"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant." Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme
Hello everyone.
Welcome to our new site. It’s not quite fully ready – we haven’t uploaded all the archived material nor the attendance stats yet, plus there are few minor design adjustments to do – but we wanted to get it up and running now and sort the rest out when we have some spare time (!)
Three clubs got temporary reprieves from winding up orders today – Portsmouth in the Premiership, Cardiff City in the Championship and Southend United in League 1. Of the three the club in greatest peril remains Portsmouth who are on their fourth owner this season.
A Liverpool fan came to see me the other day and reasonably asked why Hicks and Gillett had sold their stakes in North American sports businesses ahead of selling Liverpool. It seems that the American duo are determined to get the best possible price for Liverpool, although they are under some pressure from the Royal Bank of Scotland to sell up. There are a number of potenial buyers in the offing, but one could person who could certainly afford to conclude a deal is the richest man in India and the seventh richest person in the world: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport
A report in The Times suggests that there may be a possibility of an out of court settlement in the potentially bitter legal dispute between Hull City and their former chairman, Paul Duffen. The real beneficiaries from a protracted legal dispute are often the lawyers who are fully entitled to be paid professional fees for the deployment of their expertise.
Both of England’s two leading university towns, Oxford and Cambridge, each have two non-league clubs. In the case of Oxford, Oxford United (formerly Headington United reflecting the location of their old ground) were at one time in the top flight of English football. They are now playing in the Conference and are top on goal difference with hopes of returning to the Football League next season.
Michael Platini’s ‘Financial Fair Play’ plan could threaten a number of top European clubs. The Uefa president believes that over a period clubs should not be able to spend more than they earn. Some of Europe’s leading clubs have built up big debts and could face exclusion from the Champions League. One could think that was a case of Uefa shooting itself in the foot, but that is not an unknown phenomenon.
Things may be looking up on the pitch for Manchester United, but the market doesn’t like their bonds very much. Of course, the club has already trousered the money, but they may find it more challenging if they come back to the market in the future. The bonds have become one of the worst performers this year. Of course, they were mainly bought for the interest ‘coupon’ rather than capital gain. However, the sterling bonds have fallen to just 93 per cent of the value. If the investor had splashed out around £100,000, they would have already made a paper loss of £5,000.
The EDP has reported on the delayed AGM at Norwich City Football Club. In what appeared to be very frank and open meeting with the club’s shareholders, the NCFC hierarchy outlined “the financial fall from grace which has run parallel with the rise and fall of the club’s fortunes on the football field.”
