The Political Economy of Football V2

The high court in London has issued a winding-up order against Sheffied United’s former parent company, COH Sports Bidco Ltd, as a result of a dispute between United’s current owners, Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, and their predecessor, Prince Abdullah’s United World, which claims it is owed £35m in unpaid fees after the £110m sale of United in December 2024. The action was initiated after United World accused the current owners of transferring ownership from COH Sports Bidco Ltd to1919 Partners LLC in a bid to avoid paying the amount outstanding on the purchase price.   United World noted, “no defence was filed and the debt of more than £35m was not disputed”, adding that it had made “every effort to resolve this matter amicably”, but received no response. They concluded, “It appears that Helmy Eltoukhy and Steven Rosen are simply not concerned about this means for the club. What happens to Sheffield United now is the result of their choices.”   For its part, the club ...

Mark Walter and Todd Boehly have agreed to sell their stakes in Chelsea FC to Clearlake Capital in a deal that values the club at about £5bn including debt and will help the US financiers alleviate pressure on their insurance empires. The deal will put US private equity firm Clearlake, an existing investor in Chelsea, in control of the football club and give both Walter and Boehly a small gain on their investment, according to people familiar with the matter.   The pair are set to receive £950mn in cash for their combined 25 per cent holding, the people said. “Chelsea Football Club today announced affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group will acquire the ownership interest of Todd Boehly   .   .   . Clearlake will also acquire Mark Walter ’ s ownership interest and therefore acquire full control of the club, ” Chelsea said in a statement, which did not disclose financial terms of the transaction. Clearlake will finance the purchase using its own capital and large direct inve...

It is early November 2019, a brisk day on the banks of the River Wear, and Gillingham are in town for an FA Cup first-round game. Nearing the end of a dour 1-1 draw, a lame effort from the visitors bounces into the Stadium of Light’s Roker End. Only one side of Sunderland’s 49,000-seater ground is open to home supporters on a day when attendance was just 7,892, and it isn’t that side. Beyond the FA Cup, this was just 15 months into a League One stint which ultimately spanned four years.  Seven years on, no seat remains vacant. From atop the same stand, under a darkened sky, amid a swell of anticipation and almost a lifetime of it not happening here, the first two-tier ‘tifo’ (banner) in English football unfurls. “New shores to conquer” bellows in bold typeface, abutting a depiction of ships on a wave of blue flags. Above and behind, a lighthouse, akin to the one found two miles away, not far from the now-demolished Roker Park home that last hosted a game like this, backdrops pr...

Homer the Cherry Hound Bournemouth won their first competitive match in Europe against Real Sociedad last night. In the early 21st century, this club led a hand-to-mouth football existence, crowdfunding the return of Eddie Howe, as a player, from Portsmouth. After their dalliance with oblivion, the club started the 2008-09 season on minus-17 points in League Two, with Barnet’s Underhill Stadium and Aldershot Town’s Recreation Ground among the away trips, and by Christmas they looked doomed to non-League. But Howe, an untested coach, was appointed at the turn of the year and not only did he save them, he would eventually lead them to the Premier League. Europe was first considered a possibility under Howe. In 2016-17, the club, then owned by the Russian millionaire Maxim Demin, finished ninth and Uefa were invited to assess the suitability of the Vitality Stadium for hosting European games. But it was under Andoni Iraola that a European tour became reality. After five years in the...

This week’s Carabao Cup win for Everton was attended by two prime ministers: Andy Burnham and Canada’s Mark Carney.   But this distinction should not obscure some worrying concerns for fans. Towards the end of last season, The Friedkin Group should have been basking in the progress made by two of the clubs in its sports portfolio. Everton and Roma were both pushing for the upper reaches of their respective domestic leagues, with designs set firmly on European qualification.   Rather than a source of satisfaction, however, it quickly presented a problem for TFG and one that may now contribute to the American conglomerate considering how best to continue its Premier League association. Uefa’s rules on multi-club ownership prevent clubs under one umbrella from competing in the same continental competition and, for a while, it seemed as if Everton and the Italian side Roma were both destined to qualify for the Europa League.   In that eventuality, the regulations sta...

The Lewis family have injected a further £120 million into Tottenham Hotspur.  The injection is the third in the last year and the largest one so far, as the majority shareholders continue their investment into the club. The injection comes in the form of purchasing new shares in ENIC, the company that owns 88.30 per cent of Tottenham Hotspur Limited. The Lewis family injected £100m by the same mechanism in October 2025 and then another £100m in June 2026. While the money is for working capital, rather than specifically for transfers, both matters are related. Spurs spent heavily in the summer transfer window on fees and salaries, including a deal worth a potential £100m for Sandro Tonali from Newcastle United and £85m for Mateus Fernandes from West Ham United, adding to transfer debts that were already among the highest in football. The release of Spurs’ 2024-25 accounts earlier this year revealed that even before this summer’s splurge. Despite improvements in player sales...