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Brentford secures new investment

Brentford FC has announced that it has strengthened its ownership base with additional investment and the appointment of two new directors to the board of its holding company, Best Intentions Analytics Limited. Prakash Melwani, a longtime senior executive at Blackstone, and Sir Lucian Grainge CBE, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, have joined the board of Best Intentions Analytics, which serves as the holding company for Brentford FC and Mérida AD. They join existing investors Gary Lubner and Sir Matthew Vaughn, whose respective companies have each increased their minority shareholdings in the ownership group. Matthew Benham remains the majority owner of Brentford FC, having taken full control of the club in 2012. Gary Lubner and Sir Matthew Vaughn initially became minority shareholders in July 2025 through their companies This Day Sports and Media Limited and MARV Bee Limited. The increased investment reinforces the group’s commitment to supporting Brentford’s continued...
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Tottering Spurs?

The Daily Mirror was far from complementary about the defeat Tottenham Hotspur suffered at the Cottage on Sunday,    Journos had fun with 'Tottenham Rotspur', 'St. Totteingham Day' and 'Spurs stinker'. Interim coach Igor Tufor tore into his players and said they lacked quality in attack, in taking scoring chances, in the midfield and at the back. I am not a betting man, but if I was I would put money on Spurs staying up and Forest going down.  However, I also think that there are deeper structural problems at Spurs that can't be solved by changing the manager or bringing in some new players in the summer. Tottenham’s commercial success — turbocharged by the likes of Beyoncé, P!nk, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury in the past — is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. In fact the club’s commercial revenue alone would give them a hefty safety net, given it stood at £276.9million in their latest accounts, which is nearly four times the total revenue of even the rich...
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Good financial news at Arsenal, but fans asked to pay more

Arsenal’s pre-tax loss significantly reduced for the second year in a row, falling from £18m to just £1m, so they effectively broke-even.    The Zurich-based football finance guru Swiss Ramble has provided his usual forensic analysis.  For much more depth, go to his Substack pag.   Here are some highlights. The improvement was driven by good growth in (football) revenue, which shot up £76m (13%) from £614m to a new club record £690m, while profit from player sales also greatly increased by £30m from £51m to £81m. Arsenal’s revenue growth in the last three years has been very impressive, as income has surged by a massive £321m (87%) from £369m to £690m, easily a new club record. Arsenal’s £690m revenue is now the third highest in England, having overtaken Manchester United £667m, Tottenham £565m and Chelsea £491m. They have basically caught up with Manchester City £694m, while they are not far behind Liverpool £703m. However, this was partially offset ...
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Relegation would hit West Ham hard

West Ham United have warned of the “serious and severe” financial consequences if they are relegated from the Premier League this season after announcing a loss of £104.2 million.    The east London club said their biggest loss since returning to the top flight in 2012 was a result of player trading, poor performance and not having European football. The wage bill increased from £161 million to £176 million for the financial year ending in May and their wages-to-turnover ratio rose to 77 per cent. They also owe £195 million in transfer fees to other clubs in next three years.West Ham United have warned of the “serious and severe” financial consequences if they are relegated from the Premier League this season after announcing a loss of £104.2 million. If relegated to the Championship, West Ham would expect to sell several players such as Bowen, Jarrod and Summerville. Turnover fell from £269m to £228m due to lower income from broadcasting and match days   The highest...
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Record revenus but small profits at Liverpool

Liverpool posted record revenue of £703million ($947.8m) for the 2024-25 season as they made a profit after tax of £8m. The accounts for the year ending May 2025 show a significant upturn in the three main revenue streams during a campaign when they won the  championship. Media revenue increased by £60m to £264m, matchday revenue went up by £14m to £116m, and commercial revenue jumped by £15m to £323m. Overall revenue leapt by £89m to £703m — a rise of 14.5 per cent. As a result, Liverpool were the highest placed Premier League club in Deloitte Money League, in fifth spot behind Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid. It is a far rosier picture than 12 months ago when Liverpool posted a record pre-tax loss of £57m for the 2023-24 season — a year when the absence of Champions League football cut deep. However, the relatively small profit for 2024-25 is down to the fact that Liverpool’s wage bill increased by £42m to £428m, the highest in the Premier Leagu...
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Rising debts at Swindon worry fans

Swindon Town lost another £2.5 million during the most recent financial year, and have borrowed over £10 million from Clem Morfuni since he became owner.  The football club’s accounts for the financial year, which ended in May 2025, were published on Companies House and revealed the loss that CEO Anthony Hall said would be the case in his most recent interview on the club’s YouTube channel. The accounts showed the club now has debts of £10,683,645, which is up from £8,111,047, meaning there was a total loss of £2,572,598 during that financial year.   These losses exceed those of the last two financial years by over £1 million, with those being £1,073,519 in 2023 and £1,340,136 in 2024. Also, in the documents, Swindon are shown to have bank borrowings of £10,374,725, which have come from Morfuni to support the running of the club. During that roundtable discussion with Morfuni, Hall, and Ian Holloway on the club’s YouTube channel, the Australian businessman admitted that ...
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La Liga boss blasts Premier League

Javier Tebas rarely pulls his punches, and the president of La Liga was in fiery form, ripping into Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and the Premier League as part of a stout defence of the Spanish game at this week’s Financial Times Football Business Summit. Tebas took issue with the Premier League’s new “squad cost ratio” system that is replacing the profitability and sustainability framework, saying it would not end the financial imbalances he has long lamented between the English top division and continental European competitions. The Premier League’s new regulations will penalise clubs if they spend more than 85 per cent of revenue on transfers and wages, but Tebas faulted it for excluding other costs from the calculation. “They’re going to have more inflation and more problems,” he predicted. “A rule that does not take expenses into account is useless.” Premier League boss Masters later dismissed this criticism, insisting the squad cost ratio would ...
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