Article Taxonomy: Football Finance

Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.

Crisis deepens at Port Vale

by

The crisis facing Port Vale has deepened after chairman Peter Miller resigned from his position as a director at the club.   This means that Port Vale have fewer than the four directors required by law for the club to function properly.

Miller had been widely criticised by supporters after he accepted payment for a position that did not use to be paid.   Shareholders would have had the chance to oust him at an extraordinary general meeting on March 13th, but that has now been postponed.   

Villa announce big losses

by

Aston Villa haved announced losses of almost £54m for the year ended 31 May 2011, up from £37.6m.   American owner Randy Lerner has put £25m of his own money into the club over the past two years to keep it on an even keel.

The figure includes the money spent to bring Darren Bent to the club in January last year, but does not include the sales of Ashley Young to Manchester United and Stewart Downing to Liverpool which went through last year.

Ipswich Town plan to cut wage bill

by

Ipswich Town plan to make further cuts in their wage bill.   They need to because despite earlier cuts their wages to turnover ratio is still way above recomended levels.   They hope that financial fair play will drive down player wages and agents’ fees.  What demands real skill is to cut the wage bill without negatively affecting performance on the pitch which in turn drives down revenues.

Arsenal profits boost

by

Arsenal have reported a pretax profit of £49.5m in the six months to end of November compared with a loss of £6.1m a year earlier.   Football turnover was up from £97.6m to £113.5m.  Cash reserves increased from £110.4m to £115.2m.

The taxman and football clubs

by

Interesting essay by John Beech on the tax authorities and football clubs over time with plenty of data to back up the argument.   It would seem that they have never been shy of serving winding up orders, but it’s all a bit more complicated than one think in terms of patterns with quite a lot of variability over time.

Indian Premier League fails

by

The ambitious plan for an Indian Premier League featuring semi-retired world stars has been postponed for a second time and now looks unlikely to go ahead.   The league was modelled on cricket’s India Premier League and the matches were due to be played in West Bengal between March and May.

Pompey situation more serious than expected

by

The administrator of Portsmouth has said that the situation at the club is ‘more serious’ than expected.  The fundamental problem is that the club has a Premier League cost base but only Championship income and could run out of money in the next couple of months if drastic decisions are not taken.

Arsenal freeze season ticket prices

by

Arsenal have bowed to pressure from the Supporters’ trust and frozen season ticket prices for next season.   They may look at issuing credits should the team not qualify for the Champions League.  At present the first seven cup games are included in season tickets.

Bank balance falls at United

by

Manchester United’s bank balance has fallen by almost £100m in six months, according to the club’s quarterly accounts, as a result of buying back bonds, player arrivals and stadium improvements.

The latest accounts show that while revenues continued to rise as a result of increased TV income and corporate hospitality revenue, plus new commercial contracts, higher wages contributed to sharply increased operating costs.