Article Taxonomy: Football Finance

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

Top clubs have varied record in transfer market

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Top Premier League clubs have had a varied record in making profits in the transfer market over the past decade.   Tottenham Hotspur made a profit on player sales of £287m, but £104m of that came in the 2013-14 season when they sold Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for £85m.

Chelsea are just behind them on £275.7m and in many ways they have been the smartest operators in the market.   They have been able to comply with Uefa’s financial fair play rules and their policy of sending dozens of players out on loan has paid off.

Chinese offer not big enough for Saints

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The Chinese wave in English football has broken on the shores of the Solent, but Southampton FC consider that the offer they have been made is not big enough.   They are also annoyed that news of the bid was broken on the Shenzhen stock exchange that agreement had been reached in principle, breaching the confidentiality of talks.

How the FA Cup boosts a non-league club

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Sutton United are mid-table in the Vanarama National League, although not so long ago they were in the third tier of the non-league pyramid in the Ryman League.  On Sunday they face Leeds United in a televised FA Cup tie that will bring them £144,000 in addition to the £300,000 they have already earned from their cup run.  They have already been able to repair a leak in the home dressing room roof.

£75m price tag on Charlton

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An amazing £75m price tag has been put on Charlton by its eccentric Belgian owner, according to fanzine Voice of the Valley.  An article by fanzine editor Rick Everitt claims that the figure was given by chief executive Katrien Meire in a new year phone conversation with Austrian-based energy drinks Red Bull who have been looking for an English club to add to their portfolio of New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig.

Orient up for sale

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The controversial owner of Leyton Orient, Frsncesco Becchetti, has said that he will consider offers for the club.  One has already been made and rejected.

Orient are in real danger of relegation from the Football League.   The move of West Ham to the London Stadium has casr a shadow across Orient.

A rather exreaordinary statement from the club’s chief executive can be found here.

Americans won’t give up on Forest

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The US-based consortium interested in buying Nottingham Forest have said that they are going to persist with their efforts to acquire the club despite another setback.

They made a renewed effort to buy the club this week after they revealed they had lent the club funds to cover wages in November and December.  John Jay Moores and Charles Noell made an improved offer to buy 100 per cent of Forest from owner Fawaz-al-Hasawi.   However, the offer was rejected by the Kuwaiti businessman who took over in 2012.

United top money league

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The latest edition of the Deloitte Money League has appeared.  Aggregate revenue for the top 20 Money League clubs rose 12% to €7.4 billion (£5.5 billion) in 2015/16, a new record, with three clubs breaking the €600m barrier.   The infographic below shows the evolution of the Money League over the last twenty years.

The story behind Lincoln’s success

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Lincoln City defeated a lacklustre Ipswich Town last night to get through to the 4th round of the FA Cup. They are also top of the Vanarama National League with real hopes of a return to the Football League after an absence that will run to six years by the summer.

The prime minister congratulated the Imps on their success in prime minister’s questions, responding to a question from the MP for Lincoln.