The Political Economy of Football V2

Interviews with two leading football finance experts: A need to think outside the box The FA has effectively asked clubs to run their business at a loss in the short term in the hope of trying to achieve growth further down the line. WSL attendances were down by 11 per cent last season.

Chelsea have shelved plans to build a new stadium at Stamford Bridge 'due to the current investment climate': Stamford Bridge It is not clear when Chelsea will revive their plan, if at all. The estimated cost for a new 60,000 seat Stamford Bridge has increased to £1bn after delays, which included a dispute with a local family. The news comes after Roman Abramovich's 'investment' visa to the UK was not renewed and he subsequently took up Israeli citizenship. Abramovich is unwilling to invest in a major project in a country where he is not allowed to work. With Arsenal having built their new stadium and Spurs near to completing theirs, the stadium redevelopment was seen as key as securing Chelsea as a leading London club in the long term. With a capacity of just over 41,000, Stamford Bridge is the eighth largest stadium in London.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble takes a look at Brentford's accounts for 2016/17. Brentford's loss was significantly reduced from £12.6m to just £1.0m, as revenue rose £2.1m (20%) to £12.7m, though profit on player sales fell £2.7m to £12.8m. Main reason for improvement was £4.7m accounting adjustment for unwinding discount on shareholder loans in 2015/16. The main driver for Brentford's £2.1m revenue growth was the new Premier League TV deal, resulting in a higher solidarity payment, thus increasing broadcasting income by £2.3m to £7.2m. Ticketing income also rose £0.5m to £3.5m, but commercial fell £0.7m to £2.0m (academy closure). The club managed to cut many costs: wage bill by £2.9m (17%) to £14.7m, other expenses by £2.5m (26%) to £7.4m. As a consequence, the Bees very nearly broke-even. In fact, their £1.0m loss was only bettered by five Championship clubs, three of whom made profits below £4m. However, the club's loss would have been much higher without a he...

Ligue One has always lagged behind the other top European leagues in terms of TV rights, but now it has secured a 60 per cent increase from 2020: Ligue 1 deal Vivendi, the incumbent French media titan, was ousted. In its place, Chinese-backed Mediapro scooped three of the biggest packages on offer, out of seven in total. Qatar-based beIN took another package and France’s fourth-biggest mobile firm Free secured the fifth. The final two sets were unsold. Quite why Mediapro splashed out is a bit of a mystery.

The English Premier League is reportedly poised to sell its last two remaining domestic media rights packages for the next cycle to incumbent broadcasters Sky and BT Sport. The news comes after rights packages F and G - covering a total of 40 live midweek and bank holiday matches per season between 2019 and 2022 - went unsold during an auction in February that saw Sky and BT pay a combined £4.464 billion for the five main packages. The initial bidding saw Sky pocket four of the five packages to claim a toal of 128 matches, with BT purchasing 32 matches per season. According to league rules, Sky is only able to acquire one of the last two packages since no broadcaster can purchase more than 148 matches per season in total. Reports suggest clubs are now willing to accept a cut-price bid for the remaining rights after Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore misread long-mooted interest from the likes of social media giants Amazon, Twitter and Facebook - all of whom were the...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has taken a look at Aston Villa's financial fair play position. The conclusion is that they will be fine for 2017/18, but will need to take action to meet the 2018/19 target. FFP is assessed over a three-year period (current season plus previous two seasons). The annual allowable loss is £13m in Championship and £35m in Premier League, so Villa's maximum FFP losses are £83m in 2016/17, £61m in 2017/18 and £39m from 2018/19. One point that should be noted is that FFP losses are different from losses in the accounts, so Aston Villa can exclude around £11m a year (for academy £5.9m, community £2.0m and infrastructure £2.9m) plus once-off stadium revaluation (booked as £45m impairment in 2015/16). The Swiss Ramble notes, 'In this way, I’ve calculated that Aston Villa were £38m below FFP limit of £83m in 2016/17.' So Aston Villa 2017/18 loss before tax is estimated at £37m, i.e. £22m worse than 2016/17. After excluding £78m (FFP deductions ...

