"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
Anfield’s new Main Stand is to be officially opened today. A local friend who is a Liverpool supporter has a seat in the top tier. I hope he doesn’t suffer from vertigo and has a good pair of binoculars! There is an incredible view, not just over the rest of the city, but as far as Snowdonia. It is the largest individual stand in the country.
The head of Spain’s La Liga has come out in support of plans by China’s richest man to launch a rival to the Champions League. Dalian Wanda Group, the property and entertainment conglomerate run by billionaire Wang Jialin, wants to create a tournament for Europe’s top clubs. Javier Tebas said there was a ‘greater opportunity to generate more revenue’ under the breakaway plans.
Manchester City were the biggest earners of any club in the Champions League last season, collecting about £63m in television and performance money, despite losing to Real Madrid in the semi-finals. However, rule changes agreed by Uefa and the European Clubs Association (ECA) could benefit the red side of Manchester.
Nearly 23,000 people have signed a change.org petition calling on Lewisham Council not to use compulsory purchase orders to acquire land around at Millwall’s stadium at the New Den, so that it can be sold to private developers. London mayor Sadiq Khan has been asked to intervene.
It was interesting to see the following article in Red Pepper Uganda:
Tucked away at the back of The Non-League Paper one can find brief reports for the Welsh Premier League (WPL). The league is currently headed by The New Saints, the only full-time professional club in the league. They play in Oswestry and their full name is The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club (Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd).
The problem of rogue owners at clubs like Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Charlton Athletic and Leeds United persists. There is no easy solution, although some ideas have been put forward and are discussed below.
During the past week a lot of the focus has been on Blackburn Rovers where there was a well-attended meeting called by two fan groups last Thursday. In November 2010, when the Indian conglomerate Venky’s, took over Blackburn were a stable, well-run Premier League club that had won the title under Jack Walker’s benevolent ownership in 1995.
With teams in the Premier League and the Championship snapped up, the attention of foreign investors is turning to Leagues One and Two where they hope there may be bargains to be had. Morecambe was put up for sale in March and has become the first club to be acquired by a Brazilian investor.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has renewed his criticisms of the finances of Paris Saint-Germain, earning himself a public rebuke for denigrating another club.
Media attention has focused on the fact that the 2016 summer transfer window was the first in which over £1 billion was spent (£1,071.5m in total), but it has to be remembered that this is a gross figure. The net figure was £612.9m, still very substantial. For example, in summer 2014 the net figure was £374m.