"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
Manchester United have paid the most money to agents of any club in the Premier League with more than £10m going on intermediary fees since October 1st. The money included phased payments from contract renewals and transfers conducted during the summer. United have used agents in contracts and transfers involving 40 players since April.
Bolton Wanderers face a major financial challenge as they seek to adjust their wage bill to life in League One. The average salary for a League One footballer in 2015 was £90,000 a year. Several Bolton players are well in excess of that. The wage bill was the main reason Bolton were losing £1m a month when the Sports Shield consortium took over in February.
This article compares two disastrous owners who have been ‘bad in new and innovative ways’, Randy Lerner at Aston Villa and Roland Duchatelet at Charlton. Duchatelet was the target of renewed protests at The Valley yesterday in which visiting Brighton and Hove Albion fans joined,
Tottenham Hotspur may have to remove as many as 8,000 seats, the majority from the Paxton Road stand, to facilitate building work on the new stadium to ensure that it is ready for the 2018-19 campaign. That would mean they would face the prospect of playing Champions League matches in front of crowds of fewer than 30,000.
The 22,000 season ticket holders would not be affected, but wth 3,000 tickets needed for away fans, there could be a significant reduction in the number of tickets made available for members and released on general sale next season.
The owner of AC Milan, Silvio Berlusoni, has been in negotiations with Galatioto Sports about the sale of the club. They are representing a Chinese consortium headed by Robin Lee, the sixth richest man in China.
The intial offer would be for 70 per cent of the shares and is believed to be €700m. The remaining 70 per cent would be acquired at a later date.
As with anything concerned with Brexit, there are many complexities and uncertainties. The lack of reliable information leads to a vacuum which encourages exaggeration and predictions of catastrophe by both sides of the argument.
However, leading sports lawyer Daniel Geey provides an authoritative guide to the key issues concerning players.
Yeovil Town made a £692,000 loss in 2014-15 as they were hit by relegation to League One. Turnover dropped from £7.8m to £4m as attendances fell. Their 2013-14 season in the Championship saw them make a £1.4m profit.
Leicester City’s lead at the top of the Premier League could be cut to five points tomorrow if Tottenham Hotspur win at Stoke City. However, their last gasp draw against West Ham could be just enough to secure the title.
If they do, bookies could take a big hit. The Foxes started the season at 5,000-1 outsiders. Ladbrokes stand to lose £3m, with 50 customers gambling on Leicester befor the season started, and William Hill £2m hit. The figure is likely to exceed £10m across the betting industry.
A European super league is ‘iinevitable’, according to Rangers manager Mark Warburton. He is convinced that the globalisation of sport and an increasingly competitive TV rights market make it a certainty.
‘If Bournemouih are competing with Bayern Munich for players it tells me that the market is skewed, and a European Super League can’t be far away,’ he told The Times. ‘The big European clubs won’t want to be left behind by smaller ones in England and if you’re a broadcaster, which game would you rather show: Norwich v Leicester, or Arsenal v Rangers?’
A new prospective purchaser for Charlton Athletic has appeared on the scene, reports fanzine Voice of the Valley. It is being fronted by former Addicks defender Paul Elliott who is a regular in the directors’ box at home matches.
An earlier approach fronted by former Addicks chief executive Peter Varney was rebuffed by the club. However, the club has been more responsive to this bid.