The Political Economy of Football V2

Dundee lost over £1.8 million in 2018/19 to take total losses over £7 million. Dundee FC raised money from their main shareholder since the end of the season to keep club afloat. The club statement on the accounts emphasises the importance of getting back to the SPFL Premiership: Accounts Dundee are currently 3rd in the Championship and some way behind table topping rivals Dundee United. Dundee United's average home league attendances this season have been 7,524, but what is remarkable is the lack of variation around the mean (7,404 - 7,644). Dundee have often been in the 4,500 - 5,000 range, but there were 11,233 there for the derby with their neighbours. Elsewhere in Scotland, Arbroath football club lost £27,000 in 2018/19 but still have a strong balance sheet. Queen of the South managed to record a £70,000 profit. Both clubs have unusual grounds, Dundee because of their overlap with Dundee United and Arbroath because of their location by the sea.

Arsenal group accounts for 2018/19 show club lost £35m from day to day activities last season, up 58% on previous year but unlike in 2017/18 did not have large player sales to reverse this and make an overall profit (reports Kieran Maguire). Arsenal staff costs down mainly due to lower redundancy sums. Staff numbers fell (but only marginally). The group's loss for the period after tax was £27.1m - down from a profit of £56.5m from 2018. While football revenue overall was up at £394.7m from £388.2m, benefiting from increased commercial revenues, the club said overall operating profits were impacted by 'continued investment in player wages', which increased to £231.7m. Whether the 'investment' has brought the desired returns is another matter. Arsenal player trading: purchases £99m and sales £19m. Arsenal expect to pay a further £27m for transfers when individual players hit appearance targets and trigger add-on fees. The absence of Champions League football hit...

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball reports that Rangers, Wolves and Manchester United earned €500,000 in prize money for their R32 victories in the Europa League last night. They will benefit from match receipts from at least one more home game plus €1.1m if win R16, €1.5m for QF, €2.4m for SF, €4.5m losing finalists and €8.5m winners. Arsenal will not, of course, share in any of this largesse and it was a bleak night for supporters of the Gooners. The problems at the club are deeper than can be solved just by a change of manager and must be laid at the door of the owner of the Islington franchise, 'silent' Stan Kroenke.

Cardiff City Vincent Tan looks as if he could be setting out to rival former Charlton Athletic Roland Duchatelet as he considers adding to his network of clubs by buying financially troubled Malaga: Vincent Tan As well as Cardiff City, Tan owns Belgian Belgian First Division KV Kortrijk and Bosnian club FK Sarajevo and is co-owner of Los Angeles FC. It's tangled tale at Malaga but the club could be available at a knockdown price. A judicial investigator is now in charge of the club after the Qatari businessmen who owned it was removed for six months: FC Malaga

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has reviewed the 2018/19 accounts of Swansea City. He notes that the Abertawe club's loss before tax widened from £3.2m to £7.0m, as revenue almost halved following relegation from £127m to £68m, despite parachute payments, and profit on player sales fell £16m to £30m, largely offset by cutting costs by £72m. After tax, loss increased from £2.9m to £6.0m. The main reason for Swans £59m (46%) revenue reduction was broadcasting, which more than halved in the Championship from £105m to £52m, though commercial was also down £6m (45%) to £8m and match day fell £0.8m (11%) to £6.6m. Player loans up £1.7m to £2.0m. To offset the steep revenue reduction, Swans cut the wage bill by £43m (47%) from £91m to £48m, applying relegation clauses, although apparently some wages are close to Premier League levels. Despite the decrease, Swans £48m wage bill is still third highest reported to date in the 2018/19 Championship, only beaten by Stoke City £56m and Norwich...

Any additional action by the English Football League to try to help save Bury FC 'would not have made any difference to the eventual outcome', an independent review has concluded. The following statement has been issued by the EFL: 'The EFL’s Board of Directors commissioned the Bury FC Review in September 2019 to review and assess the circumstances leading to the withdrawal of Bury FC’s membership of the League on 27 August 2019. In particular, the review considered the manner in which the EFL’s regulations and procedures, and the EFL’s policy in respect of insolvent clubs, were applied by the EFL to Bury FC, and to what effect. In his report, issued to Clubs in advance of the meeting, Mr Taylor sets out in detail the chronology of events following the acquisition of the Club by Stewart Day in May 2013, its subsequent sale to Steve Dale in December 2018, and the eventual withdrawal of its membership of the EFL in August 2019. After considering the steps taken by the EFL ...