Congratulations to Coventry City on winning promotion to League One at Wembley. Their fans have had to suffer a lot. It's worth taking a second look at an analysis of their finances Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football wrote earlier in the year: Sky Blues

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has analysed how much clubs can expect from the Champions League pool. English clubs earned most in total from the 2017/18 Champions League with their five clubs receiving €303m, much more than Spain’s €224m. These were followed by Italy €198m, Germany €140m and France €119m. The TV pool distributed as follows: (a) Half for position in previous season’s domestic league; (b) Half for progress in current season’s Champions League. So, despite their run to the final, Liverpool’s share of TV pool was adversely impacted by finishing 4th in 2016/17 Premier League. English clubs Champions League 2017/18 revenue: Liverpool €78m, Chelsea €64m, Manchester City €62m, Tottenham Hotspur €60m and Manchester United €39m. Also, Celtic €32m, as Scottish clubs get 10% of UK TV pool if they qualify for the Group Stage. As Manchester United qualified via Europa League, they get nothing from first half of TV pool. Spanish clubs Champions League 2017/18 revenue: Real Madrid...

Morecambe's total football income was £1.7 million in 2016/17. This is less than the difference in prize money between finishing 15th and 14th in the Premier League. Turnover was up from £2.5m to £2.7m. Ticket sales accounted for two-thirds of turnover. The total wage bill for the year was £1.9m. Wages were 70 per cent of turnover. The club lost £9,000 a week before tax. The average crowd was 1,704. This was the lowest figure in League Two. Fourteen National League clubs had a higher average. The club had an overdraft of £586k and just over £1m in loans. Control of the company is expected to pass to London-based Bond Group Investments imminently.

Financial fair play rules and reduced parachute payments will constrain Aston Villa's attempt to get back to the Premier League next season: Financial challenge Villa have been financially over-extended this year and Steve Bruce has had to work hard, signing free transfers and loan players and balancing the books. They will find it difficult to continue to afford average wages of £29,567 a week. They risk losing their best players. This is probably a good time to look again at Kieran Maguire's (on BBC Radio WM this morning) analysis of Villa's financial position in February when he concluded that a return to the top flight was essential: Burning Sky Maguire has noted in a tweet today, 'Villa were already cutting back in 2017/18 was that after June 2017 they only spent £2.9m on transfers compared to nearly £88 million the previous season.' He also tweeted, 'The problem for Villa is that they gambled on players signed in 2016/17 being good enough to get t...

Dan Jones of Deloitte Sports Business comments in the Financial Times today, 'While in football terms, the Champions League final is the bigger game, the financial rewards on offer in Kiev are dwarfed by those at stake in North London' in the Championship play off final between Aston Villa and Fulham. The winner at Wembley will gain at least £160m even if they are relegated after one season in the top flight. That could rise to £280m should they avoid relegation. The authoritative Swiss Ramble gives a more cautious one year figure. 'The financial difference between winning and losing today's Championship play-off final is £155m for Fulham and £143m for Aston Villa.' With Fulham winning 1-0, the boost goes to them. Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football has tweeted, 'In 2016 Burnley, Hull City and Middlesbrough were promoted and Brighton, Sheffield Wednesday and Derby went out in the playoffs. The following season this was the difference in finances: £278...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has made a financial comparison of this evening's Champions League finalists (based on 2016/17 figures). Real Madrid have far higher revenue and wages, but Liverpool are more profitable. Real Madrid has far more revenue at £580m against Liverpool's £364m. Revenue is higher in all the main streams: broadcasting, commercial and match day. The wage bill at Real Madrid is £324m compared to £208m at Liverpool. However, Liverpool's profits before tax at £40m are bigger than those of Real Madrid at £23m. The Swiss Ramble comments, 'A reminder that Liverpool only had the 5th highest revenue and 6th highest wage bill of the eight Champions League quarter-finalists, so it's a great achievement to reach the final.' Deloitte's Sports Business Group estimates that the difference between winning and losing the Champions League final for Liverpool is about £4m in 'distributions', a complex formula through which Uefa hands out pr...

Celtic are in their strongest ever financial position according to their chief executive Peter Lawwell: Strong finances Lawwell insists the Hoops have plans in place to withstand any Champions League disappointment. Rangers chairman Dave King recently claimed just one league title win for his club would see Celtic’s finances fold like a “pack of cards”. He thinks that their long-term strategy, and their strength in intellectual capital, will keep the finances stable. Value is added to under valued players. 'Over the last 10-15 years, we have taken a long-term view. We haven’t reacted to short-term pressures, maybe from a few bad results, a bad season, media or social media criticism.' The next target for the treble winners will be to get to the group stage of the Champions League.

