"If you want some accessible but informative insight into football then I suggest you couldn't do better than the Political Economy of Football website, which is not only intelligible but comes with the added bonus of being written by Addicks fan Wyn Grant." Ben Hayes - Charlton Athletic programme
In August, after nearly three decades at the helm of A.C. Milan, Silvio Berlusconi announced that he had sold his 99.93 per cent stake in the club to a Chinese investment group called Sino Europe for €520m (about £450m).
According to the terms of the deal, Sino Europe made an immediate down payment of about £85m, the rest to be paid in December. This down payment was non-refundable.
It is difficult to see how Sunderland are going to escape relegation. Even in the old days of Division 1 and Division 2, Sunderland were a yo-yo club, but the financial consequences these days are more serious, not least for the staff who face redundancy.
Celtic’s runaway success in the Scottish Premier League may be hitting attendances as fans lose interest in a one horse race.
A critical match for Hamilton Academicals with Aberdeen saw just 2,006 fans in the 5,500 seater stadium with just two lonely souls in the East Stand. Hamilton’s average attendance this season has shrunk from 3,024 to 2,584.
Liverpool recorded a loss of £19.8m in the year to May 2016. Investment in players was the main reason for the loss, along with the cost of compensating Brendan Rodgers and his staff. Costs for the Main Stand extension also contributed to the loss.
The club’s revenue increased by £3.9m to a record £301.8m. Match day revenue was up £3.4m to £62m. Commercial revenue was down £700,000 to £115.7m. This was partly because of a lack of non-matchday access to the Main Stand.
Coventry City made a profit of £700,000 in the year to May 2016, but there was an operational loss of £1.75m before player trading was taken into account. Turnover was up from £4.76m to £5.44m.
The club has debts of £44m, almost of which is owed to owners Sisu or companies controlled by them. The club is only a going concern if that debt is not called in, but the owners have no plans to do so.
Leyton Orient have been served with a winding up order over unpaid tax bills. The case will be heard in the High Court on March 20th. The money owed to HMRC is thought to be in the region of £250,000.
The last set of financial results for the club suggested that debts exceeded assets by £5.5m. The club are in real danger of relegation to the National League which would make them less attractive to prospective buyers.
David Haythornthwaite grew up as a Blackpool fan. Having succeeded with his business Tangerine Holdings, which makes farming and veterinary products, he made unsuccessful attempts to buy the club from the Oystons in 1998 and 2005.
The 646-day takeover saga at Carlisle United may be nearing a conclusion. Discussions with a mystery overseas businessman have been going on for the better part of two years, but have gone cold several times.
However, the club are now close to deciding whether to conclude a deal. Significant headway has been made in getting answers to outstanding questions.
Given that their net spending is consistently in the Premier League bottom five at less than £8m per season, Southampton’s record of three successive top eight finishes makes them the top flight’s biggest over achievers since their promotion from the Championship five years ago. In 2009 they were in League One and administration.
Despite a record £110.5m spend on players, Arsenal reported profits of £12.6m in the six months to 30 November 2016 compared with a £6.2m loss in the corresponding period last year. Once again Arsene Wenger shows that he is following a successful commercial formula.
Turnover was up substantially from £158m to £191.1m year on year. 45 per cent of revenue came from broadcasting, boosted by a bigger share of the Uefa pool. This was even more valuable given the fall of the pound as it is paid in euros.