The Political Economy of Football V2

When I was growing up in London after the second world war, I would have been surprised to be told that one day I would have a great-granddaughter who would be educated in Valencios (a dialect of Catalan).   D.v.  I will be going to see her in the procession at the Three Kings festival.  Meanwhile, my interest in Spanish football increases but as a neutral. The authoritative Swiss Ramble has undertaken his usual forensic analysis of the finances of FC Barcelona.   Much more is available on his Substack page. Despite the impressive increase in revenue, which rose €95m (10%) from €916m to a club record €1,011m, Barcelona actually reported a pre-tax loss of €14m in 2025/26, which was slightly worse than the prior year’s €8m deficit.    This was due to a steep rise in operating expenses, which grew €111m (12%) from €900m to €1,011m, while net interest payable increased €13m (47%) from €26m to €39m.   This was partly offset by an improvement in pro...

Confirmation on Friday that TFG, headed by the billionaire Dan Friedkin, is now exploring the potential sale of Everton is not surprising, although the timing of the announcement blindsided executives and manager David Moyes. An asking price of about £800million, inclusive of debts of about £400million, has been mooted. The clarity regarding TFG’s position suggests confidence that a sale can be completed although whether it will happen this season is unclear. The Independent Football Regulator can take up to 90 days to ratify a deal once a buy-out is in place. There is no doubt that TFG has helped Everton. The club’s financial problems under the former owner, Farhad Moshiri, meant the threat of administration loomed. There has been stability, debts have been refinanced and the move to the club’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium was completed in August 2025. This is not going to be the fire sale of a distressed asset. TFG’s outlay since buying Everton has been about £450million and, given...

The UK Government has been seeking to develop the sub-region between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as a British ‘Silicon Valley’.  The United Arab Emirates has been courted as a source of investment, but ministers have been advised that this may no longer be possible given the Premier League’s proceedings against Manchester City. When Khaldoon al-Mubarak, chief executive of Abu Dhabi’s investment fund, met with then Chancellor in 2023 he made it clear that it represented an attack on an important Abu Dhabi asset by an unregulated cartel.     It was an affront to some of the emirate’s most esteemed companies.   Hunt stressed that the Premier League was an independent body. Manchester City formed the anchor investment for a broader Abu Dhabi-led regeneration project that helped transform east Manchester with new housing, office space and entertainment facilities. For countries from the Gulf football had become an important projection of soft power. Onc...

The 17 th century political philosopher Thomas Hobbes defined the state of nature as a war of all against all.  This is what looks like happening on football.  As rival fans relish the prospect of Manchester City playing in the non-league, clubs in the Premier League and outside it try to work out how much compensation might come their way. What sanctions should be applied to City are a matter for the relevant decision-makers, but I am interested in the consequences for football mote generally.   I am going to post separately on the somewhat neglected geopolitical dimension. One Premier League owner told the New York Times that it would be wrong for just the current top-flight teams to split the pot equally. Why, he argues, should a club such as Coventry City, who were not in the Premier League at all from 2009 to 2018, receive a financial windfall, while those including West Ham United, Southampton, Stoke City and Leicester City, all now outside of the Premier Leagu...

The Friedkin Group (TFG) is open to a full sale of Everton as it seeks external investment in the Premier League club.  The New York Times reported in September that Everton’s American owner was looking for fresh investment into the club. The idea had been to find strategic investors who could help push the club forward through a minority sale, but sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said a sale of TFG’s majority stake is now also being considered. TFG is only open to selling full control of Everton if it is convinced the new owner is the right person or group to take the club to the next level. The Houston-based group is completely happy to hold onto and support the club for as long as it takes for such an owner to appear. Despite the openness to selling Everton less than two years into its ownership, TFG has a feeling of pride at stabilising the club and putting it in a position to be attractive to a buye...

The events at Manchester City have led to some strange reactions, but the prize must go to Simon Jordan on Talksport who has suggested that the Premier League should be disbanded. We need to remind ourselves that the Premier League is one of England's few successful products, providing soft power around the world.   The clubs I support are in the Championship and the third tier of the non-league, but I enjoy seeing some of the world's best players compete in the top flight.  It should, however, be seen more as a branch of the entertainment industry rather than a sporting contesrt One of the difficulties with bringing this unhappy episode to a reasonably prompt close is that so many actors are involved apart from the Premier League itself: The Football Association The Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Lisa Nandy as secretary of state The prime minister HMRC The independent football regulator (whose credibility is said to be at stake, but in many ways it is above h...