Leeds United have sold a minority stake to an investment entity linked up with American NFL side San Francisco 49ers: NFL investment deal The Yorkshire Post provides in depth background to the deal which is estimated to have cost £10m. There will be a seven figure injection of funds to help with this summer's transfers: What does investment mean for Leeds? As Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football has tweeted, the really interesting question is what the new investors are getting for their money. Sources at the 49ers say the purchase is about expanding their brand globally having emerged from an unstable period in their history and that they see similarities in the attempts of both clubs to rediscover their lost aura.

The 'Ugly Game' argues that the Premier League attracts the 'worst owners' from America's NFL (a piece written two years ago but arguably still relevant, given the deal just announced with Leeds United): The worst people The blog essay concludes, 'The Premier League has become a magnet for the NFL’s worst people – the avaricious entryists who could recognise an under-priced asset at 1,000 yards but couldn’t so much as see a beautiful sunset without wondering if there’s a way of charging people to look at it.' 'These, then, are the people prodding the Premier League like a side of meat – rich men who’ve contributed nothing to the league and who are so busying trying to get richer, they appear not even to recognise that the NFL goose that lays their golden eggs was raised on values that are anathema to them.'

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has added his comments on Newcastle United's 2016/17 accounts. He notes, 'Revenue has decreased by £1m since Ashley’s arrival in 2007 from £87m to £86m, despite £22m more central TV money. Commercial has fallen by £13m (46%), while match day is £10m (30%) lower. In fairness, 2017/18 revenue in PL will be much higher, estimated at £175-180m.' It should be noted that if one factored in inflation, the £1m decline would look larger. Using the Bank of England inflation calculator £87m would be £110.8m in 2016 so the real decline in revenue is almost £24m. In response to a tweet from me, the Swiss Ramble pointed out that this would be an even higher figure if one took account of 'football' inflation. He also notes, 'Over the years player sales have had a decent impact on Newcastle United profits contributing £180m since 2008. The club would have made small losses without this activity until 2014.' Average net spend under Ashley ...

Newcastle United made a loss of £90.9m in 2016/17 before gains on player sales for Sissoko, Wijnaldum etc reduced that by £42.2m. Player signings were £41.4 million and player sales £69.8 million to give net income of £28.4 million in 2016/17. Turnover was down by 32 per cent from £125.8m to £85.7m. The wages to turnover ratio went up from an acceptable 59.4 per cent to 130.9 per cent. However, such increases are not unusual for Championship clubs seeking to return to the top flight. Promotion bonuses amounted to £9.9m. Matchday income was down 10 per cent despite higher attendances and more matches in the Championship due to lower ticket prices and prawn sandwich sales. Commercial income halved due to the loss of Premier League central commercial deals and TV was down 35 per cent. Commercial income declined from £25.1m to £12.1m. Mike Ashley or companies controlled by him are owed £144m. Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football has taken an in depth look at the accounts: Lovel...

Fifa has delayed a vote on a $2.5bn proposal to create two new global tournaments, postponing a showdown on a move that has polarised football clubs, leagues and federations around the world. Fifa has negotiated an extension on the deadline set by the international consortium of investors that has tabled the proposal. The plan envisages a joint venture to manage the tournaments with Fifa holding a 51 per cent controlling stake.

AC Milan may be banned from European competition for breaches of financial fair play rules. They had been hoping to negotiate a voluntary agreement with Uefa to restructure their finances. The concerns relate to loans the owners, a Chinese-led consortium, took out to finance their purchase of the club: AC Milan The club's general manager Marco Fassone said, 'We are very surprised and bitter about this news. I was expecting UEFA to offer us a settlement agreement. This has only happened once in the past involving a Russian club. UEFA said that the fact that the debt wasn't refinanced yet casts shadows. We continuously paid the debt during the season without any doubts so yes I am surprised.'

