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For the second time this year, Plymouth Argyle has survived a winding up petition from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in the High Court on Wednesday. The tax authorities asked for it to be dismissed, presumably a sign that it had been paid.
Full year figures from Manchester United are due today. It is expected that the club will have made record operating profits, topping £100m for the first time, thanks to increased matchday, broadcasting and commercial revenues. Despite failing to sell 2,200 season tickets in the summer, all the club’s home games this season have sold out.
NAC Breda is the latest Dutch club to hit financial problems. It has debts of €3.6m after losing €4.2m last season. A number of steps have been taken such as reducing the number of first team players and cutting bonuses.
Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayan has reclaimed his place at the top of the Four Four Two rich list. Last year he was overtaken by QPR’s Lakshmi Mittal, but rising oil prices have put Sheikh Mansour back into first place, boosting his wealth by £3bn to £20bn.
How has New England Sports Ventures (NESV) made a success of the Boston Red Sox after they bought them in 2002? Two years later, the team won the baseball World Series for the first time in 86 years. However, the formula deployed with the Red Sox will not transfer easily to football and Liverpool. Indeed, there are a number of differences.
The battle over the control of Liverpool Football Club will now go to the High Court. The hearing is most likely to take place next week, although it could happen as early and tomorrow. Tom Hicks and George Gillett could then appeal any judgement. One source close to the situation told the Financial Times that he expected a ‘blizzard of litigation’. The FT thinks that one consequence could be a higher offer than has been made so far.
Martin Broughton, the Liverpool chairman, has said that New England Sport Ventures, the potential owners of the club, are an outfit who know the importance of winning on and off the pitch.
Blue Square Premiership club Kidderminster Harriers has been put up for sale. Ever since the club was relegated from the Football League in 2005, it has struggled with attendances. The chairman considers that the club would benefit from new investment, as no doubt it would.
Radio 5 is reporting that Liverpool FC has been sold to the company that owns the Boston Red Sox and Sky is carrying a similar story. The sale in principle is confirmed in a
There has been an extraordinary development at Liverpool with the board split over two new offers for the troubled club. The offers appear to be credible, but George Gillett and Tom Hicks want to reject them as they mean that they would not be able to walk away with a profit. Hence, they have tried to suspend two of the directors and replace them with their own nominees.