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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
According to David Sullivan West Ham are still being affected by the Carlos Tévez affair which happened five years ago. United won £26.5m in damages in an out-of-court settlement in March 2009. West Ham still owe £10m to Sheffield United which is payable over the next year.
Sullivan said that the repayment burden had affected his transfer budget despite bringing in seven players this summer for a net outlay of around £6.5m.
Ever since the Olympics Britain has been engaging in its national sport of football bashing. Endless comparisons have been drawn between the purity of the Olympians and the arrogance, greed and poor professional conduct of footballers.
Now a defence of the game has come from an unlikely quarter in the shape of a Financial Times editorial, although the comparison the Pink ‘Un draws with banking may not be welcome in the game.
It has been revealed that it was the chairman of rival Blue Square South club Salisbury City who came to the aid of Truro City and enabled them to pay outstanding player wages.
In a statement Salisbury chairman William Harrison-Allen made it clear that his company CGA Holdings was not investing in Truro City which would probably be in breach of football rules. Rather it was a property deal that will help Truro chairman Kevin Heaney keep the beleaguered club going.
I once knew a couple who hoped that Charlton would not return from their Selhurst Park exile to The Valley as they thought it would depress their house price and make it more difficult to sell, quite apart from the hassle caused by the hordes of rampaging Addicks on match days (they had moved there after the club left),
They were reflecting a commonly held perception that being near a football ground adversely affects house prices and sales. But now some research by Halifax suggests an opposite conclusion.
Transfer spending by Premier League clubs has grossed £275m over the summer to date, £25m down on the same point last year. Of course, much depends on what happens on what is often a frenetic last day of the transfer window.
This reflects the pressure of the impending introduction of Uefa’s financial fair play rules, rather than any loss of revenue by the competition. Deloitte are projecting revenues to grow by 1 or 2 per cent to over £2.3bn this year. At some point the £3bn threshold will be crossed, probably during the course of the next new television deal.
Following the £24m deal to sign Robin Van Persie from Arsenal, Manchester United’s shares fell to their lowest level since listing in New York a week ago. Shares traded below their $14 offer price yesterday, falling 2 per cent to $13.77 by the close in New York.
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has been conducting a series of radio and press interviews setting out the challenges facing the club. On one level, it could be seen as an exercise in reducing the expectations of fans.
Portsmouth FC face liquidation once again after Balram Chainrai’s Portpin vehicle withdrew its bid for the club. Portpin blamed the administrators for spending £12m of parachute payments on their fees and payments to players. They also complained about negative criticism and lack of support from the fans of the club.
One response to having problems in your core business is to diversify into some more promising line of activity. For example, a farmer may decide he can make more from his farm by turning it into a golf course rather than using the land for animal husbandry or crops.
The usual blanket media coverage of football has been pushed aside in the last few weeks by the Olympics. For those so inclined this has given them a chance to drive home their message about the greed and venality of footballers.
Even so, the transfer window has been relatively quiet. With two weeks left, Barclays Premier League clubs have spent only £240m on new players, a considerable decrease on last summer”s £485m outlay.