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This is a contributed article by Daniel Clyne and takes the form of an open letter in response to recent comments by senior Uefa official William Gaillard about the rationale and benefits of financial fair play:
In today’s Financial Times, leading football economist Stefan Szymanski argues that there is something to be said for the Glazers, the controversial owners of Manchester United.
He argues that the club’s debt burden is not as bad as it looks. He admits that Glazer financing has added £350m to the costs of the business, but with the owners promising to use half the proceeds of the IPO to retire loan notes, ‘debt is no longer really a problem for the club.’
Scottish football is starting to face up to a life with Rangers in the third division. The Scottish Premier League’s £80m five-year broadcasting deal with BSkyB and EPSN, which had not been signed, has been axed. It is thought that the new agreement is worth £50m to the 12 SPL teams over the same period. And with Celtic nailed-on football betting favourites to win the title in Rangers’ absence, will people still be tuning in to watch the SPL?
The consequences of failing to configure the Olympic Stadium for football are now coming home to roost. The Commonwealth Games stadium was built with Manchester City in mind, but Olympic chiefs decided not to go down that route in 2006.
Conversion costs could amount to as much as £150m on top of the £430m building costs. The original £95m estimate has now increased by £20m to include upgrades to the ‘no frills’ stadium, including internal toilets, corporate hospitality suites, a new pitch, a partial roof extension and a reduction in capacity from 80,000 to 60,000.
A group of Chinese investors is set to become Inter Milan’s second biggest shareholder following the club’s agreement to sell a block of shares. Inter’s objective is to raise its profiles among Asian fans so as to raise new resources.
The investors including a company controlled by China Railway Corporation. They will develop a new football stadium with Internazionale Holding, the football club’s parent, for completion in 2017. Inter currently shares the San Siro with rivals AC Milan.
The future of Truro City as a Blue Square Bet South club is hanging by a thread after the squad gave the club a seven day deadline to pay the wages they are owed.
Kendal Town football club have signed an unusual sponsorship deal that requires players to wear crocheted black beards with sideburns and red beanie hats in pre-match warm-ups. Local firm Rosetta makes off-the-wall giftwear. The beards are a big seller in the US and it is hoped that this success will be replicated in the UK.
The beards come in a variety of colours, including grey.
Manchester United’s full accounts are not expected to be available until later this month but the extent of the hit the club took as a result of its early exit from the Champions League is apparent in the documentation it filed in New York earlier this month in connection with its share issue.
Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (known as Ebitda) is estimated to have fallen by between 16 and 18 per cent to £90 to £92 million. Turnover is expected to drop by 3 to 5 per cent from £331m to between £315m and £320m.
Manchester United fans are once again angry with the Glazers who own the club. After some delays they have now filed their initial public offering on the New York stock exchange and are hoping to sell 19.1m shares.
However, originally the offering was supposed to be used entirely to reduce the club’s debt burden. The latest plan sees half the money raised going to the Glazer family, estimated at £150m.
Balram Chainrai hopes to secure a deal to take Portsmouth out of administration and avoid a threatened liquidation which has looked increasingly close. It would be the second time he has bought the club. He agreed a company voluntary arrangement to pay credtors 2p in the pound last month while he is owed £20m.