The Political Economy of Football V2

Their 2019/20 accounts show that Bournemouth have recorded their fourth annual loss on the bounce. The headline figure is a pre-tax loss of £60.1 million — significantly worse than the £32.4 million loss after tax the club recorded in 2018-19. Revenue was down over a quarter.    Matchday income was down 30% to just £3.5m for the season. The small stadium means that the club is always lowest ticket revenue earner in the Premier League. Bournemouth generated over half a billion pounds in TV money during their time in the Premier League.   Bournemouth’s reliance on TV rights money cannot be over-stated. In 2018-19, 88 per cent of their earnings came directly from the Premier League and that figure stands at 85 per cent for last season’s accounts — even without that deferred TV money from Project Restart. In total, the club are understood to have lost approximately £250,000 in match day, commercial and retail revenue for each of the five Premier League home games they hosted behind c

Championship club Millwall have lost £8m in revenue because of the pandemic and their American owner has had to pump more money into the club:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/millwall-chairman-john-berylson-opens-on-the-challenges-of-owning-a-football-club-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/

The authoritative and tireless Swiss Ramble takes a look at earnings for English clubs from Europe at the quarter final stage. What is clear is that the Champions League remains highly lucrative, reinforcing the financial strength of the leading clubs. The revenue is more important than ever during this challenging period, as games continue to be played without fans, adversely impacting match day income. As it stands (at quarter-final stage), English clubs have earned the following amounts from Europe: Manchester City €92m, Liverpool €90m, Chelsea €89m, Manchester United €68m, Arsenal   €25m, Tottenham Hotspur   €20m and Leicester City €17m. Of course, a club could earn significantly more from Europe if it makes further progress, e.g. if it managed to win the Champions League, it would earn an additional €31m prize money (€12m for reaching the semi-final plus €19m for winning the tournament). Manchester City have earned the most in the Champions League with €92.3m, comprising: pa

The Athletic looks at the plight of Huddersfield after their time in the top flight.   Here are a few extracts. Huddersfield’s financial health has become the greatest point of discussion among supporters. The cash-rich Premier League days, when annual turnover peaked at £125 million in 2017-18, are a fading memory, with belts tightened transfer window on transfer window. Owner Phi Hodgkinson was aware relegation would require big decisions when taking on a majority shareholding following that 2019 relegation but had hoped he could still see Huddersfield return to the Premier League. They have not come remotely close to that during two difficult seasons back in the Championship, and a worldwide pandemic has placed the club under further strain. “It’s not just parachute money we’ve had to give back and loss of revenue, there’s also the fact the transfer market completely bombed,” said Hodgkinson. “We had players we knew we were selling and we didn’t get what we were expecting to (

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reports from Zurich on the 2019/20 accounts of Wolverhampton Wanderers. 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. Fosun’s strategy of “strong investment into the squad” has led to £100m net losses in the past four years, but the gamble paid-off with promotion and European qualification As a sign of how far Wolves have come, their £133m revenue means that they are 29th in the Deloitte Money League, which ranks clubs worldwide The club swung from £20m profit before tax to £40m loss, as the pandemic led to revenue dropping £40m (23%) from £173m to £133m and profit on player sales fell £2m to £10m, while expenses rose £18m (11%), mainly due to investment in the squad. Loss after tax £39m Significantly impacted by COVID

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the latest accounts of Leicester City from his base in Zurich. The loss before tax widened from £20m to £67m, as the pandemic led to revenue dropping £28m (16%) from £178m to £150m, though profit on player sales rose £5m to £63m. Expenses rose £23m (9%), mainly due to investment in the squad. Loss after tax was £60m. Revenue was significantly impacted by COVID, the main driver of the club’s revenue decrease was broadcasting income, which dropped £20m (16%) from £128m to £108m, while commercial fell £7m (18%) from £36m to £29m and match day was down £2m (11%) from £15m to £13m. Of course, all clubs have been adversely impacted by COVID, so Leicester’s £67m loss is far from unusual with no fewer than seven clubs posting losses above £50m.   Without COVID, Foxes revenue would have been £46m higher at £196m (10% more than 2019). £150m revenue is still £21m (16%) more than 2016, when they were crowned Premier League champions. However, much lower

