"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
The debt pile at Bolton Wanderers in the last financial year increased by 24 per cent from £110m to £136.5m. However, this is less serious than it sounds as it is long-term debt owed to the company of owner Eddie Davis, Moonshift Investments.
Losses at Burnden Leisure decreased from £26.1m to £22,1m. Turnover was down, but staff and administration costs were reduced.
The negotiations for the takeover of Leeds United by GFH Capital have been incredibly protracted, in part because of issues over the ownership of Elland Road and the club”s training ground. Another issue has been whether Ken Bates would have a role under the new regime. This article from a Gulf sources suggests that the end could be in sight.
Bristol is Britain’s eight largest city. Historically, as a major port, it was the largest city outside London. In the referendums held on elected mayors in May it was the only city to choose to have one and later this week voters will make their choice. All this suggests a certain amount of civic pride and local identity.
Chelsea have set themselves up well for the new era of financial fair play by recording a profit for the first time in the Abramovich era. Along with Manchester City, they were seen as one of the English clubs potentially at risk from the new Uefa regime.
The finances of Scottish football clubs are in a worse state than those in England according to a survey by Begbies Traynor. However, the English figures may be distorted by the fact that clubs are in a relatively favourable cash flow position at this time of year, having banked revenue from season tickets, sponsosrhip and up front television payments. The real crunch comes in the spring and early summer.
West Ham remain the most likely tenants of the Olympic Stadium, but the negotiations with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) are proving to be painfully protracted. West Ham may not be able to move in until the 2016-17 season. London mayor Boris Johnson originally hoped to have a tenant in place for the start of next season.
I developed a serious interest in football in 1953 when I started to go to matches at Charlton with my father. As my knowledge of the game developed, it became apparent that Scottish clubs often did not have obvious geographical names like their English counterparts. Given his Scottish ancestry, my father made sure that I followed football north of the border.
The long drawn out saga at Hearts may be entering its final phase with the possibility being raised that the club might play its last game against St. Mirren on Saturday 17 November. In a letter to fans, the club has said ‘This isn’t a bluff, this isn’t scaremongering, this is reality.’
For the third time in a year the club faces liquidation over unpaid taxes. Revenue & Customs presented a winding-down petition to the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Monday over just under £450,000 in unpaid PAYE and National Insurance.
Football still remains the most sponsored sport in terms of the sums of money paid out. The figures suggest that it earned $2714m in 2011, followed by the Olympics at $1275m. American football earned $1085m, followed by Formula 1 and NASCAR racing at just under $600m each. Companies from emerging countries are increasingly getting into sponsorship.
You need to read this blog post for yourself. It’s a witty and erudite piece of football writing. A core argument is that the rise of the social media has transformed football and in particular who controls the narrative about the game: no longer the blazer-clad football elite, but the fans themselves. Not that the writer has a naive belief that everything about the social media represents a change for the better.