The Political Economy of Football V2

Chelsea have ended their search for a front-of-shirt sponsor by agreeing a one-year deal with internet financial platform company Circle. The club has been in talks with the American-based firm for several months and while the size of the investment remains undisclosed, sources have told  The Athletic  it is the going rate for a top Premier League club. Chelsea were looking in the region of £50-60 million ($67.9m-$81.5m) a year. While the initial contract is for the remainder of the season, there is an option to extend it for longer included in the agreement, according to club sources. USDC will now be displayed on the front of the men’s, women’s and academy shirts in all competitions from now on, starting with the matches this weekend. That means it will be seen for the first time at Chelsea men’s Premier League game at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday. USDC, according to its website, “is a stablecoin issued by Circle, fully reserved by cash and cash equiv...

So much was different at Selhurst Park for this opening home game of the season. Some of it has been enforced, but it begs the question of how much change Palace can withstand and, perhaps more pertinently, how quickly that can shift to familiarity again asks the New York Times ? From kick-off, the atmosphere was different. Gone were the Holmesdale Fanatics and the familiar, repetitive beat of the drum and their repertoire of orchestrated songs, after the group announced it would “stop all organised activity”. Gone are most of the modern add-ons to the Main Stand, a temporary hospitality suite built while the redevelopment of the stadium is ongoing, Selhurst didn’t just look different, but it felt different. The atmosphere ebbed and flowed more naturally but in the difficult moments it missed that orchestrated HF presence when it mattered most. By the fourth City goal, the visible empty seats told their own story. It was impossible for the process of following on from Glasner to...

It’s a long way in more ways than one from Zurich’s financial district to New Cross, but the authoritative Swiss Ramble provides his usual balanced and forensic analysis of Millwall’s finances.  Much more detail is available on his Substack page. Millwall’s ability to punch above its weight should no longer be a major surprise, given that Millwall have finished in the top ten of the Championship on no fewer than six occasions since they were promoted from League One in 2016/17. There’s normally a decent correlation between wages and performance in the football world, but Millwall comfortably outperformed their budget in 2024/25 by finishing 8th in the league, which was seven places better than their wages ranking of 15th.   In fact, Millwall have consistently punched well above their weight, as their league position has been better than their wage bill in all but one of the seasons since their promotion to the Championship, often by a considerable margin – and they we...

The National League posted the following statement this afternoon (Wednesday) in regard to the Ebbsfleet United’s position and extended suspension. “The National League’s Compliance and Licensing Committee convened this morning to further consider Ebbsfleet United FC’s compliance with National League rules and regulations, and particularly the Club’s ongoing suspension.   The position remained significantly as previously.   The Committee considered the response provided by the Club and noted that its outstanding PAYE arrears to HMRC remain unpaid and that the winding-up order remains in place. The Committee also considered information relating to the recent change in ownership of the Club and its current financial position, including whether, under its new ownership, the Club has the financial capacity to meet its obligations for the 2026/27 season, as required under National League rules and regulations. Following careful consideration of all the information available t...

A fourth Premier League season has now begun with 115 charges hanging over Manchester City, who have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. You must go all the way back to March 2019 to find the root of this disciplinary action, a time when the Premier League confirmed they were investigating City following a series of allegations published by German newspaper Der Spiegel. Using documents provided by Football Leaks, the whistleblower platform set up by Portuguese computer hacker and activist Rui Pinto, it was claimed that City had manipulated the value of several commercial deals in order to circumvent UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. Abu Dhabi-based companies, namely Etihad Airways and Etisalat, were alleged to have helped a club owned by Sheikh Mansour, de facto leader of the country, reach financial compliance.  UEFA launched and completed its own disciplinary case against City, who successfully appealed a two-year ban from UEFA competitions through the Court of Arb...

This is very technical high finance stuff, but scroll down to the section on 'relevance to football finance'. It's quite scary from the perspective of the average fan, but helps us to understand why high rollers are investing in loss making football clubs:  https://theesk.org/2026/08/23/the-analysis-series-private-credit-governance-and-relevance-to-football-financing/