The head of La Liga has attacked a plan to create global tournaments as 'totally irresponsible', saying it would severely damage football in countries around the world. Fifa has been looking for ways to reduce its dependence on the World Cup as a source of funds. It is in talks with a consortium of international investors, led by Japan's Soft Bank, to expand the Club World Cup. This is an annual competition played by seven of the globe's top teams. This would be replaced by a tournament for 24 clubs held every four years, as well as a new league for national teams. The tournament would be dominated by European clubs who would supply at least 12 of the competing teams. Javier Tebas has called on Fifa to scrap the proposals, although they are backed by the country's two biggest clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona. The £2bn prize money may be a factor in their support. Tebas said that an enlarged Club World Cup would further concentrate wealth in Europe's top ...

Relegation from the Scottish Premier League could cost Partick Thistle £1m. That's a small amount compared with the financial penalty for relegation from the English Premier League, but a big sum in the context of Scottish football: Patrick Thistle Football finance expert Neil Patey commented, 'Partick Thistle has been run very well in the last couple of years. There is no debt since the share issue back at the end of 2015, they've made a small profit in the last couple of years. So they start from a good, sound financial basis.' But what they don't want to do if they're suffering a short fall in about £1m-plus of revenue is not cut the costs. And before you know it, you're making a sizeable loss.'

They may have failed to win the FA Cup in what has been criticised as a disappointing final given the cost of both teams, but UK fund manager Nick Train, rated as one of the top-performing equity fund managers, has bought into Manchester United for his Finsbury Growth & Income Fund. He intends to increase Finsbury's holding in United from 1.6 per cent to 2.5 per cent of his portfolio as soon as he can access more stock. He bought shares from the Glazer family last year. Mr Train said that he was confident that the stock would treble. Investors would benefit from the club's position as a global brand and from the growth in the sports entertainment market. He said he could not think of 'a better value business' to 'protect our shareholders from technological change but also to give the access to some of the benefits of that change.' 'There is going to be the mother of all battles between today's global internet giants to ensure that eyeballs are at...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has looked at Middlesbrough's 2016/17 accounts, covering their year in the Premiership. Next season is the last season in which they will receive parachute payments as they were relegated after one season. Following promotion to Premier League Boro converted a pre-tax of £32.0m loss to £6.9m profit, as revenue increased by £100m to a record £121m and profit on player sales was up £7m to £11m. The club had the third lowest revenue (£121m) in the Premier League, so from that perspective relegation should not have been a great surprise. They did actually have the highest revenue of the three promoted clubs, ahead of Burnley £121m and Hull City £117m. 2016/17 was first time that Boro had made a profit since 2005, though very nearly broke-even in 2009. Since then, they accumulated £112m of losses in the Championship. They really “went for it” in 2015/16, resulting in a record £32m loss. TV revenue will fall significantly in 17/18 from £99m to an estim...

With almost all Premier League accounts in, there was a big boost to income and profits in 2016/17, reports Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football. Total income was up 25.3% from £3,639 million to £4,561 million. Clubs made a collective profit of £489 million in 2016/17 compared to a loss of £91 million the previous season as the new TV deal kicked in. The wage bill in 2016/17 was £2,468,000,000 up 10.1% from previous season. The two Manchester clubs had the biggest wage bills. However, wages are now only £54.12 out of every £100 of income compared to £61.60 the previous season. Total player purchases in the Premier League for 2016/17 were £1,583,600,000, up 18.4% on previous season. Bournemouth sent only £9.3 million on players and stayed up.

Sports lawyer Daniel Geey takes a look at the financial benefits of winning the Championship play off and concludes that the total financial benefit, even if the promoted club is relegated after one season, could be around £180m: The £180m game The principal benefit comes from the distribution of Premier League central (primarily broadcasting) revenues. Even if the promoted club finishes bottom, they can expect to receive £95m. They would then receive parachute payments of £80m over two to three seasons. Additional sponsorship (£4m - £5m) and matchday revenues (£1m - £3m) contribute relatively little.

Tottenham Hotspur have until the end of the month to tell the FA whether or not they want to extend their tenancy at Wembley after retaining a contractual option to play a number of games there next season. This may be necessary as the club's new stadium may not be ready for the first few matches. An opening of the new stadium at White Hart Lane is scheduled for September. However, as with any large construction project, there can be unanticipated delays and problems which prevent completion on schedule. There have been talks with the Premier League about starting the new season with a series of away matches, but the League are reluctant to offer Tottenham more than three away matches. Any return to Wembley would require the Premier League to waive rules stating that clubs must play all their home games at one ground in a single campaign. The Champions League begins in the second week of September and the club have also had talks about starting their European campaign at Wemb...

