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Articles and reports on financial issues within football – soccer – from The Political Economy of Football.
In yesterday’s Sunday Times Rod Liddle wrote an article, in the context of the troubles of Hereford United, about why some clubs survive and others go under. Of course, in any other sector of the economy, there would have been far more clubs disappearing by now, but fan identity and civic pride ensures that football does not follow the normal laws of economics.
Many Premier League clubs charge as much as £450 for their mascot packages and West Ham charge as much as £600 for some games. However, eleven clubs charge nothing, including Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
Qatar currently lacks a Premiership football club in its trophy cabinet. Reports are circulating that they may be interested in acquiring Spurs, an interest being stimulated by London mayor Boris Johnson. He sees the new stadium at White Hart Lane as key to the deprived area’s regeneration, but at the moment the project is stalled.
Qatar Sports Investments, which owns Paris Saint Germain, has said that its focus is there and it is not interested in investing in Spurs or any other European club. But that does not rule out interest from other Qatari entities.
Hereford United have finally been wound up. Owner Andy Lonsdale claimed to be on his way to court with proof of the required £1m in funds having been deposited in a bank, but said that he was stuck in traffic. The judge, clearly exasperated, said that this was not good enough.
Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has paid off some of the debts relating to the building of the club’s new stadium, as well as other debts relating to player acquisitions.
However, this does not change the club’s underlying financial situation, just who the money is owed to. It is estimated that the club could now own Tan over £150m. Only converting some of this debt into equity would change the position.
Relegation threatened Hartlepool United have been taken over by a newly formed company, TMH 2014. The consortium is understood to be based in South Yorkshire.
Aberdeen-based Increased Oil Recovery have been in charge since 1997 and the regime has not been a popular one with fans.
Three Championship clubs have been placed under transfer embargoes until June under the Football League’s financial fair play rules: Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest. They will then have the opportunity to have the embargoes lifted if they can show that they have stayed within the rules.
The winding up order against Hereford United has been adjourned once again. This is the ninth adjournment. They have until Friday to prove that they have £1m to pay creditors.
Owner Andy Lonsdale has said that it will be ‘sorted’ by Friday afternoon when the hearing resumes. That remains to be seen.
Hearts are reliant on fan donations of £1.4m a year to keep going. Given that 8,000 fans are making donations, this works out at an average of £1,750. This implies that some of the donations must be substantial, given that some fans can presumably only afford relatively small amounts.
The financial realities of lower league football in Scotland are demonstrated by the latest accounts of Berwick Rangers. Staff were paid on average £143 a week compared with £8,000 at Rangers.
Their last home game saw an attendance that was 10 per cent of capacity. The club is reliant on a good cup run to keep its finances balanced.