The Political Economy of Football V2

Birmingham City are very positive about their financial results for 2024/25 despite making an operating loss of £39 million which they somehow fail to mention:  https://www.bcfc.com/pages/en/media-article/birmingham-city-football-club-posts-strong-financial-statement-for-24-25 The club is undoubtedly making real long-term progress under its new ownership, although performance on the pitch has been a little underwhelming. The operating loss represents a significant increase of approximately 115%, as compared to the loss of approximately £16.1m for the corresponding period last year. This compares to Wrexham’s operating loss of £14.84m over the same period but is far less than Leeds United’s £49.1m when they were a Championship club last season. Cardiff City, who were also in the second tier in 2024/25, lost £35.1m over the same period. Much of Blues’ situation can be explained by wages of £38.9m, which are up 9 per cent on the previous year from £35.8m. What cannot be ignored,...

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire says that the £10m loss at Blackburn is not that bad (particularly when you compare it with other Championship clubs not receiving parachute payments:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c1d9013y4zdo Maguire says that owning a football club is a bit like being the bank of mum and dad.  I know what me means, except in my case it's the bank of step-grandad, grandad and great-grandad!

Disreputable satirical magazine Private Eye is rather disobliging about the West Ham board and in particular Baroness Brady in its latest issue.   As well as her West Ham role, she is a mentor on The Apprentice and has a column in the Currant Bun. Baroness Brady was paid £1.47m by West Ham in 2024/25, up by £35,000 from the preceding year. West Ham lost £104m in that year and is currently battling relegation from the Premier League. In all fairness it should be pointed out that the directors of top flight clubs are rarely recompensed on a payment by results basis.  Just think Tottenham Hotspur where as the club goes down, directors' fees go up. In addition Brady has been involved in football since the age of 23 when she was appointed managing director of Birminghan City by David Sullivan.   Indeed, she married a player at the club. The 77-year old Sullivan is now the largest shareholder at West Ham.    Private Eye claims that 'he has assembled a board ...

The early promotion of cathedral city team Lincoln to the Championship has rightly attracted attention and praise.   For example, the latest edition of Four Four Two has a feature on the club which is well worth reading. Lincoln is a classic ‘stand alone’ club.   It is clearly the pre-eminent club in Lincolnshire (Grimsby play in Cleethorpes and former EFL club Boston play in the National League, as do Scunthorpe). Lincolnshire is probably the leading arable farming county in England with many large scale and prosperous enterprises – I gave a talk to some of the leading producers many years ago, before Sir James Dyson got involved with his innovative agricultural enterprises. For the first time in 65 years, Lincoln City will play in the second tier of English football next season — a success achieved despite starting their 2025-26 campaign with the seventh-lowest budget among the 24 clubs in League One. American investment Lincoln are one of many English clubs t...

If Tottenham Hotspur are relegated, they will be the wealthiest club to suffer this fate in the Premier League. As a supporter of a Championship club, the chance to visit the iconic Tottenham Hotspur stadium is mouth-watering.     I may be victim of a ‘too big to go down’ fallacy, but I still can’t believe that it will happen.   There is surely enough quality in the squad. Discussing the situation with Spurs fans who are friends, they have agreed with me that it has been as much a problem of structure as agency. What do I mean by that?   First, I think that Spurs have fallen foul of the modern belief that everything is down to the manager and keep changing him is the answer to any problems.    I would add that there is an agency dimension as I do not think that Spurs have chosen well. Second, the stadium is outstanding (a relative who was one of the contractors is full of praise).   It will deliver enhanced revenue streams well into the future....

Newcastle United have agreed a £6 million-a-year deal for their first-ever training ground and training-kit sleeve sponsor in a major boost to their revenues. KNOX Hydration — a South African sports drinks company, not affiliated with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the club’s 85 per cent majority owners — has bought the three-year naming rights to Newcastle’s Darsley Park training ground in Benton from July 1. Despite identifying land for a state of the art   training centre in Woolsington, near Newcastle International Airport, such a substantial infrastructure project is still multiple years away, given it requires planning permission and then needs to be constructed. Naming rights for what Hopkinson insists will be a “10-out-of-10” facility would be substantially more lucrative in the future. In the meantime, Newcastle are expanding and refurbishing their current site, having already invested heavily in Darsley Park since the Saudi-financed takeover of Oc...