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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
Uefa officials have been instructed not to answer questions about Manchester City in relation to the organisation’s football fair play rules. In particular they have been told to talk about whether the club’s £350m 10 year sponsorship deal with Etihad falls within the rules, although their £200m wage bill is probably an even bigger problem.
Birmingham City FC have offered the club’s entire assets to HSBC to guarantee future loan repayments. The loan reflects concerns about the situation of the club’s holding company, Birmingham International Holdings. The club is currently the subject of a transfer embargo because of a failure to submit accounts on time.
The future of Rangers is looking brighter after respected former director Paul Murray confirmed that his ‘Blue Knights’ consortium is finalising an offer to buy the club. Mjurray left the club’s board shortly after Craig Whyte took control.
Newcastle United have reported a 69 per cent rise in turnover for the 2010/11 season from £53.4m to £88.4m. Much of that increase came from a threefold rise in television revenues, with corporate hospitality sales also up.
The operating loss was £3.9m for the year ended June 2011 in comparison to a £33.5m loss the year before and moves the club close to a break even position ahead of Uefa’s financial fair play rules being introduced.
Portsmouth FC have received a financial lifeline that should enable them to survive until the end of the season after the Football League agreed to make four monthly Basic Award payments of £200,000 to them between now and the end of the campaign.
Portsmouth owe more than £40m with the liquidator claiming £16m from when they entered administration two years ago. Convers Sports Initiatives, the club’s parent company, is owed £11.2m, Revenue & Customs about £2m and football creditors about £5m.
It now appears that Blackpool FC paid £23.5m to owner Owen Oyston and his companies in the last financial year, not the £11m originally reported. Some of these payments may have been to reduce tax exposure and the owner has ploughed millions into the club over the years and revived its prospects from a very poor position. However, it does mean that the club’s cash balances are lower than they might otherwise have been.
It was a frustrating day at Rangers yesterday as the administrators sought agreement on player wage cuts as a means of avoiding redundancies. However, there were signs by the end of the day that an agreement was closer. Meanwhile, Greg Wylde, a 20-year old product of the Rangers youth system, chose to terminate his contract.
As anticipated Port Vale are to enter administration following a court application by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The club has an outstanding loan with the council and have not kept up with repayments. There are also other creditors including Revenue and Customs.
Despite the fact that it will result in a ten point deduction and end the club’s play off hopes, the news was generally welcomed by fans at last night’s game. They saw it as offering a much needed new start to the club.
Both Rangers and Portsmouth are desperate for cash flow and a friendly between them has been mooted, although finding a date suitable to both clubs could be a problem. Perhaps there could be a new cup competition for clubs in administration sponsored by the administrators.
Newcastle United are the latest football club to settle a dispute over image rights with the tax authorities. The settlement covers all outstanding disputes with Revenue and Customs, it is believed. The sum involved has not been revealed but it is thought to be less than the amount set aside as a contingency in the accounts.