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Spurs need to remember that they are a football club

I have a number of friends who are Spurs fans and I have been telling them for some time, think about structure not agency.   Modern football is obsessed with the manager or coach as if he actually controls the players on the pitch. Tottenham Hotspur have a splendid stadium (a relative who was a contractor is full of praise) but they seem to have forgotten that this is a means to the key objective of success on the pitch. Spurs, as one senior figure recently publicly admitted, are a football club who haven’t focused enough on the football. They’re a name, a brand, a venue, an events company. But not primarily a football team. It’s not Igor Tudor’s fault. You don’t blame the erroneously hired admin manager when the FTSE 100 company goes bankrupt. Spurs are just not a serious enough football club. Well, they’re a serious football club when it comes to aesthetics. Their stunning stadium is one of the finest in Europe, their state-of-the-art training ground is the same, th...
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Big losses at Forest

Despite record revenue, Nottingham Forest made an operating loss of nearly £65 m in 2024/25, after posting a £24 m profit the previous year:  https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/nottingham-forest-finances-revealed It's not unusual for insurgent Premier League clubs to make big losses as they try to compete with the big six or seven.   Should Forest be relegated, they would face financial challenges.
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Private capital court case affects Olympique Lyonnais

The row between Ares Management and John Textor has escalated to the next level. The private capital group filed an application in London’s High Court to appoint administrators to Eagle Football Holdings Bidco Limited, which holds a majority stake in Eagle Football Group, the owner of Lyon, as well as clubs in Belgium and Brazil. Eagle is more than a test case for multi-club ownership in football. It is a coming together of sport and institutional capital. The outcome will be closely watched. Private capital firm Ares has appointed administrators to the owner of Olympique Lyonnais after it defaulted on its debts, in a move that puts the future of one of France’s leading football clubs in doubt. Eagle Football Holdings Bidco Limited holds a majority stake in Eagle Football Group, the owner of Lyon. Eagle Bidco, which also holds controlling stakes in Brazilian football club Botafago and Belgian team RWDM Brussels, is owned by US businessman and prolific football investor John T...
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Many Sunderland fans opposed to Farage invitation

After the visit by Reform leader Nigel Farage to Ipswich Town led to an apology from the club, many fans at Sunderland have expressed concern about a similar invitation to the Stadium of Light issued by a Sunderland director:  https://www.itv.com/news/2026-03-27/nigel-farage-offered-sunderland-stadium-of-light-visit-by-club-director Reform has substantial support in Sunderland and there have been predictions that it may make a clean sweep of the forthcoming local elections. Nevertheless, fans of any club have a range of political views and it undermines the unity of supporters if a club identifies with one political party.
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Record turnover at Wrexham

Wrexham's turnover jumped to £33.1 m last year, believed to be a record for a League One club not in receipt of parachute payments.  Full analysis by BBC Sport here:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cj940y2vnlno
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Losses at Hibs 'not sustainable'

Hibernian's chief executive has admitted that the club's losses are not sustainable - £5.8 m in the past year and £18m over four seasons:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cly98887xkgo The chief executive said that the owning Gordon family could not be expected to continue to underwrite losses. The challenges faced by an historic club in Scotland's capital city reflect the financial challenges facing Scottish football as a whole. Another way of bringing extra cash to the club is to find an investment partner. Hibs did this with Bill Foley’s Black Knight group, generating £6m in return for a 25 per cent shareholding of the club in back in February 2024. However, the partnership with the Bournemouth owner ended “amicably” last year, with the Gordons buying the shares back. It is understood there was a difference in strategies. Since then, there has been speculation that other parties are keen to get involved at Easter Road - including Midtjylland owner Anders H...
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Row over Farage Ipswich visit rumbles on

The row about Nigel Farage's visit to Ipswich Town rumbles on, although the club has said they have nothing to add to their earlier statements. On Tuesday,  The Athletic  was the first media outlet to reveal that elements of Ipswich’s account of Reform’s visit, chiefly that Reform leader Nigel Farage had not been invited to the club, had been contradicted by sources at the party. But with the controversy continuing to escalate,  The Athletic  has now revealed more details which undermine Ipswich’s account and raise further questions of the club’s handling of the affair. These include: The invitation to Farage was made by an associate of chief executive officer MarkAshton. Farage was met by a club executive and then had lunch with Ashton and Luke Werhun, the club’s COO. The club gifted the politician six ‘Farage 10’ Ipswich shirts free of charge. Members of staff, some senior, have made formal complaints to Ipswich’s human ...
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