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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
Charlton’s accounts for 2014-5 show that the club had a total of £46m in debt. £38m was owed to Roland Duchatelet’s company Staprix, £7m to the old board and £1m to the bank.
£1m was paid in interest to Staprix during the year, according to VOTV editor Rick Everitt.
Wolverhampton Wanderers made a profit in 2014-15, but it is dependent on parachute payments which end this year. Pre-tax profits were £2.3m but these reduce to £700,000 when depreciation of the Molineux stadium is taken into account.
Turnover was down from £32.6m to £26.4m, largely reflecting a drop in parachute payments. Gate money, sponsorship and advertising revenue were all up.
Morecambe FC have announced on their official website that the club is for sale. Majority shareholder and chairman Peter McGuigan has been in charge for 16 years.
In a statement Mr McGuigan said, ‘The club moved into a new purpose built wholly-owned stadium in August 2010 and is virtually debt free. There is an option to develop the ground further with a 30,000 square foot pitchside office block which is already 50 per cent pre-let, as well as a 50-60 room hotel adjacent to the stadium.’
This blog post takes an in depth look at why this year’s Premier League is more unpredictable, drawing attention to the more even spread of player talent.
Swansea City players have been warned that relegation from the Premier League would breach not only their responsibilities towards the club but the entire city. The club’s presence in the top flight is estimated to be worth more than £60m to the region, with hundreds of jobs having been created in the leisure and entertainment industries.
It is also thought that the club brings prestige to the city with its name being carried all over the world.
The man behind the idea of a breakaway European super league has argued that Leicester City do not matter in terms of the global popularity of football. ‘What would Manchester United argue, did we create soccer or Leicester?’, said Charlie Stillitano, chairman of Relevent Sports.
The ‘big five’ teams would make far more money if they were guaranteed entry to a revamped Champions League. Clubs like Manchester United deserved a permanent place in the competition.
The financial position at Leeds United has stabilised compared to the disastrous stewardship of Gulf Financial Holdings, but many underlying problems remain.
14 out of 20 Premier League cubs paid no corporation tax according to their latest accounts although half of them were profitable. This is largely because historic losses can be set against future profits to wipe out tax bills.
Tottenham Hotspur reported profits of £83.3m in its last set of accounts, but only paid £518,000 in corporation tax. Manchester City made profits of £15.3m and received a tax credit of £380,000.
As well as topping the Premier League, Leicester City have recorded record pre-tax profits for the year ending 31 May 2015. Profits were £26.8m compared with a loss of £20.8m in the previous year. Income was up to £104.4m from £31.2m.
With the return to the Premier League, income went up from £31.2m to £104.4m. The King Power stadium was largely sold out at 98.5 per cent of capacity with match day receipts up from £6.9m to £10.6m.
Reports are claiming that five top Premier League clubs have been involved in a meeting to discuss a breakaway European Super League. The clubs were Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
They met with American billionaire Stephen Ross at the Dorchester Hotel. The real estate developer created the pre-season International Champions Cup.