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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
Former Bolton Wanderers striker Dean Holdsworth is close to a takeover of the club. His Sports Shield group has been granted a 72-hour period of exclusivity in which to complete a buyout.
Bolton face a High Court hearing on Monday, with HM Revenue and Customs petitioning to have the club liquidated over an unpaid tax and VAT bill of about £3m. If a takeover cannot be agreed, Bolton are expected to enter voluntary administration.
Cash flow is all important to non-league clubs and it can be badly hit by adverse winter weather that leads to match postponements. Saturday matches that have to be replayed in the week atrtract lower attendances and generate much less revenue.
This BBC report on Taunton Town reports a £16,000 loss due to winter weather, but what is perhaps most remarkable about it is the number of weak puns it contains. In fact, I inadvertenly inserted one in the paragraph above myself.
Premier League clubs may be offered cash incentives to do as well as possible in the Europa League. The plan is one of a number of measures that have been discussed to ensure that the top flight does not lose its fourth slot in the Champions League to a resurgent Serie A.
Italy made up more than half their deficit to England in Uefa’s coefficient table in 2015. They could leap ahead next season leaving the Premier League with only three slots from 2018.
Paris Saint-Germain have a 24 point lead at the top of Ligue 1. They remain unbeaten this season and they are almost certain to win the French title with more points that any other team in history.
It is now five years since the Qatar Investment Authority bought PSG, a deal that many belive was arranged by Nicolas Sarkozy, then the French president, and a PSG fan. They were catapulted to the status of a super power in European football.
A takeover of Crawley Town is imminent. The prospective purchaser is Turkish steel magnate Ziya Eren who is president of a not particularly successful club in the Turkish second tier.
Negotiations have been taking place since October, although a British consortium was also said to be interested. The club has been for sale since 2013.
It’s no surprise that Liverpool fans were quick to protest about a now abandoned rise in ticket prices. According to an analysis by the Financial Times, they have the highest average season ticket prices as a percentage of typical local income.
Liverpool’s cheapest season ticket in 2015-16 cost £300 less than Arsenal’s, but after adjusting for income levels in the area surrounding a club’s stadium, local followers of Liverpool are the worst off, paying more than 4 per cent of median gross annual earnings for the cheapest seats at Anfield.
Fenway Sports Group have received praise for withdrawing their plan to increase ticket prices at Liverpool in the face of fan protests. National fan organisations hope that it will be the start of a wider move to freeze or reduce prices.
Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has converted £65m of the club’s debts into equity. He hopes that the club will be debt free in five years.
The club is currently under a transfer embargo for a breach of financial fair play rules, but he hopes this move will lead to the lifting of the embargo.
Despite disappointment on the pitch, Manchester United are striding ahead financially. They are on track to become the first English club to earn £500m in a year.
Their second quarter figures for the period ending 31 December 2015 show that revenue was up by 26.6 per cent to £133.8m. Commercial revenue was up a staggering 42.5 per cent to £66.1m, driven by the lucrative new deal with adidas.
Hibernian fans have been urged to give greater backing to their buy out vehicle, Hibernian Supporters Limited. So far they have contributed £250,000 and own seven-and-a-half per cent of the shares. It is hoped that by the end of the year they will have raised £500k.