Championship clubs have proposed a salary cap of £20 million in a move to force drastic changes to the English Football League’s financial rules. Senior executives from the 24 clubs met on Thursday to discuss the Profitability and Sustainability regulations and failed to reach an agreement, with more talks planned for next month. It is understood that one of the proposals put forward was to enforce a salary cap of £20 million for Championship squads, plus a limit on squad numbers, but some clubs were keen on the cap being higher so the situation remains unresolved. The problem with salary caps is that they are open to evasion and difficult to enforce.

Liverpool FC have filed their annual accounts showing a 15 per cent increase in turnover with improvements in all three key revenue streams: Liverpool FC's financial results: club statement £42m profit (£33m after tax), £223m invested in Jurgen Klopp’s squad. Club-wide wage bill £310m. Debt: £79.3m owed to FSG over Main Stand loan (£20.7m paid off) with £50m external debt. It should be noted that given the date to which the accounts were made up they do not include the final winnings from the Champions League. Liverpool University lecturer Kieran Maguire has cheekily suggested, 'Liverpool made £42m profit before tax, third highest in Premier League despite large investment in transfers and new contracts for players, which perhaps shows it is useful to be successful on the pitch to be successful off it Ed Woodward?' The club is clearly financially sustainable and very well run, unlike some American owned clubs I could mention. The Liverpool Echo describes the results ...

Small shareholders at West Bromwich Albion (who still own 12 per cent of the club) have been granted a general meeting to discuss a loan made by the club to former owner Jeremy Pearce: Loan meeting Albion’s directors had previously opted against holding a general meeting with Shareholders For Albion (S4A) about the matter. But in the hope of drawing a line under the issue, they have now agreed to meet with members in London. It has previously been alleged by a section of S4A that Peace used the loan from the club to his own company – WBA Holdings – to assist a bid he had made, three months earlier, to purchase shares in WBA Group, the club’s parent company. Peace increased his stake in WBA Group from around 65 per cent to 88 per cent, which he then sold to Guachon Lai for around £200m two years later in 2016. Using the loan to increase his own shareholding is something Peace has always strenuously denied.

Cheltenham Town are currently in the play off positions in League Two and they had profits of £69,000 in 2018/19. This may be due to the sale of Mo Eisa to Bristol City for about £1.5m, notes Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. The club has plenty of cash in the bank. Cheltenham did not sign any players for fees in 2018/19. Cheltenham loans down about £120,000. Local businessman and lifelong fan Andy Wilcox became chairman in 2018, replacing a chairman who had served for 21 years: New chairman Arguably Cheltenham as a club are punching above their weight. The population of the town is 115,000 and there are not many large places in the immediate hinterland. In comparison the Leamington urban area (Leamington and Warwick) has a population of 95,000 before counting some heavily populated villages nearby. Leamington, admittedly a phoenix club, are in the National League North. One would not think of Cheltenham as a natural football town. The biggest employer must surely be th...

QPR reduced their operating losses from £22m to £12m in 2019, reveals Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. These are moderate operating losses by Championship standards. QPR do have cash in the bank but are technically insolvent and are reliant on their owners to carry on trading. Losses over the years exceed £287 million. QPR's owners lent the club a further £11.4 million cash in 2019 interest free. QPR are still in receipt of parachute payments which made up 64% of income in 2019. The figure of £22m will drop to £7m in 2019/20. QPR wage bill was down 25% in 2019 as club prepares for life without parachute payments and eliminates big earners from wage bill. Parachute payments meant that QPR are still in the top 10 earners in the Championship. QPR spent no money signing players in 2018/19 and had sales of £3.9 million. Owner loans are mainly because some written off as part of FFP settlement, which costs the club £1.7m a year in terms of cash and had an effective cash co...

Kilmarnock's best league position since 1966 also saw the club turn a loss in the preceding year into a profit, despite a higher wage bill: Kilmarnock finances It isn't easy for the clubs outside Scotland's big cities, so this is a considerable achievement by Kilmarnock. The population of Kilmarnock is just 46.350 which means that it ranks fifteenth in Scotland. The club has just signed a new record kit deal with Hummel to replace Nike, although the sum involved is not specified: Record kit deal

Manchester United revenue was down £40m in the first six months of 2019/20 due to lack of Champions League participation. Manchester United net debt up £73m as cash reserves fell. In the six months to December 2019 commercial revenue went up by over six per cent to £151m compared with the same period in 2018, reflecting the club's strength in this area. They are justified in being confident about it: Bullish over sponsorship future Broadcast revenue fell by 33 per cent over the comparable period to under £100m at £97.6m. Matchday revenues were stable over the six month period. Operating profit fell by 18 per cent from just under £58m to £47.5m. For 2020, the club expects its total revenues to be between £560m and £580m. Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball notes a deterioration in the club's cash balance and comments: 'Main reason why Manchester United's cash position deteriorated so much since June is that the club paid out £187 million on transfer fee instalm...