Hamburg were the longest-serving members of Germany's top flight, having been in the Bundesliga since its creation in 1963. The equivalent in the Premier League would be Everton getting relegated. The club's revenues are well over £100m per season, placing them in the middle of the Bundesliga rankings which is where they are in terms of net spend and wage bill. This is in spite of a lack of revenue from European football. Hamburg's attendance remains in the European top 20 (their stadium has a 57,000 capacity). Hamburg is the second largest city in the EU's largest economy. Club rules go beyond the 'fifty plus one' rule which stops a single investor owning a majority of a club. Shipping magnate Klaus-Michael Kuhne is limited to a 24.9 per cent stake. He has pumped in over £50m into the club in terms of direct investment and low interest loans, but doesn't have much say. Decisions at board level involve a large group of people, most of them fan appoi...

City Football Group has more than 1,000 players at its disposal and a presence in every continent. New York City FC recently unveiled a new training facility. A 20 per cent stake in the Yokohoma Marinos in Japan was purchased in 2014, while 44 per cent of La Liga side Girona was acquired in August. Melbourne City in Australia was bought in 2014. Last year CFG acquired the Uruguyan side Club Atletico Torque. A move into China has been mooted (the investment group China Media Capital owns 14 per cent of City). Manchester City's global presence still has its limits. City have a Twitter following of 6.25 million compared with Manchester United's 18.3 million. Real Madrid and Barcelona have more than 29 million each.

Soccer economics guru Stefan Szymanski takes a look at how the MLS in the US is becoming more like the Premier League: Convergence? In many respects, the gap is still a large one but there has been 'a $50 million increase in total salaries paid (25%) and a 19% increase in salaries per team. Given that Forbes estimated that MLS made an aggregate operating loss of $20 million, last year while attendance is largely flat and there is no new broadcast income, it’s fair to ask where the money is coming from. There are some new sources of income, such as new sponsorship deals and the ever-mysterious SUM, but the most likely candidate must be the expansion fees paid by the teams entering the league.' Of course, the crucial difference is that there is no relegation from the MLS. There are those who would like that to happen in the Premier League.

The Price of Football has estimated Premier League values for 2017. Average club value up from £607 million to £791 million, and total EPL value is touching £15 billion: Premier League values Values vary from £2.46 billion for Manchester United to £146 million for Crystal Palace, who suffer from not publishing their 2017 accounts. Manchester United's £2,463 million (2016 £2,402 million) consolidated their position at top of table as higher broadcast income and profits of £11m player sale profits compared to a £10m loss in 2016. Chelsea's £2,062 million (2016 £1,837 million) reflecting their ability to continually sell players at a profit (£159 million in three years), bonuses for winning the Premier League and a new kit deal pushed them into second. Their biggest constraint is matchday income, only £65m compared to over £100m for United and Arsenal. Their new stadium is intended to solve that problem.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is looking to increase his shareholding in the club to close to 60 per cent by purchasing the shares of the deputy chairman Jon Woods. Moshiri paid £200m for a 49.9 per cent share in the club two years ago and is now seeking to exercise an option to buy the 8.9 per cent owned by Woods, which would take the share to 58.9 per cent. Moshiri's proposed purchase would leave the chairman Bill Kenwright (12.2 per cent) as the only other shareholder with more than 5 per cent.

Chelsea have secured the most lucrative sleeve sponsorship deal in the Premier League, a £50m deal with Hyundai for next season. The five year deal replaces the one year one with Alliance Tyres, a subsidiary of the club's shirt sponsor, Yokohama Tyres who have two years left on their own five year deal worth £200m. Chelsea's sleeve sponsorship is worth double the annual amount of Manchester City's sleeve sponsorship with Neven Tyre and will set a new benchmark for such deals, with both Arsenal and Manchester United in the process of negotiating their sleeve sponsorships for next season. Top clubs have benefitted most from the introduction of sleeve sponsorships, increasing the gap between them and other Premier League clubs.

