The Political Economy of Football V2

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire expressed concern about a bridging loan taken out by Hull City.  The owner has now offered an explanation.  Stadium upgrades were necessary over the summer to meet Premier League requirements.  Moreover, interest rates in the UK are around seven per cent for a loan compared with 40 per cent in the owner's home country of Turkey:  https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/acun-ilicali-hull-city-loan-11057334 There is also a tension between the club's growth ambitions and regulatory compliance:  https://cryptobriefing.com/hull-city-premier-league-200m-budget/ The rules pose more challenges for a promoted club like Hull and some analysts seem them as a means to protect the elite status of existing top clubs.

A top football finance writer has Sunderland to sell a player at a big profit to stay the right side of domestic and European football finance rules:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c2ey8v8pekeo

Stoke City were once a solid mid-table club in the Premier League, but they have struggled to return despite considerable support from the club ownership. In many ways the club''s fate reflects the economic challenges faced by the Potteries as what remains of the historic Potteries industry succumbs to high energy prices. Time for the Swiss Ramble to review the club's finances with his usual forensic analysis.  Much more on his Substack page. Stoke have consistently under-performed since their relegation from the Premier League in 2017/18, finishing in the bottom half of the Championship eight seasons in a row, despite being backed by the wealth of bet365.    Stoke did very badly financially, but without the compensation of doing well on the pitch. Stoke have posted losses in six of the last eight seasons, the only two exceptions being the years that benefited from substantial loan write-offs. This is very different from their time in the Premier League, when the club c...

When football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems flashing lights in a club's loan deal, I become concerned.  He is the leading football finance expert in the UK. Hull City have borrowed £55m against their stadium and training ground yet they should get £30m from the Premier League before long.  What is going on? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cpwel48y51do

Watching Spain in the World Cup is almost like watching Barca, not just because of the number of their players in the squad.  As the Financial Times pointed out in an interesting analysis, the playing philosophy (possession football) that can be traced back to Johann Cruyff subtly influences the way in which Spain play. Simon Kuper writes in the Pink 'Un: 'The story starts with Cruyff. The Dutchman played for Barcelona in the 1970s, and when he returned in 1988 as manager, he made every side from the under-10s to the first team play the same style.  They defended on the halfway line and pressed the instant they lost the ball. He introduced a training exercise that remains the staple of almost every Barcelona practice today: the rondo, essentially, a piggy-in-the-middle game in which players inter pass in a confined space, while opponents try to intercept. That helps explain why Barcelona, the most Cruyffian club, produced about half the national team’s current starters, whil...

When Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon started to plan for Liverpool’s future without Jurgen Klopp in early 2024, his first call was to Michael Edwards. Initially, Gordon’s attempts to get Edwards back on board were in vain. Enjoying more family time with wife Emily and their children, and the slower pace of life working as a consultant for Ludonautics, the sports advisory analytics business launched by his former Liverpool colleague Ian Graham, Edwards had no interest in returning to his old job as the club’s sporting director. However, Gordon refused to admit defeat and following discussions in Boston, he belatedly got his man by offering him a role with a much wider remit as FSG’s first CEO of football. Edwards, who had left the club in 2022 after more than a decade of service, was given responsibility for overseeing Liverpool’s budget and strategy. He was also tasked with identifying, buying and subsequently running another European club, with FSG vowing to embark on ...