The FA and the Premier League are engaged in a battle over what happens over player visas after Brexit is completed at the end of the year. Many fans would like to see more English players being developed in the Premier League and EFL, while the Premier League is concerned that the global attraction of its offer is dependent on attracting some of the best world class players. The Premier League is increasingly reliant on overseas television revenues as domestic revenues have plateaued. After the Brexit transition ends those coming from the EU can be expected to be treated in the same way as players coming from other parts of the world. According to an analysis by the Financial Times more than half the players at Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Norwich and Wolverhampton Wanderers are EU nationals. Under the current rules homegrown players are counted as those registered with the FA for at least three years before they are 21 years old, regardless of nationality. That has allow...

Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football reports 'AFC Wimbledon publish 2019 accounts for AGM. Income up 15% on back of FA Cup run and beating West Ham. Sale of ground to Chelsea made £4m profit +£1m from developer. An extra £70k was given to Kingstonian. Stripping out one off items gives an operating loss of £1.5m (£30k a week). For the first time in the club's history as a phoenix club AFC Wimbledon had higher income and wages than MK Dons, also had lower operating losses.' AFC Wimbledon paid £80 in wages for every £100 of income in 2018/19. This is higher than recommended levels, but not unusual for a League One club. Wimbledon Bond came too late for the accounts but reference made to nearly £2.5m of investment made from share issue late in 2019 assuming final price agreed for new stadium. The club spent more that £4.2m on development for new stadium in 2018/19. The sale of Kingsmeadow allowed the club to pay off bank loans. The Wimbledon Bond is powering ahead and ...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble gives his take on Manchester City's ban from Uefa competitions and its likely financial impact. He comments, 'On the face of it, the emails leaked to Der Spiegel are damning, as they appear to show that City sponsorship was mostly funded by the owners, Abu Dhabi United Group, e.g. £57m of the £65m agreement with state airline Etihad, £12m of Aabar £15m deal. FFP limits owner funding.' The importance of commercial income (and Abu Dhabi sponsors) to City is evident. It has grown by over £200m in the last 10 years from £18m to £230m, more than any other English club, and accounted for as much as 53% of total revenue in 2013. In the early years under Sheikh Mansour’s ownership, City incurred many significant losses, culminating in a £197m deficit in 2011, due to heavy spending to build a competitive squad. However, figures have steadily improved with the club reporting profits in the last five years. Missing out on the Champions League would ...

The takeover of Wycombe Wanderers from the Supporters Trust has been completed with American businessman and sports team owner Rob Couhig acquiring a 75 per cent stake: It's a done deal 95 per cent of eligible Trust members voted in favour of the takeover. Former chairman Trevor Stroud, who remains on the board, said: 'Today is the day that we pass the baton to Rob Couhig, as the new majority shareholder of Wycombe Wanderers, and thank him for the commitment he has shown to the club ever since accepting our call in June to support the club financially and operationally. Without his contribution at the time, we were facing an extremely precarious position and I don’t believe the club would be in the position it is now had Rob not come forward.' Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball has tweeted: 'Wycombe Wanderers lost £868,000 in 2018/19 and are technically insolvent as liabilities exceed assets. This may further explain why the supporters’ trust sold the club to pri...

Preston move from a profit of £2.6m in 2018 to a loss of £14.2m in 2018/2019 due to no significant player sales and big increase in wages, reports Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Preston player spend of £4.2m was lower than average in division of £14m but figures distorted by some clubs at the top of table. Preston owed Trevor Hemmings £43 million interest free at 30 June 2019. Since the end of 2018/19 the Preston owner has lent club a further £4.1 million. Preston have the third lowest matchday revenue in Championship. For every £1 paid in wages Preston fans paid 18 pence via matchday revenues. Preston had the seventh lowest wage bill in Championship but the sixth highest wage to income ratio. Combining wages and transfer fee amortisation costs meant that Preston spent £166 on player costs for every £100 of income in 2018/19. Preston average weekly wage £9,156, compared to average for the division of £16,014. For clubs to break even average wage would have to be £4,424 a we...

Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football says 'Fair play to Manchester United for publishing full set of women’s team financial results. Club made operating loss of £232,000 in first 13 months of existence. Royalty income from parent company offset the loss.' Manchester United women’s team average wages of £580 a week in 2018/19 compares to £154,000 a week for men’s team. Since end of season they have bought players (on credit) for £54,000 and had sales of £37,000.

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire talks about how he became involved in the study of football finance, his podcast and ideas for the future of the game: The columbo of football finance He would like to see the following changes: 'I would make football stadia protected community assets to stop them being bought and sold for commercial purposes. I would ensure that anyone who came into the game as an owner would have to effectively put money into an escrow account so that if they left there was sufficient money to pay the bills for a period of, say, two years. And finally, I’d say that all clubs have to publish full, agreed information to a de minimis standard in the football industry for public consumption.' His book The Price of £ootball is published by Agenda.

A comparison of Manchester City and Saracens considers the peculiar economics of sport and the football market. I think some of the arguments made are at least open to challenge, but it is an interesting essay: Economic theory in action

An interesting in depth reflective blog by a Sunderland fan about the situation at the club which has a wider applicability: Evaluating Sunderland under the microscope. In particular, I have in mind his comment: 'One of the things I have considered is whether our passion for the club doesn’t sometimes tip beyond a football obsession and into something altogether darker.' All fans are passionate about their club and Sunderland fans particularly so. They have also been through some very difficult times and are playing at a lower level than they should be. But as he concludes: 'As we prepare to welcome a new owner, maybe it is time for us to regain a bit of dignity as we wave goodbye to the current lot and wait to see what the new people DO. Not what they say - or what somebody we met in a bar thought his cousin’s neighbour might have heard them say – but what they actually do. No need for hero worship. No need for vilification.' 'Because, if next time we save o...

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball reports: 'Only nine Premier League clubs have reported financial results to date for 2018/19 so totals will of course change but collective loss of £343 million. The EFL Championship then has a 'hold my beer' moment with £579m of losses.' In his recent book The Price of £ootball, Maguire comments: 'The Championship is currently the most concerning division in Europe financially. Clubs are unlikely to play in European competition and so they are not subject to Uefa break even tests.'

From his Zurich fastness, the authoritative Swiss Ramble blogger reviews the latest accounts of Wolverhampton Wanderers. He notes, 'Since being bought by Chinese investment group Fosun International in July 2016, Wolves is a club transformed, helped by a close relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes. Under charismatic manager Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves can realistically compete for European qualification.' The £146m revenue growth was very largely driven by broadcasting’s £125m increase from £8m to £133m, due to much higher TV money in the Premier League, while commercial also rose £17m from £11m to £28m and match day was up £3.7m (47%) from £7.8m to £11.5m. £20m profit is the second highest reported so far in the 2018/19 Premier League, only surpassed by Manchester United £27m. This is impressive, given that half of the eight Premier League clubs that have published accounts have lost money, including huge losses above £100m at Chelsea and Everton. The Swiss Ramble com...

All revenue streams were down at Swansea City following relegation, although the club made a substantial profit on player trading. Next year we will see a further fall in income as parachute payments are cut in their final year: Club uses bank loans Swansea made an operating loss of £34 million which was offset largely by player sales profits of £30 million. Swansea wage bill was down £40m and over 60 jobs lost following relegation. Swansea player sales since the end of the accounting period in July 2019 were £15m (Dan James) and purchases £746k. Swansea have sold some transfer fees due to the club to a bank for £2.4 million.

The fan driven bond issue for AFC Wimbledon has now raised over £5m and the organisers are now aiming for £7.5m. The more that is raised in this way the less the club will have to borrow to finance the new stadium near their old home in Plough Lane: Bond success One of the organisers told Richard Cawley of the SLP: 'There was a bit of a narrative that because people had said this was the only way forward [external investment] and they were people in authority, a lot believed that was the only way forward. We’ve changed the game on that. We believe there are more Wimbledon fans and football fans out there who understand what we stand for – not just football but also the community and a broader spectrum of things.' 'If we’re self critical then I think we’ve been asleep at the wheel a little bit. We got so used to fan ownership and The Dons Trust running things that we didn’t realise what needed to change. It’s taken something like this to remobilise and understand the va...

