"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
Plymouth are currently riding high at the top of League 2, but this blog article argues that finances will ultimately derail their title bid. Their manager made a conscious decision to go for quality rather than quantity in the squad and there doesn’t seem to be any money for additions in the January loan window.
The latest report from the two unfortunates on football cities takes on London. That’s a big task, given the number of clubs in the city.
Quite rightly, the author focuses not so much on the clubs but on the city itself, including its status as a city region and a global city and the way in which that affects football. He concludes that football in London is in many respects a corporate led junket.
As we have pointed out in recent articles, relegation from the Football League to the non-league system often lands a club in serious financial trouble. The Football League has now devised a ‘safer landing’ plan, but this has provoked fury from non-league clubs.
Former Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese is considering a takeover of Leeds United. He is contemplating an attempt to buy out Massimo Cellino.
Not without reason, Cortese believes that Leeds could be a leading force in English football. They have been in the past and Leeds is a regional capital within the Northern Powerhouse that the government is boosting. This may be more rheotoric than substance, but Leeds as a city is prospering. At the moment, however, there is no real crossover between the club and the city it represents.
FC United is a genuine fans’ club. But can the model survive as the club becomes more successful? Recently the club was upset by the FA’s decision to move their cup game to a Monday night so that it could be televised. Part of their argument for traditional football is that it should be played on a Saturday.
Peter Lorimer has given Leeds owner Massimo Cellino a vote of confidence, saying that he can get things right if he is given time. Too many owners have been chased away from Leeds United, according to Lorimer.
Half-and-half shirts (or scarves) made up of the kit of two opposing teams are a curious football phenomenon. Some of them are evidently run up at home, but commentators see them as representative of broader unhealthy trends in the game.
Clubs are about a hundred times more likely to go bust if they fall out of the Football League. Just three Football League clubs have folded since the Second World War: Accrington Stanley (where the gas being turned off was the final blow), Aldershot and the now resurgent Maidstone United.
In his latest meticulous in depth analysis the author of the Swiss Ramble blog examines the ‘Southampton model’. He sees its essence as thoughtful planning, good scouting and player development.
The club has seen solid financial growth, although debts are increasing. It is clear that the club has a very good owner. She has been prepared to stand back and allow money to be reinvested in the club rather than paying off her debts.
Money could play a crucial role in determining the fate of embattled Chelsea manager José Mourinho who appears to have been deserted by his magic touch. Chelsea are much more reliant than Manchester United on taking part in the Champions League.