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Short changed

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 Model, Sunderland as a Premier League club was worth about £215 million if managed correctly, but as a Championship, and now a League One club, it is effectively worthless, as the losses each week and lack of TV income is too much of a burden.'

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  1. Unknown6 May 2018 at 03:57

    Mike Ashley at Newcastle commited about 240 million of his own money to buy and stabilise Newcastle and then put this investment on hold , with a view to recoup the money when the club was sold. Ellis short spent 160 million panicked and started to withdraw money and in doing so left the last 2 managers no room to manoeuvre. In doing so he ruined his own asset

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