The Athletic has published a fascinating in depth account of the administration process at Wigan Athletic.  I do find The Athletic good value with high standards of writing and I can recommend a subscription. Here are a few highlights which show just how dire Wigan's situation was and it's good to see it resolved. 'There have been plenty of bumps in the road over the last eight and a half months and the takeover is still not quite complete — although it is just a formality now — but when Wigan line up for their first game of next season they will do so at their own ground, having prepared at their own training ground, with a team stocked with talent from their own academy, with no debts and every chance of still being in League One. But Stanley [administrator] also cares about his reputation, so he wants people to know how he achieved this and why he believes he and his colleagues at business recovery firm Begbies Traynor are worth every penny of the £2 million or so they

Manchester United have selected Germany-based IT company TeamViewer as their next shirt sponsor, even though their £47m a year offered sum was not the highest on the short list of ten companies.  However, the club felt they were 'a good fit'. The current seven year Chevrolet deal was worth £64m a year, but that also include an automobile sponsorship.  United hope to find a new automobile sponsor to make up some of the shortfall.   United will also be looking for new training ground and training kit sponsors as their deals with AON expire at the end of the season. TeamViewer provide IT support systems for remote working and have grown as a company as a result of the increase of working from home during the pandemic.    It will be a significant increase in marketing expenditure for them and they warned that it would hit profitability, leading to a 14 per cent drop in their share price. It is interesting that companies are prepare to sacrifice profitability for global profile, alt

Pre-tax losses have more than tripled at Leicester City and turnover is down because of the effects of Covid-19:  https://www.lcfc.com/news/2071687/lcfc-financial-results-201920

Uefa and ECA are in discussions over a joint venture that would control all commercial matters related to European club tournaments. Uefa currently has sole and final decision-making power over media rights auctions and sponsorship deals related to Champions League matches. The new model would give the ECA, led by Andrea Agnelli, president of Italy’s Juventus, an equal say on the terms of future commercial contracts. A person briefed on the talks told the Financial Times that clubs are more interested in these governance proposals than the format changes for the Champions League. That’s because top sides care most about developing new ways to increase their revenues. At Champions League matches, the competition’s main sponsors, such as  Mastercard  and  Heineken , are the ones most prominently seen on advertising hoardings around the pitch.   Some clubs would like to end that arrangement, so their own sponsors are better featured and so increase the value of each team’s marketin

Wolves have reported a loss of £39.3m in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.  This compares witha a £10m operating profit in the previous year. However, the club states: 'It is important to note that, has broadcast revenues from suspended matches not been deferred, the club would have achieved a profit of £17.9m for the season, even with the permanent loss of matchday revenues for the final five home games of the season.' Club statement and link to full accounts here:  https://www.wolves.co.uk/news/club/20210319-headline-financial-information-for-201920/

There are no Serie A teams in the Champions League quarter finals.   That, of course, could be for a variety of reasons related to individual clubs, but Serie A has gone from being one of the top European leagues to falling way behind the Premier League. The Athletic argues: 'For too long whoever was president of the league has chosen to get lost in internal politics rather than commit to the job of growing the business in the way Richard Scudamore did for the Premier League, and Christian Seifert and Javier Tebas have done for the Bundesliga and La Liga respectively.' 'Even today, Serie A can’t agree on anything, whether it’s the next TV rights tender or the sale of a stake in an entertainment company to a private equity consortium for €1.7 billion. The league is its own worst enemy and its inability to reform itself is perhaps one of the reasons why Andrea Agnelli dedicates so much time to Europe instead.' 'Meanwhile, grounds continue to fall into disrepair and