The sale of Charlton Athletic by controversial Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet appears to be imminent after long drawn out negotiations. The prospective Australian purchasers broke cover at the play off semi-final at The Valley last night and sat at the front of the directors' box. Future chairman Andrew Muir had earlier toured the ground. The Addicks will become the first Australian owned club in the Football League. Voice of the Valley fanzine editor Rick Everitt fills in the background and the details of the likely deal: Aussies break cover

Arsene Wenger has predicted that there will soon be a European super league playing at weekends consigning domestic football to midweek and potentially leading to fewer teams in the Premier League. Wenger said that it was the natural next revolution in football with big clubs becoming increasingly dominant, demanding more cash and a level playing field to compete between themselves.

The Swiss Ramble takes an in depth look at Cardiff City's accounts for 2016/17 following their promotion to the Premier League. TV income of £21m was significantly higher than £8m received by most Championship clubs without parachute payments. In the Premier League they will receive £94m even if they finish last. Added to £72m parachute payments, this means promotion is worth at least £166m. Revenue has declined by £54m (65%) from £83m to £29m since relegation in 2014. Most of this decrease is broadcasting £43m, but commercial £6m and match day £5m are also down. Promotion is very timely, as 2017/18 is the last year of parachute payments (around £16m). Tan and his friends have put a huge amount of money into Cardiff City, around £182m (£166m loans & £16m new share capital). This has covered large operating losses, while funding player purchases and infrastructure investment, so that books are balanced from a cash perspective. In 2016/17 owners provided Cardiff City with a n...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has been taking a look at Sunderland's 2016/17 accounts which cover the season when they finished bottom of the Premier League and were relegated to the Championship. The club significantly reduced loss before tax from £33m to £10m, though influenced by profit on player sales (mainly Jordan Pickford) rising from £5m to £33m. On the other hand, would have been break-even without exceptional £10m that the courts forced them to pay Inter for Ricky Alvarez. Sunderland were the only club in the Premier League to report a loss in the 2016/17 season. The Swiss Ramble comments, 'This takes some doing in the first year of a spectacular new TV deal.' Revenue grew £18m (17%) to £126m, entirely due to the new three year Premier League TV deal, which increased broadcasting income by £24m (34%) to £96m. Other revenue streams actually fell: commercial was down £4.3m (16%) to £21.8m, while gate receipts slipped £1.5m (14%) to £9.0m. Revenue almost doubled...

The Premier League arranges its fixtures so that none of the top six clubs meet on the first or final weekend of the season. Premier League sources say that it is done for commercial reasons to appeal to broadcasters and to boost attendances at matches on the final weekend. All matches are played at the same time and the Premier League wants to boost attendances at every game rather than tempt fans to watch a big six clash on TV. The decision to avoid matches between the top six on the opening weekend is believed to be because the Premier League does not want to stage one of the biggest games of the season during the holiday period when there are usually smaller TV audiences and there may be competition from other big sporting events.

Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football takes an in depth look at the 2016/17 Sunderland accounts: Short changed He concludes, 'Ellis Short’s tenure as Sunderland owner is a textbook example of someone who thought the Premier League was an opportunity to make a lot of money and getting it spectacularly wrong. He has effectively written out a cheque for half a million pounds every week for ten years to keep the club afloat, and during that period has seen a series of executives and managers come and go at the club.' Whilst he can afford to lose this sum, it’s still an unpleasant experience for anyone to walk away from such a spectacular financial mess. 'The reaction of Sunderland fans seems to be measured. They appreciate Short’s benevolence but are angry at the quality of decisions made by a series of well remunerated professional business managers in charge of club operations. The irony is, having measured the club value using the industry standard Markham Multivariate ...

Ellis Short will be able to recoup some of the money tied up in the £140m debts he has cleared to facilitate the sale of Sunderland. The agreement with the purchasing consortium does not include the Hilton Gardens Inn hotel which is situated opposite the Stadium of Light. Short will also retain an area of land next to the hotel which has planning permission for a further development, with the two having a combined valuation of £30m.

Chelsea have been warned that they may need to accept a reduced capacity of 51,000 at Wembley during their exile from Stamford Bridge if the national stadium is bought by Fulham owner Shahid Khan. Khan has plans to significantly increase the number of events held at the stadium. Under an agreement with Brent Council, Wembley is permitted to stage 22 sporting events and 15 non-sporting events with a full 90,000 capacity each year. The FA originally applied for 31 full capacity events which would have covered all Tottenham's matches, but on receiving indications that such an application would be problematic. They then reduced the application to 22 matches and closed the upper tier for Tottenham's domestic cup matches.

