"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
China’s richest man is feeding on dissatisfaction among top clubs that a club like Manchester United can be denied the riches and prestige of the Champions League while Leicester City are given a place. It does, of course, have something to do with performance on the pitch rather than financial rankings.
Manchester City has signed their first esports player to compete in the world of gaming. Kieran Brown, an 18-year old gamer who has more than 12,000 followers on YouTube will represent the club at Fifa esports tournaments.
Gamers sit in row in front of computers where they play against each other, often watched by thousands of spectators. It has progressed from small get togethers of geeks to football stadium sized events.
It’s far from unusual for football clubs to accept sponsorship from betting companies. Four Premier League clubs do. However, the news that Betdaq are to replace the University of Greenwich on Charlton’s shirts has sparked some controversy.
Relegated Dagenham & Redbridge are hardly the most glamorous club in London, but there is a three way tussle to acquire the club.
Premier League clubs are having to adjust to a new operating environment after sterling hit a new 31-year low on Brexit fears. Some would argue that this is the result of exaggerated fears raised by the Remain campaign, others that the economic consequences of Brexit are making themselves felt.
It looks as if the days of dodgy deals in Spanish football are over following the European Commission investigation we reported on yesterday. In particular, interest has focused on a land transfer between Real Madrid and the city administration. A land swap in 2011 saw a plot of land with a supposed value of €598,000 in 1998 revalued at €22.7m.
The European Commission has blown the whistle on Spanish football practices with a decision that will force Real Madrid and FC Barcelona to repay illegal state subsidies enjoyed for a quarter of a century. Margrethe Vestager, the EU competition commissioner, has told Spain to recoup millions of euros of unlawful state aid to seven clubs that came in the form of soft loans, tax breaks and sweetheart property deals.
Torquay United’s new shirt sponsors have emphatically denied that their company name has any link with cannabis. 420 Skatestore is a skatestore clothing company. In the United States 420 is a slang term associated with cannabis. Gulls supporters have jokingly speculated on social media whether the team will appear with a cannabis leaf on their shirts.
The repeated failures of England managers are not just dispiriting, they also cost the Football Association a lot of money.
Total spending on managerial appointments which didn’t work out in the past 15 years has been £70m. Fabio Capello, who took charge of England’s 2010 World Cup campaign, was the most expensive appointment as the FA paid him a salary of £6m for five years and a £1m pay off.
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s five years in the job on a £4m salary was followed by a £3.5m pay off. Steve McClaren was paid £7.75m, including a £2.5m pay off, for his 18 months in charge.
Every time the England team has one of its periodic failures, the idea of a winter break in the season is revived so that Premier League footballers can recuperate from their gruelling duties and take in some sunshine in Dubai or the Maldives.