Manchester City could go for broke and challenge the whole legal basis of financial fair play in an equivalent of the Bosman judgment. It has always been my personal view that FFP is incompatible with both EU and domestic competition law and many lawyers also share that view. QPR used that argument to substantially scale down the penalties applied to them. City have been consulting lawyers from three different firms. A person close to the club's leadership told the Financial Times, 'This is not about getting a smaller punishment. This is about the substance of the case, which will finally be heard freshly by an independent group where we believe we will prevail.' There had been speculation that the Court for Arbitration of Sport might reduce the Champions League ban to one year. City are considering a strategy in which it will argue that not only did it not breach the regulations but that these rules should not exist at all. Top sports lawyer Daniel Geey told the P...

Wolves have gone from an operating loss of £65m in the Championship in 2017/18 to an operating profit of £10m in 2018/19 in the Premier League, reveals Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Wolves had £28m in the bank and total losses over the years of £92m at 31 May 2019. All sources of income up significantly for Wolves in 2018/19, most notably league distributions up from just under £7m to nearly £115m in the Premier League. Wolves wages up to £92m in 2018/19 which is relatively low by Premier League standards and only paying a healthy £53 in wages for every £100 of income. Wolves spent £111 million on signings in 2018/19 and sold players for £21 million. Since the end of 2018/19 Wolves have signed players for £95 million (taking total PL player signings to £206m) and sold others for £3 million. Also taken out a £25m loan and a £25m overdraft facility. Wolves borrowed £57m from owners Fosun in 2018/19 to take total borrowing to £131m.

After six years David Beckham saw his Inter Miami team play their first game, a friendly, at the weekend. Their first MLS fixture is on March 1st. Their first match was at the Al Lang stadium, an antiquated baseball stadium in Fort Lauderdale with a 7,500 capacity. It is a 40 minute drive north of Miami. A 20,000 seater stadium in Fort Lauderdale will be ready for their first MLS match and will be their home for at least two seasons, perhaps for good. The longer term plan is to build the Miami Freedom Park stadium with a 25,000 seat capacity near Miami International Airport. However, many politicians oppose building on the site at the Melreese Country Club in a city lacking in green open spaces. Beckham has local partners in Jorge and José Mas, Miami-based Cuban-American construction magnates who have the ability to navigate South Florida political waters. Other investors include Masayoshi Son, the Japanese billionaire owner of multinational conglomerate SoftBank, and Marcelo C...

FC Barcelona contributed nearly 1.2 billion euros to the economy of the city in 2018/19 or nearly 1.5 per cent of GDP. Much of the contribution came from the effects of football tourism, according to a study by Price Waterhouse: Club's big contribution to city's wealth

Manchester City may take its fight with Uefa to state and international courts if its appeal to the Court for Arbitration of Sport in Lausanne fails. One of the leaked e-mails provided to the Uefa adjudication body said that rather than settle the club's 2014 financial fair play case, club chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak informed the then Uefa general secretary that he would rather spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue them for the next ten years. City was represented at CAS's October hearing by eight lawyers. In opposition, Uefa was represented by just two lawyers. City argues 'that this is a case initiated by Uefa, presented by Uefa, and judged by Uefa.' An attempt to extend the legal challenge beyond CAS would require City to overturn a 2012 statement from the EU's competition commissioner supporting FFP. Last year a memorandum of understanding was agreed between Uefa and the European Club Association (of which City is a member) outlawing ch...

There is nothing new about politics and oligarchs getting mixed up, but it is still unusual for a government to intervene to legislate to settle a row between rival teams, but that is what has happened in Greece. The two clubs are Ivan Savvidis's PAOK (based in Thessalonuki) and Vangelis Marinakis's Olympiakos (based in Piraeus). Mr Savvidis has a reputation of enjoying close links with Vladimir Putin. Mr Marinakis is a shipping magnate and the proprietor of a media empire. Both oligarchs are dedicated to their clubs. Mr Savvidis was banned from attending PAOK matches for 12 months after he rushed on the pitch in 2018 to protest against a penalty decision wearing a holstered pistol on his belt. Mr Marinakis was acquitted by the Greek supreme court of charges of match fixing in 2018. Mr Savvidis acquired PAOK in 2012. In 2018 he acquired Xanthi in 2018 in violation of a single investor owning more than one Super League club, leading to a complaint from Mr Marinakis. The ac...

