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Premier League losses close to £800m

Premier League clubs made a combined loss of almost £800 mn last season, highlighting the challenges facing investors who have spent billions of pounds buying teams in the world’s most popular football league. Annual accounts from the 20 teams in England’s top flight covering the 2024-25 season show that 14 clubs reported pre-tax losses, despite revenues rising to more than £6.8 bn across the league from £6.3 bn a year earlier.   Chelsea, controlled by US private equity firm Clearlake Capital, reported a loss of £262 mn, a record for an English club. Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, both currently fighting to avoid relegation, made losses of £120.7 mn and £104 mn respectively. English football has attracted billions of pounds of investment, much of it from the US, including from wealthy individuals, hedge funds, private equity firms and sovereign wealth funds. However, M&A activity has cooled recently, in part owing to concerns about the ability to generate financial returns...
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Finance guru warns of Liverpool risks

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire has told a Livepool fan site that the financial implications could be huge if the club fails to qualify for the Champions League next season:  https://www.rousingthekop.com/2026/04/16/how-hard-liverpools-finances-could-be-hit-by-missing-out-on-champions-league-football/ A difficult question for Liverpool's owners is whether the slot machine is no longer paying out.
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The striking transformation of PSG

Having brushed aside Liverpool’s creaking defence and a slot machine no longer paying out, Paris Saint-Germain faces an exciting Champions League semi-final test against Bayern Munich.   The success of PSG comes against the backcloth of a Ligue 1 which is the most troubled of the top five European leagues.   Once one leaves behind a small number of clubs, the standard falls away rapidly. From his Zurich fastness, the Swiss Ramble casts his usual forensic eye over the club’s finances, much more detail and depth available on his Substack page.  He makes some interesting comparisons with other leading European clubs which are of interest given the relative failure of Premier League clubs. Paris Saint-Germain’s 2024/25 accounts covered a season that the club not unreasonably described as “the most successful in our history”, as they won (deep breath) the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, a 13th Ligue 1 title, a 16th Coupe de France and 13th Trophée des ...
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WBA financial breaches may just be a calculation error

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire is sceptical about the basis for the financial charges brought against West Bromwich Albion.   There is no conspiracy to deceive and it may just be that someone made a mistake in adding up the figures:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx2rr73g0pgo John Pelling has substantial experience in this area and was brought in by the Beggies to help with PSR issues:  https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/west-bromwich-albion/west-brom-john-pelling-psr-6573887
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John Terry in bid for 'moon shot' club

It has been confirmed that John Terry is part of a consortium engaged in detailed discussions to buy Colcbester United for a reported £14m.   His nephew, Frank Terry, is a defender in the first team squad there. Robbie Cowling took over the club in 2006 but has been looking to sell since last year.  In June the US-based Lightwell Sports Group failed in a bid.   More recently, Aspire Media Group showed serious interest, but did not proceed with an acquisition. Cowling told BBC Radio Essex that he could grow the club incrementally, but the fans weren't interested in that.   'They want a moon shot and all I can provide is a slightly bigger ladder each year.'   Now in League Two, the U's were in the Championship when Cowling arrived. Terry is working at Chelsea's Academy, but has never found a managerial role. Colchester and the surrounding area are prosperous with many commuters into London (one of my children once ran the early morning bookstal...
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Baggies deny rules breach

West Bromwich Albion are facing a possible points deduction after being charged with an alleged breach of the EFL’s Profit and Sustainability  (P&S) regulations.  The charge relates to the three years ending with the 2024-25 season, with Championship clubs allowed to lose £41.5million ($56m) over that period. According to the club accounts posted on Companies’ House, West Brom lost £7.6m in 2022-23, £37.6m in 23-24, and £18.8m in 24-25, amounting to a pre-tax loss of £64m. P&S allows exclusions from this total for “healthy” expenses, such as long-term infrastructure or community projects, which can be added back from the loss calculation.   This includes the Category One academy, which costs the club several million pounds per season in operating costs. Accounting for these exclusions, the breach is thought to be marginal. Under the EFL’s regulations, sporting penalties from the previous term must be applied in the following term, suggesting any potential po...
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