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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
Just how many wealthy people are involved in the Barclays Premier League is shown by the list published in The Times today of the richest Premier League owners. No less than 26 names make the list, more than there are clubs in the top flight.
Hereford United players were sent a group text yesterday telling them that they will not get their wages for April. The players were already owed money as they were not paid in full in March.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is apparently concerned about how Chelsea might exercise their spending power in the summer transfer window.
Sir Alex Ferguson believes that you should not retire but stay active and engaged. He is living testimony to the wisdom of such a course. He is already planning to strengthen his squad over the summer and United chief executive David Gill has pledged that the money will be available.
Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has moved to the top of the new Sunday Times rich list with a fortune of £13,300m. The Russian citizen, born in Uzbekistan, shares with Farhard Moshiri (ranked 41=) a near 30 per cent stake in Arsenal.
However, majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has kept him off the board. ‘It rankles me,’ Usmanov is quoted as saying. At times he has tried to present himself as the person who has the interests of Arsenal fans at heart.
The 5.15 timing for this year’s FA Cup final has provoked controversy. Wigan Athletic fans are particularly aggrieved. By the time the game has finished it will be too late for them to get to Euston and catch a train home. The FA’s response has been to recommend using a coach, provided by one of their sponsors, National Express. But this could mean a return home well after midnight, not fun if you have small children with you.
The row over restructuring the Scottish leagues is rumbling on with no sign of a resolution in sight. The Scottish Football League (SFL) has rejected the Scottish FA’s offer of help in the row. The SFL wants to discuss all the possible options internally, which could include a breakway to join the top flight.
The Scottish Premier League’s (SPL) 12-12-18 proposals were rejected on Monday after they failed to secure the necessary 11-1 majority, St. Mirren and Ross County voting against.
The annual review of Premier League finances published by The Guardian shows why the majority of clubs were prepared to back rules to rein back spending. £1.6bn, two thirds of total income, was spent on wages in 2011-12, most of that on players.
Business magazine Forbes has been compiling its football rich list since 2004 and for the first time Real Madrid have knocked Manchester United off their perch at the top of the list. It is not that United have stopped growing, simply that Real have grown even faster.
Forbes value the Spanish giant at $3.3bn with Manchester United just behind on $3.17bn. Barcelona are in third place. It is evident that the two leading Spanish clubs are impervious to the troubles of the country’s economy.
In discussion of new markets for Premiership television rights, the emphasis has been on emerging countries in Asia alongside an increasing interest in Africa where GDP per capita is growing rapidly in some countries. Rights are now sold to more than 200 markets.