Tiny clubs with big payrolls to attract foreign players has created a corruption and match fixing problem in Cyprus football, but the paradox is that it has improved the quality of football: Corruption in Cyprus The report concludes, 'The country’s small population – the majority of clubs have a tiny fan-base – and the size of the economy cannot sustain the clubs’ big payrolls such as the large number of foreign footballers. While this has raised the standard and quality of the game, it has made the majority of clubs financially unviable and in need of new revenue sources.' 'Paradoxically, the corruption that has become our number one problem, which everyone now wants to tackle, is the main reason for the improved quality of Cyprus football. If the clubs were operating within their means the standard would probably be much lower.' A referee, along with a club chairman and a former referee, has been banned from officiating on suspicion of fixing a match on February ...

Even leaving aside the possible consequences of Manchester City's dispute with Uefa, PSG have overtaken Manchester City as the football's greatest financial power, according to a report by football business experts Soccerex, again highlighting the significance of the two clubs' Middle Eastern ownership: Soccerex report. You can download the whole report. The findings are in line with an offthepitch.com analysis which last month showed PSG and Manchester City, both clubs owned by oil-rich states, were the biggest revenue growers among the top European clubs over the past decade. PSG increase their revenue by a whopping 671 per cent from 2010 to 2019, while Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners oversaw a 328 per cent increase. However, one should inject a note of caution. The oil price has probably reached its all time high in real terms as the switch to electric powered vehicles gains pace. The Gulf states don't produce anything else. The Paris club surpassed Ci...

Manchester City have been given a two year ban from all Uefa competitions and fined just under £25m for breaches of financial fair play regulations: Manchester City ban The club has said that it will appeal to the Court for Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland. One view of the FFP regulations, articulated in Kieran Maguire's new book The Price of £ootball is that they were not really about levelling the playing field, but protecting the existing cartel of big clubs from arrivistes like City and Paris Saint-Germain. The Uefa statement on the decision can be found here: Manchester City Stunned City fans are concerned that Pep Guardiola may leave if the decision is upheld.

Fans at AFC Wimbledon look as if they have raised over £4m through a bond issue to help to fund their new stadium. The club should be able to raise the rest of the money commercially. Construction of the new stadium at Plough Lane would have been halted if funds had not been raised by the end of the month: Fans' bond issue

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball looks at the recently released accounts of Rochdale FC for 2018/19. He notes: Rochdale accounts show just how tough life is in League One. They lost £23k a week last season and that was after player sales of £1m. Much lower TV money a major factor. Their accounts for 2019/20 will show the importance of a decent cup draw... and replays.' 'Majority of League One clubs losing money. Potential abolition of FA Cup replays and Carabo Cup will make this worse. Dale's net losses about mid table by League One standards.' Rochdale wage bill up 12%. Its 99% of income excluding transfer fees reinforcing just how challenging conditions are for lower league clubs. Average weekly wage is £1,824. Concerning for Rochdale is that they spent £600k more than they earned from day to day trading. Shareholders stuck in £30k but rest of deficit funded from running down the bank balance. However, despite a tough year, they still have £400k in the bank ...

Somehow the community club model seems to work better in Scotland and this is something I need to look into in more depth. Meanwhile, congratulations to Motherwell on becoming debt free for the first time in 40 years, having wiped out a debt of £2m in three years: Momentous day

Table topping Swindon Town are set to buy the County Ground from the local Council for £2.3m in a joint venture with their supporters, if the fans can raise their share of the needed funds: Ground purchase moves forward Shares will be offered to fans with a minimum price of £19.69 in honour of the club's first and only League Cup Final win in 1969, against Arsenal. Swindon chairman Lee Power said owning the stadium would allow them to redevelop the County Ground. The ground has been Swindon Town's rented home since 1896. The club said the freehold was 'subject to the purchase costs being met by both the club and supporters' and it needed at least 2,300 supporters to 'commit to purchase a community share'. Average attendances this season are 7,684, but the scheme may particularly appeal to fans living away from Swindon as a means of showing their commitment to the club. It's a novel idea and I wish them well, although I did get soaked in what was then ...

David Gold insists that West Ham are 'moving upward', but many of the club's fans do not seem to be convinced. Back in 2016 Gold set out his vision for Champions League football at the London Stadium 'within five years' but the Hammers have since failed to finish in the top half of the Premier League. Gold told reporters: 'We've now got a stadium which holds 60,000 from one which held 35,000. We do understand that there have been difficulties with the stadium but you've only got to go back and look at what you had at West Ham.' However, many fans seem to have preferred Upton Park which was also easier to reach. Whatever the fans may think, Gold insists that he has no regrets: Gold standard Groups of fans are planning further demonstrations, emphasising that their quarrel is not with the team or even David Moyes, but the board and the chief executive.

