Darlo fans block return of former owner

Darlington fans have blocked the return to the club of controversial former owner Raj Singh.  He was in charge when the club went into administration in 2012.

Darlington have made operating losses of £80,000 this season and Singh announced that he was prepared to invest £40,000 in the club.    Supporters took to social media to protest and, as a result, Singh decided to withdraw,

As a consequence of his withdrawal, and the reasons for it, a second potential investor also decided not to continue discussions.

Aberdeen in good financial shape

Aberdeen FC has achieved a high ranking for its financial discipline, but chairman and majority shareholder Stewart Milne says that it was a long and difficult process to offload the debt.

About 35-40 per cent of the club’s revenue comes from match days, a third comes from broadcasting and the rest from various forms of sponsorship and merchandising.   The club hopes to receive planning permission for a new 20,000 seater stadium.

Tranmere’s financial challenges

Tranmere Rovers hope to win promotion to the Football League in today’s play off final at Wembley, but the club has required some investment since Mark Palios bought the club in August 2014.

Average attendances of 5,000 bring in £1 million a year in gate receipts but the playing budget is £2 million, running Prenton Park costs £1 million and their academy £400,000.   Victory today would be worth £1.5m.

The club has developed a link up with China that will mean Tranmere recruiting coaches to work with the Little London School in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia.

Liverpool launch cut price shirt in China

Liverpool has launched a cut price shirt in China to compete with the widely available counterfeits that sell for just a few dollars.

European clubs are keen to boost their revenue in this fast growing market.  However, the widespread availability of fake shirts and pirated live streams of matches makes it hard for clubs to turn the high level of interest in European football into a reliable income stream.

Profit into loss at Gillingham

A profit of £180k at Gillingham in 2015 turned into a loss of £800,000 in the year ended May 2016.   Turnover was flat at £5.68m.

The wage bill was up 10 per cent in 2016, but is less than Ibrahimovic earns in ten weeks, illustrating the gap between the Premier League and League One.  The whole squad cost £80k and no player was signed for a fee in 2016.

A dispute with caterers Centerplate is to go to court in November 2017.   Out of court settlements have been rejected.

Juventus look good in Serie A

Accounts for Serie A clubs for the 2015-16 season are now complete and Juventus come out on top on a number of criteria.   Data from the author of the Swiss Ramble blog.

Juventus had the highest revenues at €351m. more than €100m ahead of Roma on €234m.   The importance of Champions League success in television revenues is readily apparent.  Juventus and Roma reached the group stages and they received a total of €195m and €154m respectively.  Juventus had the highest wage bill at €221m, followed by Milan on €204m.