The Political Economy of Football V2

Oh, to be a sports lawyer now that autumn is here.   I hadn't expected to report on a second football law suit today. The Forest Green Rovers owner, Dale Vince, is to sue Peterborough United for £2m over their controversial hiring of his former manager Robbie Savage.   It is the latest escalation in the row that followed the former Wales international’s switch from the National League club to the League One side at the start of the month. Vince and the Peterborough chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, have been involved in a war of words since, with Forest Green accusing the EFL club of an illegal approach — “tapping up” — of Savage. Peterborough deny those allegations. Now Vince has confirmed on his personal social media channel that he has launched legal action for compensation of £2m.   “We have begun a legal process for the tapping up of our manager — our ex-manager now — Robbie Savage,” Vince said. “It’s hassle that we didn’t want, but what are you going to do?” ...

We live in a litigious age and sports lawyers are increasingly becoming prominent in the game.  A recent Private Eye cartoon displayed well-nourished lawyers running round with briefcases and wearing Manchester City shirts. However, defamation actions are still relatively rare, although not unknown   For example, note the recent claim launched by West Ham's David Sullivan against the BBC:  https://www.skysports.com/football/news/13594030/david-sullivan-west-ham-co-owner-suing-the-bbc-in-lb150m-defamation-claim-over-panorama-documentary Aston Villa have announced plans to initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his “unacceptable insults” about the club.  Villa released a statement signed off by chairman Nassef Sawiris outlining their intentions on Friday after incendiary comments from the Sky Sports pundit earlier this week. “Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans,” it re...

For years, CFG has been viewed as the gold standard for multi-club networks. It still is, having housed so many of the game’s top executives along the way.  While City dominated English football and clubs around the world came scavenging for their staff, it carried that tag unabashed. But after the judgment delivered by the independent commission that deemed City’s success was partly built on inflated revenue from “sham” commercial contracts to the tune of over £900million ($1.19bn), what does the future hold for the rest of the group? Manchester City’s on-pitch success has been the veneer behind which CFG has existed. The leaders at the Premier League outfit, namely chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Soriano, have been effective at presenting City as a well-run, profitable club. They recorded four profitable years in five between 2019 and 2023, and their player trading, particularly the conveyor belt of academy talent, has been the envy of many teams. City acco...

Inter and Milan hope to move into their new home in 2031-32. It will be built on the same footprint for an estimated €2billion ($2.24bn) and carry the name of Italian insurance giant Generali, who have agreed to a record naming rights deal worth £650m over 20 years. Change is going to come. This is different from the projects that have come and gone before. It will not go the way of Barbara Berlusconi’s plan to build Milan their own stadium in the Portello neighbourhood of the city in 2015. Nor will it be held up as The Cathedral was by Covid-19, lockdowns, local elections in Milan and Suning, Inter’s former owners, being on the brink of a bankruptcy that was formally declared earlier this year. Make no mistake — this is happening. A year ago, Milan city hall approved the sale of the publicly owned San Siro to Milan and Inter for around €200m. There were five appeals to block it, all dismissed by the regional administrative court, and threats by political party the Greens to collap...

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS, Manchester United’s minority owner, has put Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport up for sale.   INEOS, whose global headquarters had been in the city between 2010 and 2016, bought the team in November 2017. At the time, it looked like more like an exercise in corporate social responsibility than the first step in the creation of a multi-sport empire that would eventually span cycling, F1, football, rugby union and sailing. But that empire is now in retreat, with the decision to sell Lausanne coming after abrupt exits from sponsorship deals with the All Blacks (New Zealand, rugby union) and Tottenham Hotspur in 2025, a messy divorce from America’s Cup partner Sir Ben Ainslie and the decision to put French club OGC Nice on the market. INEOS will be hoping for a much quicker exit from Lausanne than their long, painful goodbye at Nice. The French side have won three of their last four games to climb to mid-table in Ligue 1 but the club’s fan bas...

During the past few days, we have been enjoying the world gymnastics championship well staged in an impressive arena in Rotterdam.  In this posting the focus is on the port city’s football club. From his fastness in Zurich, the Swiss Ramble has been casting his usual forensic eye over the 2025/26 accounts from Feyenoord.   Here are his key findings. Feyenoord had a “challenging” season off the pitch, as they swung from a €31.1m pre-tax profit to €17.0m loss, a sizeable year-on-year deterioration of €48.1m.   Revenue dropped by nearly a third, falling €51.5m from €166.7m to €115.2m, but costs remained at virtually the same level, so this all fed through to a much larger operating loss, which widened from €28.8m to €78.9m. This was partially offset by €62.6m profit on player sales, up €2.2m from the previous year’s €60.3m.   The net loss after tax was lower at €12.6m, thanks to a €4.4m tax credit. The main reason for the revenue decrease was significantly lower...