The Political Economy of Football V2

I am sceptical about the fashion in football for constantly changing the manager.    The New York Times has run a feature on managerial turnover in the Championship.    T heir view is that more changes are on the way.   However, the evidence of a new managerial bounce seems to be mixed to say the least. Of the 24 managers to start the season in charge of a Championship club, only 15 remain. The relentless and ruthless nature of England’s second tier suggests there will probably be further casualties before the end of the season, too. Over a third of the total sackings (25) across the four divisions in England have been in the Championship, with Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, Oxford United, Southampton, Swansea City, Norwich City, Watford, and Sheffield United all pulling the plug after experiencing struggles. Of the eight clubs to move a manager on, seven make up the bottom 11 positions in the Championship, with Watford, who have a managerial recrui...

Moving away for once from their obsession with Wrexham, The Athletic (New York Times) has named the the three clubs hardest to support in England: Preston North End, Bristol Rovers and Darlington. Remember that when Preston were first formed they dominated the Football League as 'the Invincibles'.  When I started watching football, Tom Finney was a leading England star (he later went to work in his plumbing business!) Given there has been no PNE Championship play-off since 2009 and the last five season finishes have been 20th, 10th, 12th, 13th, and 13th, there is not huge expectation PNE will be anywhere other than mid-table come May and facing another season in the Championship. In the league, Preston haven’t played Arsenal since 1960, Man United since 1961, Liverpool since 1962. When QPR arrive in April, it will be a 38th league meeting of the clubs since 2000. The club relies financially on the Hemmings family, who invest around £12million ($16.2m) a year. Preston are esti...

The Deloitte Money League has received extensive coverage, but It is well worth picking out some highlights from the Swiss Ramble’s forensic analysis in which he identifies key trends in football finance.   Subscribe to his Substack page for much more detail – and insights. There are no fewer than six Premier League clubs in the Top 10, split between three from the North West of England (Liverpool 5th, Manchester City 6th and Manchester United 8th) and three from London (Arsenal 7th, Tottenham 9th and Chelsea 10th).    That’s pretty impressive, though it was also the first time in this report’s history that no English side featured in the top four, largely due to the positive impact of the FIFA Club World Cup on some continental clubs. In addition, we find three other English clubs in the bottom half of the Top 20: Aston Villa 14th, Newcastle United 17th and West Ham 20th.    The total number of English clubs in the Top 20 was unchanged at nine, but was...

Manchester United's defeat of Arsenal at the Emirates yesterday was something of a surprise (and a great game of football for the neutral).  However, it should not be assumed that United's problems are over after two wins or that Arsenal have now lost the title as some of their nervous fans fear.  {Dido is an Arsenal fan). Arsenal went into the game sitting at the top of both the Premier League and the Uefa Champions League tables, a rise underpinned by significant spending on players and years of settled ownership under US billionaire Stan Kroenke.  Manchester United have outspent Arsenal over the past five years, yet stability has eluded them: less than two years after taking control of club operations Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos has already sacked two managers. Both clubs have had to handle a bumpy period of transition following the departures of long-serving managers — Arsène Wenger at Arsenal and Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson. But while United’s owners have la...

Chelsea are outliers in multiple ways.  Whether that’s having the youngest squad in the Premier League this season when weighted by minutes played, or their proactive transfer strategy, which has seen them already agree deals for four new young players to join next summer. Chelsea also are the only Premier League side without a front-of-shirt sponsor, and sources at the club who spoke  The Athletic  — all of who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships — believe their unusual approach will pay off. The latest Football Money League report from Deloitte sheds more light on Chelsea’s revenues. Being one of only six Premier League clubs in the top 10 is a positive, and they have achieved that without a front-of-shirt sponsor. However, they are behind Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham. While a lack of front-of-shirt sponsorship is not the only reason for this, the gap would be smaller if they had one. Chelsea’s commercial reve...

Newcastle United face Aston Villa on Sunday as two teams who have come closest to breaking the dominance of the so-called ‘Big Six’. This term has been used to refer to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who have regularly finished in those places in the Premier League and therefore received the benefits of European football that come with it. Though some of those clubs have fallen down the division regularly in recent years, the financial aspect of their advantage largely remains.  Undoubtedly the single-biggest impediment to Newcastle’s growth has been financial regulations. The idea that they would become the “richest club in the world” was also a fallacy — yet even if they wanted to call upon the full resources of their mega-wealthy owners, they would be unable to do so. While Chelsea and Manchester City could keep spending following their respective takeovers in 2003 and 2008, Newcastle were forced to sell players again...