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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
The Pozzo family headed by Giampaolo Pozzo are poised to buy Watford FC even if the deal is yet to be signed off. It is said that the Italians will invest £15m in the club, but not all Hornets fans are happy about the move.
You can find here a set of tables giving season ticket prices for Football League clubs. It should be noted that what is given is the cheapest price and that often depends on early bird offers, e.g., the price quoted could be for an under 16 buying their ticket in February. The cheapest price may not be correlated with the average price, but that is a lot more difficult to calculate.
When next season’s fixtures for the Scottish Premier League are published tomorrow they will include a slot for Club No.12. This formula reflects the difficulties Rangers face as they seek to transfer their Scottish Premier League (SPL) share from the old company (Rangers Football Club plc) to the new company (The Rangers Football Club).
At the moment it is unclear which club will occupy this slot. Dunfermline Athletic could be saved from relegation or Dundee, who took the runners up slot in the division below, could be promoted alongside Ross County.
It has been evident for some time that the tax authorities have been getting tough with football clubs who use their tax payments or as an interest free loan. In the case of Rangers £21.5m is owed even before the conclusion of a tribunal into the ‘big tax case’ which could triple that sum.
Morgan Stanley will not participate in a Manchester United IPO in the US because the Glazers are seeking a valuation that the bank does not think is realistic. The Glazers have £2bn in mind, but a group of wealthy fans who tried to buy the club for £1bn in 2010 argued that it was worth far less.
Manchester United are considering shifting their initial public offering from Singapore to New York. Apparently underwriters have warned the Glazers that it would not be wise to proceed with an Asian listing given market volatility.
A US listing would give the Glazers more operational involvement, but a shift from Singapore would deprive them of the opportunity to fully exploit the brand in the rapidly growing Asian football market.
Every so often predictions are made that the Premier League ‘bubble’ has burst, especially since the onset of the recession. The financial success of the Premiership is very much driven by its television deals and the latest one for the seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16 exceeds all expectations. It even astounded Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.
The auditors (BDO) that signed off the latest annual accounts of Birmingham City have questioned whether the club gave them all the required details. The accountancy group said it was ‘sceptical as to whether we have received all the relevant information’ from the directors of Birmingham City PLC.
A takeover at Nottingham Forest is imminent with more than one party interested. However, no one at the clubs know who the prospective owners are or where they come from with the deal being handled by merchant bank Seymour Pierce. With the club wishing to rekindle its promotion ambitions, it is hoped that they will be in place by the beginning of the season.
The club has been for sale since October 2011 when Nigel Doughty resigned as chairman but his premature death in February has made the sale more complicated.
Rangers now face liquidation, after it became known that Revenue and Customs intend to vote against a proposed company voluntary arrangement at a meeting scheduled for Thursday.