Football

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Recessions, even prolonged and deep ones, do not hit all businesses equally. Domino’s Pizza is an example of a business that has been boosted by the recession as cautious consumers substitute a takeaway for a meal out. Cinemas have also been doing good business, although attendances may have boosted by the success of particular films. The supermarkets that compete on price rather than quality or service have also been doing well. On the other hand, the motor vehicle industry has been hit hard. And estate agents, never the most popular businesses, have also taken a pounding.

West Ham Play For Time

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West Ham United’s Icelandic owners are hoping for a three months’ breathing space to complete the sale of the club. Talks have been held with five potential bidders, including an Asian consortium, but no firm offer has yet been made. A creditor, who is owed about £4m, has been seeking to freeze some of the assets of Bjorgolfur Gudmansson, the club’s owner. A court in Reyjkavik adjourned its decision after a hearing last Friday. The takeover process, which it is hoped can be completed by the summer, is being led by banks owed money by the club.

TV Companies Want to Cut Cost of FA Contract

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Following significant falls in revenue and profits, ITV is seeking to renegotiate its contract with the Football Association. Both ITV and the cable channel Setanta, which between them have a £425m deal for live FA Cup and England internationals, are seeking to ‘share the pain’ of worsening advertising revenues. Setanta lost half of its Premiership portfolio in last month’s renewal auction and is looking to renegotiate all sorts of rights deals.

Mixed News For Troubled Non-league Clubs

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Non-league clubs are particularly vulnerable in the economic downturn and there has been mixed news recently for those in difficulty. Businessmen Stephen Beer has taken a 48 per cent stake in struggling Conference side Weymouth in return for the £300,000 they need to keep them going until the end of the season. Beer owns a cleaning business, a haulage company and a hotel. He criticised past ‘get rich quick’ schemes at Weymouth and made it clear that he would not provide a pot of money.

Bournemouth Bid Not A Done Deal

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The seven figure bid by a Middle Eastern consortium for relegation threatened AFC Bournemouth is far from a done deal. Chief executive and co-ower Alastair Savenmutto has admitted that talks have slowed down. However, he commented, ‘Where they have slowed down, they slowed down as a result of legalities in concluding a deal of this magnitude. But I remain confident we can get to the finishing line.’ The situation at the club is serious with a number of the club’s staff failing to receive their wages while a number of the players’ salary cheques were not honoured by the banks.

Football Well Placed To Weather Recession

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Football is well placed to weather the recession according to Deloitte’s annual Football Money League, although clubs below Premiership level may take a bigger hit. Attendances are holding up well across European leagues, although several clubs are changing prices to ensure that their stadiums are full while others (such as Manchester City) have announced a freeze or cuts to season ticket and other prices. Lower down the leagues, clubs will suffer falling attendances, a more difficult corporate market and problems in dealing with falling revenues.

Rangers Insisted They Won’t Lose Out

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Rangers have insisted that they won’t lose out even though sponsors JJB Sports have been hit with financial problems. The club signed a £48m 10-year licensing agreement with the sportswear retailer three years ago. Rangers received £18m up front with £3m in royalties guaranteed each year, but yesterday the sportswear retailer called in KPMG to its loss-making fashion chain, Qube and Original Shoe Company.

1860 Munich Faces Financial Crisis

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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.

The Scolari Sacking

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Big Phil says goodbye with big cheque The expensive sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari as Chelsea manager shows just how important the Champions League has become to top Premiership clubs. It is not the iceing on the cake, it’s a big slice of the cake in both financial and prestige terms. Chelsea have already made about £40m from the group stage this season and a return to the final would be worth that much again.