Liverpool's run to the Champions League final could mean a windfall of more than £70m for the club. They are guaranteed to take at least £44.8m in prize money. The victors will receive an additional £4m. The winnings will then be topped up by a share of the market pool money. Liverpool can expect to bank about £22.9m from that. The total that Liverpool will receive if they claim a sixth European Cup would be about £71.7m.

Arsenal's exit from the Europa League will cost the club £9m in lost sponsorship revenue next season. Arsenal's kit and sponsorship deals with Puma and Emirates contain penalty clauses of 15 per cent if the club is not involved in the Champions League. Both Puma and Emirates pay Arsenal £30m a year to have their logos on the club shirt, but that is contingent on them taking part in the Champions League. Arsenal will also suffer as a result of reduced broadcast and ticketing revenue in the Europa League, which combined with the commercial loss led to their operating profits falling by more than 60 per cent last year. Arsenal's most recently published half year results to November 2017 showed that the club's income from football (excluding player trading) was down by £23.4m on the previous year with their absence from the Champions League the biggest factor. Absence from the Champions League will make it more difficult to recruit a top drawer manager to replace Arsen...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble takes a look at Bournemouth's 2016/17 accounts. These covered a season when they finished in a record high position of 9th in the Premier League, securing a 3rd consecutive season in the top flight. The club more than quadrupled profit before tax from £3.4m to £14.7m, as revenue rose £49m (55%) to a record £136m, though they made a £1m loss on player sales compared to an £11m gain the previous season. After tax, the club made a £14.0m profit. Profit before tax of £15m is obviously a fine achievement, but to place it in perspective it is only the 13th highest in the Premier League. In fact, 18 of 19 clubs that have published 2016/17 accounts to date have reported profits, mainly thanks to spectacular TV money. An astonishing 91% of revenue comes from TV (£125m out of £136m), which is the biggest dependency in the top flight, though it should be noted that 12 of the 19 clubs that have reported to date are above 75%. Since promotion to the Premier Lea...

The sale of Charlton will not be completed until it is decided which division the Addicks will be playing in next season. Controversial Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet will increase the price if they make it to the Championship: Sale delayed Two interested parties remain in play, including an Australian consortium who were believed to be represented at The Valley at last Saturday's home game.

Rochdale fans have raised money so that their number one Spanish fan, Jesus Sanchez, can come to the game against Charlton at Saturday. It will be the first time in his life that he has left Spain and he may have a bit of a shock when he encounters Rochdale: Saviour

Guardian journalist and top football writer David Conn discusses Chesterfield's relegation from the Football League for the first time in their history: Relegation He notes, 'A saga of budget overruns on the stadium, a boardroom walkout and a run of unsuccessful managerial appointments has seen the Spireites relegated.'

The rising cost of Tottenham Hotspur's new stadium means that the club will have to sell players in order to buy them next season. It was hoped that the new stadium would boost the chances of the club acquiring much awaited silverware. In the long run, it will. But the cost of building the Emirates dented the on pitch capabilities of North London rivals Arsenal. David Hytner writes in The Guardian , 'It seems a long time ago that £400m was the ballpark figure. Then, it became £750m and £850m, and now, nobody would be surprised if it reached a billion. Tottenham have taken out £400m in bank loans, which are repayable over a five-year period. This month they announced in their financial results for the year ended 30 June 2017 that the “cumulative spend” on the project had increased from £115.3m to £315.1m.' Read his full story here: Reality check as stadium costs escalate

They may be facing relegation, but West Bromwich Albion made record profits of £26.7m in 2016/17, up from a loss of £5.3m in then previous year, the sixth highest profit in the top flight on one measure. Of course in large part, this reflects the benefits of the Premier League TV deal. They spent only £5m of the extra £40m on wages, but may have been setting themselves up for a fall in doing so. Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football writes: 'West Brom have shown that a club can survive for many years in the Premier League on a relatively modest wage bill. They have had a strategy, which to be fair has worked for many years, of spending less on transfers than their peer group. It now, unless Darren Moore can pull off the greatest escape of all time, as if this approach has finally caught up with them. At the start of each season they have been in the dozen or so clubs who "could" get relegated for some time, and this looks like being the season when gravity finally wi...