Category

Everton For Sale To Right Buyer

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Bill Kenwright has said he is prepared to leave Goodison Park if he can find wealthy investors who can turn the team into title contenders. Theatre impressario Kenwright has been chairman of Everton for the past eight years but does not have the funds to help the club break into the top four. Russian, American and Dutch investors have expressed an interest in buying the club and Kenwright has turned to one of his friends, Sir Philip Green, the billionaire retail entrepreneur who is the seventh-richest man in Britain, for advice.

Rotherham United could be barred from the Football League

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Miller’s League Place in Doubt – Rotherham United could be barred from the Football League and unable to start the new season if they are unable to provide assurances over their future.  The Football League has written to the League Two club requesting an urgent meting to clear up issues that will affect their league membership, with their tenancy at the Don Valley Stadium a key issue.  In a letter to the Millers, the Football League wrote: ‘It is imperative that the new company’s pplication is presented to the board prior to the start of the season and it is in the best possible

Bundesliga Faces Television Rights Battle

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The Bundesliga, the German government and pay-TV company Premiere are locked in a three-way batle over the Bundesliga’s exclusive TV rights for the future. The country’s Federal Cartel Office has ruled that highlights from the Bundesliga’s Saturday matches have to be available on free TV soon after the end of the day’s actions and said that the big-money deal between the Bundesliga and Premiere has to be renegotiated. The more highlights that are available on free television, the less money Premiere has to pay for a deal.

Reality Check For Fantasy Football

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‘Own the club, pick the team’ was the offer to bring fantasy football to life made to the 30,000 members of MyFootballClub. Eight months after the web-based company took control of Conference side Ebbsfleet in a blaze of publicity, the novelty has worn off and apathy appears to be setting in. Last Saturday, the team selector finally went live, with members asked whether they wanted to choose the players for the pre-season friendly against Charlton or leave it to manager Liam Daish.

Hearts Debt For Equity Plan

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Hearts’ debt could be reduced by £12m if a ‘debt for equity’ plan is ratified at an extraordinary general meeting on July 31. The proposal, announced by Vladmir Romanov, the club’s majority shareholder, would see UBIG, the Lithuanian bank of which Romanov is also a majority shareholder, purchase over 34 million new ordinary shares at 35p each, effectively increasing their stake in the Tynecastle club from around 82 per cent to approximately 95 per cent.

Why The 39th Game Is Still On

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Premiership chief executive Richard Scudamore still thinks that a 39th game played abroad is essential to secure the future of the competition. He argues that the only reason that the model of distribution of half the domestic rights income and all the foreign rights income equally is that ‘the revenues are so large, enabling us to divide the income without the top clubs crying foul.

Thirty Point Deduction For Luton Town FC

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Luton face likely relegation to the Blue Square Conference and possible extinction after the Football League deducted them a total of 30 points. They would probably have to get 80 points next season to survive, as many as Rochdale got to reach the play offs. Many fans think that the penalty is harsh, but the League is insisting that ‘rules is rules’. The Hatters were handed an initial ten-point deduction by the FA last month after they were found guilty of 15 misconduct charges involving payment to agents.

Dunfermline FC’s Problem

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Dunfermline no longer own their ground and chairman John Yorkston, while insisting the club is in no danger of moving into administration, has warned the 11 players out-of-contract at the end of this season they’ll have to take big pay cuts if they want a deal. Indeed, Dunfermline Building Society, the largest in Scotland, offers two ‘soccer saver’ accounts: for Celtic and Rangers fans. That just about says it all.

Baggies Up For Sale

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Chairman Jeremy Peace has effectively put West Bromwich Albion up for sale. He said in a statement that he will listen to any ‘substantive and sensible proposals which are in the best long-term interests of the club’, including those for his 51 per cent of the club’s shares. The reasoning behind his decision is simple: the club needs more money to compete effectively in the Premiership.

Everton’s New Stadium

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Tesco boss and Everton fan Sir Terry Leahy is helping the Toffees to fund a new 50,000-seater stadium. Together with Everton chairman Bill Kenwright he has won the approval of Knowsley councillors for their joint £400m development in Kirby, five miles outside Liverpool. Tesco’s largesse amounts to more than £120m towards the £200m cost of the new stadium, but it has signed away any rights to own the stadium or the club itself. Tesco gets a 55,000 square metre store out of the deal.