The extension of the summer transfer window is most significant for the way in which the decision was reached. The 'big six' caucused before the Premier League meeting (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and the two Manchester clubs). The 'big six' feared they would be at a disadvantage if their rivals across Europe had free rein to sign players throughout August, but they did not. They also managed to stop a hybrid proposal which would have allowed only international transfers after the start of the season. The Premier League also continues to do well with overseas TV deals. The new deal for the Nordic countries sees a 20 per cent mark up on the current arrangement.

The idea of a Premier League Two has been kicking around for years and now it has been revived again with the notion that a slimmed down Championship should break away from the EFL. For all the EFL's failings, I think this is straight from the daft ideas department even if it is an 'Al Hayba' moment: Rebranding the Championship Of course, in some respects the Championship is already a Premier League Two with clubs spending loads of money in their desperate attempts to reach the promised land of the Premier League - and paying as little regard as they can to financial fair play rules in the process.

The possibility of a takeover of Sunderland by an American trio is finally dead after they dissolved the company they planned to use as an investment vehicle: Failed takeover talks The bid had been dead in the water for some time. What the way forward for the club is now is unclear, but no doubt I will be discussing the situation with my pharmacist when I pop in later on as he is a keen supporter. At least there has been a revival on the pitch with the club now fourth in the League One form table and seventh in the actual table. The football business newsletter Off the Pitch reports: Sunderland AFC’s owners will cut their asking price for the club by around £5m if the League One club fails to get promoted to the Championship this season. A source close to the club said that a base level price of £35 million is being offered in order to try and agree terms with a buyer by the end of February.' 'Earlier this week a value of at least £40m was reported as being sought by the...

Once again I am taking advantage of work by Kieran Maguire to summarise the financial results of a club for 2018/19, this time St. Mirren. I am swamped with work at the moment and one thing that keeps getting put to one side is writing a review of Kieran's new book on The Price of £ootball. I can recommend it on the basis of what I have read so far. St Mirren published operating losses of just over £900k for 18/19 'but their business model of developing players and selling them for a profit worked again and a £1m profit was made. St Mirren sold players for £330k in the summer 2019 window. St Mirren have plenty of cash in bank and have made over £8m profits over the years.' Promotion to Scottish Premiership boosted St Mirren income by 46% with matchday and broadcast income seeing the biggest increases. 'St Mirren wrote off £29,000 on a player impairment in 2018/19. That’s accounting speak for saying they signed someone who turned out to be shite. St Mirren spent ...

I am rather more sceptical about fan owned clubs than many analysts. Of course, I do understand the motivations behind them and I am a shareholder in my local phoenix non-league club. However, I do think they face a lot of financial challenges, even if they have a relatively prosperous fan base. Last December AFC Wimbledon faced a £11m shortfall on the completion of the construction of their 9,000-seater stadium at their spiritual home of Plough Lane. At a special general meeting of the Dons Trust, it was explained that outside investors had offered £7.5m in return for a 30 per cent stake. That would have seen the Trust in effect surrender control of the club. A small group of three fans devised the Plough Lane Bond and yesterday it was launched to a wider public at an event in London. It is attempting to raise £5m towards the shortfall on the stadium by offering bond holders annual returns of up to four per cent on five, ten or 20 year investment terms. That is a decent coupon ...

Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football reports on the latest financial results from MK Dons. The effects of relegation from League One to League Two are very evident: 'Revenue down 25% in 2018/19 following relegation to League Two. Losses of £4 million as expenses of running club twice the sum of income. Large tax credit of £2.4 million reduced losses overall.' All revenue streams at MK Dons significantly down apart from car park fees. For those who haven't been there, you go through a succession of roundabouts (Milton Keynes may have more than Bracknell) and then the stadium looms up. I must admit I parked in a nearby street, but possibly that has been stopped. MK Dons wage bill down 17% but club still paying £107 in wages for every £100 of income. This is regarded as unhealthy, but is not unusual in the EFL. MK Dons owe £11 million to Stadium MK, the holding company controlled by owner Pete Winkleman. The club's total losses are now £14m. Clearly a benefactor...

Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football reports: 'Forest Green Rovers publish full, audited accounts for 2018/19. [Many clubs do not using an exemption route for smaller firms]. Revenue 2.6% but profits of £308k turn to loss of £797k partly due to collapse of Doidge sale to Ken Anderson’s Bolton. Total losses clocked up by Forest Green Rovers over the years now £13.5 million.' Forest Green Rovers get half of their income from commercial sources, majority of which seems to come from parent company Ecotricity, who the club owes over £6m. Forest Green Rovers wage bill up 11% and wages 74% of revenue. The clubbought players for £158k but no sales in 2018/19 following collapse of Doidge move. They recently bought a player from non-league Leamington for a rumoured £50k.

The latest development in the sad saga of Bury sees the club at risk of liquidation: Owner fails to pay money to creditors Bury’s owner, Steve Dale, has failed to provide any of the money he pledged last summer towards paying the club’s debts via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), creditors have been informed. Dale has until 11 February to pay at least £2m which is owing, otherwise the CVA will be scrapped and the 135-year-old club, which was expelled by the EFL in August, looks likely to be liquidated. A consortium of local businessmen, so far not named publicly, is reported to have been negotiating with Dale to buy the club with its debts to pay, in the hope that Bury may be able to start again in the National League next season. A group of supporters has also made strong progress with forming a phoenix club, Bury AFC, and applied to join the North West Counties League, should efforts to keep the current club out of liquidation fail. The latest winding up petition has now bee...

The Price of Football site has taken an in depth look at West Ham's finances, including lots of charts: Flares and slippers They comment, 'Under a succession of managers West Ham’s recruitment policy looks poor when compared to the amortisation costs of the likes of Spurs or Leicester, with Liverpool’s being only moderately higher too. Looking at the rapid increase in amortisation costs indicates that West Ham have spent large sums recruiting players from other clubs and paying them handsomely, but the quality of the recruitment must be called into question.' 'Life in the boardroom at West Ham isn’t easy in the sense that many fans blame Gold, Sullivan and Brady for the lack of progress on the pitch, but this is offset by a 27% pay rise for West Ham’s CEO. Owners David Gold and Sullivan have not endeared themselves to fans by charging a further £1.9 million on their £45 million loan to the club though, taking the total interest charges to over £18 million, not a game ...

Premier League clubs’ total gross expenditure in the January 2020 transfer window was £230m, surpassing last year’s total of £180m and is the second-highest ever, reports Deloitte Sports Business Group. Premier League clubs spent a total of £1.6bn on transfers during the 2019/20 season, the second-highest seasonal gross transfer expenditure (record 2017/18: £1.9bn). Net transfer expenditure (player purchases less player sales) for Premier League clubs totalled £165m for the window, a record for the January transfer window. Intra Premier League sales made up just 2% of gross transfer spend, significantly less than the previous low of 11% set in January 2019, with Premier League club’s favouring talent from Europe. Premier league clubs spend £25m on deadline day, significantly less than the record of £150m set in January 2018. Premier League clubs spent a total of £230m in the January 2020 transfer window, according to analysis by Deloitte. This surpasses last year’s January window t...

Authoritative sports journalist David Conn discusses the legal battle for control of Sheffield United. It's a complicated story, but it shouldn't have any impact on the success the Blades are enjoying on the pitch. Saudi Arabia is keen to increase its presence in football with other Gulf states ahead of the curve: Bitter battle

The question of scrapping FA Cup replays (they already in the fifth round) is a highly emotive topic. I do not agree with Jurgen Klopp's decision to absent himself from Liverpool's replay with Shrewsbury Town. I can understand the arguments about the winter break, and it is arguable that the timing of it is wrong. However, Klopp's decision looks rather arrogant and patronising. There is a lot of talk about the 'magic of the FA Cup', but attendances, particularly in the earlier rounds, suggest that that magic is lost on many fans. Cup competitions are very much secondary ones on the continent which is why the Cup Winners' Cup was scrapped. They are not a real measure of ability as too much rests on chance, although, of course, that is the very element that appeals to fans as do 'giant killings'. However, they are not really 'giant killings' when leading clubs put out reserve teams. FA Cup success can, of course, have a major impact on the f...

One has to be very cautious about discussing the impact of Brexit on football as we are in a transition period when very little changes and we do not know what sort of agreement, if any, will be concluded between the UK and the EU at the end of the year. In the meantime, everything is speculation, so I give this link with a health warning: Big impact of Brexit on finances and transfers The Sunderland Echo is carrying the same story, except that it talks about the impact on Sunderland.