"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
This is the question that has been posed by the Coventry Evening Telegraph. Among their answers are the strength of the brand; a good catchment area with no rivals; low operating costs as tenants at the Ricoh; and a training ground that is a valuable asset.
Of course, one might ask why anyone would buy a football club. Most owners lose money, with a few exceptions such as the leveraged buy out of Manchester United by the Glazers,
The latest series of matches in the Checkatrade or Football League trophy shows that the new format involving Premier League under 23 teams remains unpopular with fans.
The biggest attendance was at the derby between rivals Swindon Town and Oxford United at 2,698, but in fact it was the lowest attendance ever for a A420 derby. Just 457 saw Barnet face Norwich City. Portsmouth against Reading under 23s attracted the lowest attendance since 1945 and the 609 at Grimsby to see them play Leicester City under 23s was their lowest ever for a cup competition game.
Dutch clubs are finding it increasingly difficult to compete even with the English championship in the transfer market. Clubs like Ajax were at one time among Europe’s leaders.
Many clubs in the Championship are willing to splash out in the hope of gaining promotion to the Premier League and new owners are willing to fund the expenditure.
Growing anatgonism between owners and fans is examined in this blog contribution with reference to the cases of Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic and Coventry City.
In the case of Charlton it is ironic that fans have been referred to as ‘customers’ by the chief executive, yet there seems to be no concept of good customer relations beyond a series of gimmicks.
The Financial Times has identified five shady practices which it claims are common in English football. It says that football’s short termism, where players’ careers are short and vulnerable to serious injury and where managers know they can be fired at any moment, may create the conditions for corruption.
Dual representation refers to a situation where an agent acts for both the player and the buying or selling club. This conflict of interest is not against FA rules. It means that the player does not have to pay the agent out of his own pocket.
Football agents have called for the return of regulation of their activities. This may sound like turkeys voting for an early Christmas, but they fear further damage to their already poor reputation.
The Association of Football Agents says that deregulation has created a system ‘open to manipulation and abuse’, calling for the Football Association to introduce a stricter licensing regime.
Clubs hope that a move to a new stadium will be give them a boost on and off the pitch. Fans may be sorry to say goodbye to the old stadium and its facilities, but soon get used to the new stadium and its better facilities.
With a bigger revenue stream, the club is able to build the team. Against that, the capital costs of the new stadium can reduce the funds available for the team, as at Arsenal.
A series of new allegations about corruption in football has emerged following the ‘sting’ which led to the termination of the contract of England manager Sam Allardyce. If these allegations are shown to be true, it would suggest that there is a widespread problem of corruption in football.
Milwall fans were offered a glimmer of hope over plans to develop land around The Den after Lewisham Council’s scrutiny committee called in the planning application. It is feared that the proposals would undermine the viability of the club.
The idea of Premier League B-teams being allowed to play in a revamped Football League has been voted down. It is allowed in Spain, and some Premier League clubs thought it might give their younger players more real match experience, but it was deeply unpopular with fans.