"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
We have consistently taken the view that Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules are open to challenge in court. It is therefore interesting to see Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, who was part of the team who won the Bosman case in 1995, arguing a similar case in the Wall Street Journal.
There is some blue sky above Leamington this morning, but reports of snow in Nuneaton. But whatever the actual weather at the Ricoh Arena, the future of Coventry City remains cloudy follow yesterday’s High Court hearing.
Most people in football, including the football authorities, would like to see the Pompey Supporters’ Trust (PST) take charge at Portsmouth. The club has a particularly dedicated set of fans who have suffered a lot. More generally, it would be a natural experiment that would allow us to see whether a supporters’ trust can work at a ‘big’ club. Lessons can be learned from any problems that arise and how they are dealt with.
Leeds United have won an important test case over policing costs in the Appeal Court that has implications for all other clubs. The club is expected to receive £1m from West Yorkshire Police. Other clubs are expected to seek refunds for being overcharged by their police forces.
West Yorkshire Police were seeking to overturn a ruling that the club was not responsible for paying for policing in streets and car parks near the ground. The club said that it would pay for policing within the ground and on land it owned, leased or controlled.
Leyton Orient are launching a legal challenge to West Ham’s sole occupancy of the Olympic Stadium. It was thought that the completion of a deal to give West Ham a 99-year lease was imminent, but it could now be delayed.
Orient want to ground share with West Ham and argue that the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) have not followed their own rules in the bidding process. LLDC insist that the processes have been robust, fair and transparent but Hearn says that he has supporting opinions from two Queen’s Counsel.
Attempts by Rangers to play south of the border have got nowhere so far, but now they are arguing, with the backing of opinions from three separate law firms, that keeping them out would be a breach of EU competition law.
Oldco Rangers have been fined £250,000, but allowed to keep their league titles after a Scottish Premier League investigation into historic non-disclosure payments to players. Rangers still feel aggrieved about what they see as draconian treatment but the outcome could have been a lot worse.
Football economics guru Stefan Szymanski is not alone in striking a sceptical note on the Europol investigation into what appears to be large scale fixing of football matches in the interests of criminal gangs. That is not to say that there is not a problem, although it is unfortunate that the Football Association and Uefa were not put in the picture about the investigation.
A court hearing has rejected an attempt to quash the planning permision for FC United’s new stadium. The club currently plays at Bury’s ground at Giggs Lane.
The administrators of Portsmouth FC, PKF, have sought to adjourn this morning’s High Court case on the ownership of Fratton Park. The reasons why an adjournment was being sought are unclear: little progress appeared to have been made towards an out-of-court settlement. The adjournment was granted.