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WG It has been claimed that some Torquay United players were signed on contracts below the minimum wage. Earlier in the year Gulls players were reportedly earning an average of £375 a week, still below the average for the Conference.
Torquay has been in financial difficulties since it was taken over by a consortium of local businessmen. The club is in danger of being relegated from the National League.
Today shirt sponsorship is an accepted part of football. Even the smallest non-league teams have their shirts sponsored by, say, a local pub or scaffolding company. However, it was not always the case and it was Jimmy Hill who made the breakthrough.
He brought in shirt sponsorship at Coventry City, threatening to rename them Coventry Talbot unless allowed to place logos and names on the club shirt. Television refused to show them, so Coventry wore a different strip when the cameras were in town.
Wigan Athletic made a loss of £3.9m in 2014-15, their first loss in four years. In the previous year they made a profit of £2.6m. Turnover fell from £37m to £28m. One factor was a reduction in Premier League parachute payments. The club’s net debt now stands at £13.3m.
Bolton Wanderers have resisted overtures from Preston North End to buy their training ground. The financially troubled club is trying to hold on to all its assets while it secures an investor.
Manager Neil Lennon is confident that the club can avoid administration. New prospective purchasers keep appearing all the time, although it is difficult to tell how serious they are. With the help of the Professional Footballers’ Association, players’ wages should be paid at the end of December.
This news report looks at the financial implications of Jose Mourinho’s departure at Chelsea (and quotes me).
That there are financial implications is self-evident, but the net effect may be positive. Learning from past experience, Chelsea have cut back on the severance payments to departing managers. Mourinho will get one year’s pay, unless he takes another job, although admittedly that is a tidy sum. The club is also unlikely to qualify for the Champions League.
The deal for a consortium of American sports investors to take a stake in Crystal Palace has finally been completed – and it’s bigger than expected.
70 per cent of Palace shares have changed hands in a deal which will give the investors a controlling stake. The cost was £100m and they will put in £50m to upgrade Selhurst Park and invest in the playing squad.
Steve Parish will, however, continue to be involved in all major decisions.
Tottenham Hotspur have received planning permission for their new stadium at White Hart Lane. The club hope to make the move into a £400m, 61,000-seat stadium in time for the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
In order to allow NFL matches to take place at the arena the new stadium will have a number of special features. These will include a retractable pitch, larger changing rooms and extra facilities for medical treatment and physiotherapy.
The poor start to Chelsea’s season has hit corporate hospitality sales. There has been spare capacity in many of the corporate areas in the past couple of months. Individual corporate tickets start at £195 plus VAT, including food and drink, rising to £495 plus VAT.
Chelsea claim that a slump in demand is not unusual during the festive period because of the competitive nature of the corporate market at this time of year.
Boosting corporate hospitality income is a key part of the club’s plans for the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge.
Barcelona have a six year plan to become the first club with €1bn in revenues. Current revenues are €600m and it is felt necessary to lift them to counter the growing financial clout of the Premier League.
AFC Wimbledon have received planning permission to build a new stadium close to their historic home in Plough Lane. To be built on the site of an old greyhound stadium, the new ground will have a capacity of 11,000 with scope for expansion to 20,000. The plan includes provision for 602 residential units and a leisure club.