Skip to main content

Juve boss wants matches in England cut

Andrea Agnelli is chairman of Juventus and chairman of the powerful European Clubs' Association. He is a member of the famous Agnelli family and a board member at Fiat. So when he speaks he needs to be listened to.

He has called for the Premier League to be 'streamlined'. England's top flight clubs can play up to 53 games in the Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup (although the cup competitions provide a rare outing for fringe players). Their equivalents in Germany play a maximum of 43.

Agnelli wants a general reduction in domestic games with more international club games. This is very much the agenda of the top European clubs. The top six in the Premier League would also support a reduction in its size, although it would require smaller clubs to agree to be turkeys voting for an early Christmas.

Reducing the size of the Premier League could, however, lead to a reduction in the number of clubs relegated to two or even one. This would, of course, not go down well with Championship clubs trying to reach the riches of the top flight, if only for a season or two. Some foreign owners, particularly those from the US, find the whole idea of a franchise being relegated strange.

The Premier League reacted angrily to Agnelli's comments, telling them to take his tanks off their lawn: 'It is up to Italian clubs and their association to make decisions about their competitions but neither they nor the ECA have any role in the governance of English football.'

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Threat of financial calamity removed from Baggies

West Bromwich Albion had effectively been in decline ever since the club was sold to a Chinese consortium in August 2016, paying a figure north of £200m to buy former owner Jeremy Peace’s stake. Controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai’s ownership was fairly disastrous for the club, but his unloved tenure finally came to an end after Bilkul Football WBA, a company ultimately owned by Florida-based entrepreneur Shilen Patel and his father Dr Kiran Patel, acquired an 87.8% shareholding in West Bromwich Albion Group Limited, the parent company of West Bromwich Albion Football Club. This change in ownership was urgently required, due to the numerous financial problems facing West Brom, including growing high-interest debt and serious cash flow concerns, following years of no investment from the former owner. Indeed, West Brom’s auditors had already rung the alarm bell in the 2021/22 accounts when they cast doubt on the club’s ability to continue as a going concern without making player s...
1 comment
Read more

Gold standard ground boosts Tottenham's income

The gold standard in European football grounds is the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London, a £1bn construction project completed in 2019. Its impact on the club’s finances has become increasingly clear as the effects of the pandemic have faded. Previously, the average fan would spend less than £2 inside the ground on a typical match day, but now that figure is about £16, thanks to new facilities including the longest bar in Europe and an on-site microbrewery. Capacity has gone up from 36,000 at the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane to 62,000.  The new stadium — built on land adjacent to White Hart Lane — has opened the door to a broad range of other events that have helped to push commercial income up from €117mn in 2018 to €215mn in 2022. Last year, Tottenham hosted US singer Beyoncé for five nights on her global Renaissance tour, two NFL matches, as well as rugby games and heavyweight boxing bouts.  Money brought in from football has gone up too. Match day ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spurs to sell minority stake

Tottenham Hotspur is in talks to sell a minority stake in a deal that could value it at up to £3.75 billion and pave the way for Joe Lewis and his family to sever ties with the Premier League football club. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is seeking an investment that values the club at between £3.5 billion and £3.75 billion, including debt. While the terms of any deal have not been finalised, City sources expect Spurs to sell about 10 per cent. The club is being advised by bankers from Rothschild on the sale. Tottenham wants to raise fresh capital for new player signings and to help fund the development of an academy for its women’s team, as well as a 30-storey hotel next to its north London stadium. The financier Amanda Staveley, who brokered the deal for Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take over Newcastle United, is understood to be among the parties to have expressed an interest in Tottenham. Staveley’s fund, PCP Capital Partners, has raised about £500 million to ...
Post a Comment
Read more