"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
Mike Ashley his tightened his grip on Rangers after the club agreed to accept his offer of a £10m loan. They turned down an alternative offer from the so-called Three Bears Consortium.
The club told the Stock Exchange that the terms negotiated with Sports Direct ‘represent the optimum combination of quantum and duration of funding, allowing the company time to arrange permanent capital which can be used for strengthening the playing squad.’
The Brazilian FA is going to attempt to bring greater discipline and transparency to the financial affairs of its clubs by introducing new regulations. The challenge will be to implement and enforce the new rules and stop them being evaded.
Bids for Premier League domestic broadcast rights have to be submitted by the end of next week for the blind auction. A potential new bidder has emerged in the form of the Discovery channel which has held talks with Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.
Discovery is best known for nature documentaries, but it now controls the Eurosport channels and wants to break into Premier League football. This could lead to even more inflation in the cost from £3bn for the last three year deal to around £4bn this time.
RC Lens are facing difficult times. Such are their problems that they could be expelled from the professional leagues altogether.
Last season they were denied promotion from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 because of financial irregularities. The decision was overturned on appeal, but they are having to deal with Ligue 1 with a squad assembled for Ligue 2. They are also having to play away from their stadium while it is renovated for Euro 2016.
This article reviews the roller coaster ride that has characterised Massimo Cellino’s tenure at Leeds United. It concedes that Cellino has done some good things for the club. One also has to assess his period at the helm in the light of the regimes that preceded him and the damage they did to the club. Few clubs have been so unfortunate in their owners.
One time Football League club Bradford Park Avenue are the latest Conference club to experience an American takeover. Barrow and Alfreton Town already have investors from the US.
Rochdale AFC are the last team to have a chance to pull off a giant killing feat in the fourth round of the FA Cup as they face Stoke tonight. Manager Keith Hill thinks they have not been given enough credit for the prudent way in which they manage their finances.
Even before yesterday’s spectacular victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Bradford City had already benefitted from their cup run to the tune of £1m. That has wiped out this year’s deficit, part of which they had hoped to come from a sell on fee had Tom Cleverly’s move to Aston Villa had been made permanent.
Cambridge United could look forward to a big boost to their revenues even if they had lost last night’s FA Cup game against Manchester United. Fans who wanted a ticket in the just under 8,000 capacity stadium were obliged to buy a half year season ticket if they were not already season ticket holders.
More than 100 football players are facing big tax demands from HM Revenue and Customs to pay back tax reliefs which the tax authorities claim constituted a form of tax avoidance. Not all the players were big earners and some face bankruptcy or losing their homes.