"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
A statement issued by the Premier League says, ‘We welcome confirmation from the High Court that The Rhyddings Hotel in Swansea was infringing our copyright with its broadcasts of Premier League football. We are pleased that the Court awarded an injunction against the infringing premises, together with an order for damages and payment of our costs.’ These costs could amount to £125,000 with the case reaching the High Court.
The sacking and reinstatement of Brian McDermott, a decent man who is popular with supporters, is unparalleled in recent football history. However, Leeds fans may not get the protection from the Football League’s fit and proper person test that they could reasonably hope for.
One time Football League club and Ryman Premier league leaders Maidstone United are contemplating legal action after the Football Conference voted not to permit 3G pitches in the top two tiers of the non-league system. The proposal to allow the synthetic surface was defeated by 21 votes to 11.
It would give a whole new meaning to competition between clubs, but could rival clubs act to have Manchester City kicked out of European competition using Uefa’s financial fair play rules? This is the argument made a report in The Independent.
What it shows once again is how complex the financial fair play rules are and how open they are to rival interpretations Manchester City’s place in next season’s Champions’ League could be challenged by rival clubs this summer because of detailed new Uefa rules over Financial Fair Play (FFP).
Queens Park Rangers’ plans to build a new Training and Academy centre could be under threat after a campaign group lodged papers in the High Court claiming the decision to allow the development was unlawful.
‘Save Warren Farm’ campaigners lodged papers in the High Court of Justice to Judicially Review Ealing Council’s decision to sign over 61 acres of London’s Green Belt, rent free for 200 years, to QPR for their new Training and Academy HQ.
23 managers have been fired in England since the beginning of the season. As many of half of England’s 92 league clubs have had a manager who has been in position for less than a year.
Despite some prominent exceptions, it is not a managerial merry go round in which managers leave one club and quickly find a berth at another one. 55 per cent of first-time managers never manage again (although some of these may not have been suited to the job). Only 36 per cent of those sacked last season are back in work. It takes an average of 1.63 years for a manager to find another job.
The EU has been stepping up its interest in illegal state aid in football, having recently launched an investigation into a number of leading Spanish clubs. A deal allowing Swansea City FC and the Ospreys rugby region to play at the Liberty Stadium is being investigated by the European Commission.
Swansea council has been asked to give details over funding arrangements at the council-owned stadium. State aid rules, policed by the commission, limit how much public money can be given to private companies.
The European Commission has opened three distinct in-depth investigations to verify whether various public support measures in favour of certain Spanish professional football clubs are in line with EU state aid rules. None of the measures was notified to the Commission, who was alerted by concerned citizens.
The Commission has concerns that these measures provided significant advantages to the beneficiary clubs to the detriment of the clubs which have to operate without such support.
Coventry City owners Sisu have won their application for a full judicial review into Coventry City Council’s 14m ‘bailout’ of the Ricoh Arena, reversing a decision made in August.
A High Court judge this morning delivered her decision which could have great significance for the prospects of the Sky Blues returning to the council-owned stadium soon . Mrs Justice Thirlwall said she was satisfied there were grounds to grant Sisu companies leave to apply for a full judicial review. She said she was satisfied the case merited a full hearing with all the relevant evidence.
Coventry City’s owners, Sisu, have suffered a setback in court in their battle with Coventry City Council over the bailout of the Ricoh Arena. The judge ruled that they could not have the full disclosure of documents they had requested, stating that they could make a ‘respectable case’ without them. It was unprecedented to provide disclosure before a judicial review had been granted.