Spending in the January transfer window has soared in recent years from £33m in 2003 to £175m last year. However, will it fall this year against the background of the credit crunch? For example, Manchester United plans to limit its spending to around £15m. There will also be fewer bargains from abroad. Sterling’s fall means that players from the European continent are 20 per cent more expensive this January than they were last. Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney has warned, ‘Things look calm now, but the crunch comes in the run-up to next season.
Spending in the January transfer window has soared in recent years from £33m in 2003 to £175m last year. However, will it fall this year against the background of the credit crunch? For example, Manchester United plans to limit its spending to around £15m. There will also be fewer bargains from abroad. Sterling’s fall means that players from the European continent are 20 per cent more expensive this January than they were last. Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney has warned, ‘Things look calm now, but the crunch comes in the run-up to next season. Crowd numbers have held up so far, but they won’t as things go on.’ He added, ‘The big problem is player contracts, which have to be honoured.’
If we look at the recession of the late 1920s/early 1930s, which was more severe than anything likely to happen now (US GDP fell by 30 per cent), there was an impact on football attendances, but it wasn’t devastating. The top flight was hit hardest with average aggregate attendances dropping from around 24,000 just before the recession to around 21,000 at the depth of the slump, before recovering again in the early 1930s. Some clubs saw their attendances increase against the trend. For example, the average attendance at Arsenal was 26,690 in 1928-9; 35,537 in 1929-30; and 37,106 in 1930-31. They continued to increase, reaching 46,252 in 1934-35. Spurs went up from 21,928 to 34,389 over the same period. One can overdo the pessimism.