Article Taxonomy: Football Finance

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

Northwich hit trouble

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Northwich Victoria, who received a ten point deduction at the start of the season for being in administration, having been threatened with the same sanction again if they do not settle football debts by 31st March.  Last week the Conference hit them with a £2,500 fine for breaching Rule 11 after defaulting on payments to a number of clubs and fomer players.  They have until March 18th to pay the fine, and if the debts aren’t paid off by 31st March, they will be fined a further £7,500 along with the points deduction.

Chester out – or are they?

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The board of the Conference has recommended that Chester City be removed from the competition after they pleaded guilty to breaching five rules, including failure to fulfill fixtures.  However, for that to happen, they will need three quarters of member clubs to back their decision.  The Non-League Paper has conducted a straw poll of clubs and four have said they will be voting to keep Chester in the league while others are undecided.   At least one chairman thinks it is not proper for one football club to vote on the death of another, refusing to have the blood

Glum faces at Portsmouth

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There were glum faces at Fratton Park last night and not just because 10-man Stoke seized a last gasp winner against the home side.  There are real fears that the historic club with its particularly dedicated supporters may go out of existence.  Financial expert Simon Wilson told BBC Sport that administration is an unlikely option.  ‘Arguably, the level of debt associated with this case will mean that it is unlikely that a suitable or willing benefactor will be found,” said Wilson, a partner with restructuring experts Zolfo Cooper.  ‘Portsmouth therefore face the ve

When a new stadium is a liability

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One of the problems of football finance is that the stadium is a capital asset which is used for its main purpose at most about twenty-five times a year.  Football clubs have made efforts to hire out their function rooms for conferences and meetings, but this is a competitive market and one that has been hit by the recession.   I have seen novel solutions abroad, for example at Utrecht in the Netherlands where there are shops and small businesses in the space available under the rising stands.  But there isn’t much you can do with the pitch itself between matches if you

World Cup betting bonanza

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Ladbrokes is forecasting a betting bonanza on the World Cup this summer.  They are expecting punters to stake £750m on tournament-related bets.   If this forecast tends out to be accurate, it would represent a 50 per cent increase on the estimated £500m wagered on the previous World Cup.  Each World Cup has tended to attract more bets than the last one.

Boro’s £50m deficit

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Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has talked at length about the £50m deficit the club faced after relegation from the Premiership, how the club made no money from its Uefa cup run and the financial problems of football generally.  He emphasises that the club had to follow a prudent strategy after relegation and could not spend large amounts of money to secure promotion, a lesson ignored by many Championship clubs hankering after the promised land of the Premiership.  

A tangled tale at Cardiff

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An interesting programme on Cardiff City including an interview with Peter Ridsdale can be watched here.    New accounts for the club will be available on 28 February, but it appears that the overall debts amount to some £33m despite £24m realised in transfer fees since Mr Ridsdale became chairman.  The club has incurred total losses of £7m under his stewardship.   His replies about the loan notes owed to Langston are somewhat ambiguous, but a new agreement has been n

Portsmouth hand in statement

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Portsmouth met the court deadline yesterday to hand in their statement of affairs.   While rumours continue to circulate that the Premiership may yet make parachute payments to the club ahead of time, the overall outlook remains bleak as this report makes clear.

Liverpool would have been better off with me

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Steve Morgan, who tried to buy Liverpool in 2004 but was turned down, reckons that the club would have been better off under his ownership than with the current American owners.  He thinks that the club would now be debt free.  Instead, Morgan – who is ranked as the 146th-wealthiest person in Britain according to the The Sunday Times Rich List – went on to buy Wolves.   He is generally thought to have followed a prudent strategy there which may keep them in the Premiership without spending impossible sums of money.   Read more here:

Chester face expulsion from Blue Square Premiership

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Having failed to carry out their last two fixtures, Chester City face expulsion from the Blue Square Premiership unless they can give financial assurances about their future.   They failed to send a team for their midweek away fixture with Forest Green.   Accounts of what happened vary: some say that the unpaid players refused to board the coach, others that the coach driver refused to set off until his company was paid.   Yesterday’s derby against Wrexham was called off becaues the police refused to provide cover having not been paid for previous matches.