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A new investment fund has been set up by former Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon and Ronaldo’s and Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorges Mendes to invest in the economic rights of football players. Registered in Jersey, the Quality Sports Investment LP Fund has been seeking a minimum of £1m each from 15 wealthy investors and it would appear that most of the money needed has been raised.
Financial worries at Birmingham City FC have eased after owner Carson Yeung secured additional funds. He has raised about £6.7m. Shares amounting to 12.37 per cent of the football club’s holding company have been sold to six parties unconnected with the company. The club revealed last month that they had debts of about £27m. The way should now be clear for their participation in the Europa League next season.
Leyton Orient have served notice on the London Borough of Newham that they intend to apply for a judicial review of its decision to arrange a £40m loan for West Ham United to help them in their bid to move to the Olympic Stadium. The move came after Baroness Ford of the Olympic Park Legacy Company knocked on the head the possible compromise of a move to a new stadium at Eton Manor, although the final decision is not hers to take.
The Scottish League Cup is to be funded by cash seized from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Co-operative Insurance has been the sponsor since 1999 but the deal has come to an end and the Scottish Government has stepped in. The new sponsorship deal is a direct result of the recent football summit that followed a volatile Old Firm Scottish Cup replay betwen Celtic and Rangers.
Blue Square North club Redditch United have been acquired by local businessman Chris Swan in a takeover that wipes out their debt. The property developer had agreed to take over Kidderminster Harriers last month but pulled out because he was unsure of the true extent of their debts.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if Redditch can avoid relegation. To add to their woes, the Conference gave them a five point deduction last Friday for submitting misleading information as part of the league’s Financial Reporting Initiative.
Arrangements have been put in place to ensure that a New Zealand team continues to participate in the A-League. Time is running out on property tycoon and Wellington Phoenix licence owner Terry Serepisos. He could be liquidated by the High Court in Wellington within a month.
Fulham FC’s losses increased from £7.9m to £19m in the year ended June 2010. This was in spite of earning an extra £12.5m from their run to the Europa League final. Turnover was boosted to £76.4m, but write downs and amortisation from player trading boosted losses.
A freedom from information request has revealed that football clubs from the Premier League, Football League and Conference owed the taxman £22m in PAYE, NI and VAT at the end of the last tax year. Premier League clubs accounted for 65 per cent of football total tax debt while clubs in the Championship made up 29 per cent of the total. League One, League 2 and the Conference each accounted for 2 per cent of the remaining debt.
The manager, players and office staff at Plymouth Argyle have been asked to defer their pay otherwise the club may have to be liquidated. None of the potential purchasers is willing to guarantee wages and salaries until the end of the season.
For reasons connected with legal paperwork, the selection of a preferred bidder has been delayed. This is expected to be completed today, but the identity of the preferred bidder may not be announced.
I was talking to the chairman of a non-league club the other day and he reckoned that attendances were down by about 20 per cent this season even where clubs were doing well on the pitch. He thought that even the time of the month when people got paid had an effect on attendance, so squeezed were family budgets.