"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
Football has become the latest battleground for Brexit campaigners. Karren Brady, vice-chair of West Ham United and a key member of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign has warned of ‘devastating consequences’ for the game if the UK votes to quit the EU.
Lady Brady said that in the event of a Brexit, English clubs would find it harder to attract international players, while fans would be stung by higher costs when travelling to games on the continent.
Leicester City may have every prospect of qualifying for the Champions League this season, but the chances of a club outside the elite taking part will be reduced in future if the European Club Association gets its way.
They are concerned that too many big clubs are finding their way to the competition barred, particularly in the more competitive English and Italian leagues.
A detailed analysis of the finances of Swansea City shows why they cannot splash out in the transfer window. Deloitte may have ranked them as the 26th wealthiest club in the world, but their finances are tightly constrained.
Wages have been going up faster than turnover. Stadium capacity is limited and commercial income is relatively small. 81 per cent of revenue comes from television.
Portsmouth chairman Ian McInnes has admitted in an interview with The Times that there is a glass ceiling to the fan ownership model used at Pompey. If success breeds ambition there may come a day when Portsmouth’s fans have to cede ownership to an outside investor.
The Pompey Supporters Trust owns 47.6 per cent of the club with the next biggest shareholder owning 10.75 per cent. Three PST members sit on the board of seven.
An interesting blog article on the concept of a real fan. It is, of course, a rhetorical device as the article suggests. It also argues that football culture has gone beyond the point where the concept of a real fan is viable. It also suggests that it is exclusionary as it defines a class of fans who have the only real claim on the sport.
The German Bundesliga continues to thrive, reporting record financial results for the 11th year in a row. With a reputation for reasonable ticket prices, the league reported a seventh year of record revenues, up 7 per cent at €2,6bn.
Profits increased to €51m, up by 31 per cent.
Bolton Wanderers Supporters’ Trust have launched an attempt to acquire the club from Eddie Davies wih the support of local institutions and businesses. Talks with the Sports Shield consortium led by Dean Holdsworth have not so far produced a solution for the financially troubled club.
After receiving investment from the United States, Crystal Palace intend to focus on the development of their fanbase and their commercial strategy there. The club is currently the subject of a ‘fly on the wall’ documentary being shown on American television.
A group of German investors is reported to be interested in taking a stake in Bradford City. Interest from German investors in English clubs is relatively unusual.
No imminent developments are expected from the talks with the German investors. They surfaced last summer and attended a home game late last year.
Last summer a takeover bid headed by former QPR chairman Gianna Paladani came to nothing.
The two unfortunates blog present an interesting in depth look at the proposal that Wimbledon should move to Dublin. Milton Keynes was bad enough, but this would have taken franchising to new levels. Fortunately, it was blocked.