The Swiss Ramble blogger reviews the 2019/20 accounts of Middlesbrough. Boro’s loss of £36m is the worst reported to date in the 2019/20 Championship, though this result may well look better when other clubs publish their COVID-impacted accounts. In fact, even before the pandemic, many clubs had losses above £20m. Excluding property sales, just three Championship clubs were profitable with only Hull City managing to make money so far in 2019/20. The sad reality is that almost all clubs in this division lose money, as they strive to remain competitive in pursuit of promotion to the top flight. One reason for Boro’s worse financial result is they only made £3m profit from player sales, whereas the prior year’s figures were boosted by £33m, They have increased profit on player sales to an annual average of £16m over the past four years. Revenue has fallen by £102m (84%) from £121m to £19m since relegation from the Premier League 3 years ago, very largely due to £93m decrease in bro

Middlesbrough income  was down 65% and operating losses pre player sales £38 million in year to 30 June 2020 reports Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Middlesbrough total losses now total £206 million and club have £147 million of creditors. All three revenue sources, matchday, commercial and broadcast down in 2019/20, but end of parachute payments main driver of fall as TV income went from £40m to £8m.   The Importance of Premier League and parachute payments clear from total revenue figures over the last decade. Middlesbrough received £581k from furlough and £1.1m from PL grants at rear end of 2019/20.   Wages follow income at all clubs. Average weekly wage at Boro now 'just' £14,390 a week. Player trading for ‘Boro 2019/20: Purchases £6m sales £14m Middlesbrough owe £7m to other clubs for transfer fee instalments (down from £29m) and £116m to Steve Gibson’s Gibson O’Neill, taking his total investment to £205 million. Steve Gibson says that the club's bigge

A cross-border league between Belgium and the Netherlands has moved closer after Belgian Pro League clubs voted unanimously in favour:  https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/bene-league-belgium-dutch-football-clubs-b924537.html Some fans are concerned that it would only favour big clubs. There are a few leagues that have teams from other countries in them such as the MSL (Canadian teams), Vaduz playing in the Swiss League, Wellington Phoenix in the A-league and, at one time, Berwick Rangers in the Scottish leagues.   However, this would be the first full-scale cross-border merger.

Manchester United co-chairman Avram Glazer stands to make a $100 million (£71.7 million at current exchange rate) return after putting five million shares in the club up for sale on the New York Stock Exchange. A deadline of Tuesday, March 16 has been put on the sale of the Class A Ordinary shares, which are worth $20.13 each. There is no guarantee that all of Glazer’s shares will be bought before the deadline. The club confirmed in a statement that they “will not receive any proceeds from the sale” — any profit goes solely to Glazer. Should all the shares be bought, the Glazer family stake in United would decrease from 78 per cent to 74.9 per cent, which still leaves them with a controlling share of the club.

One year ago three Charlton employees put their jobs on the line to stand up for the club and its fans.  On a dramatic evening the police were called to The Valley by the purported owner of the club. Now for the first time we have a detailed account of what happened that night and the events leading up to it:  https://medium.com/@benjynurick/standoff-in-the-boardroom-the-inside-story-of-a-dramatic-night-in-the-history-of-charlton-athletic-4f175182eefa

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has been commenting on the recently reported accounts of West Ham United from his fastness in Zurich.  Data; analysis; insight - he has it all. West Ham’s operating loss (excluding player sales and interest) more than doubled from £37m to £85m, though other clubs had even higher losses: Everton £175m, Chelsea   £112m, Arsenal £99m and Southampton £87m All Premier League clubs’ revenue is down in 2019/20, due to the impact of the pandemic, though West Ham’s 27% reduction is the highest in the Premier League (larger clubs are more in absolute terms) The club have posted losses two years in a row, amounting to a combined £94m deficit, though they made profits in 4 of the previous 5 years. 2019/20 is the highest loss since £37m in 2008 (including £26m fine for rules breach for the transfers of Tevez and Mascherano). Like many clubs, West Ham have become increasingly reliant on player sales, averaging £24m a season over the last four years. This season w

A massive debt pileup by Barcelona and Real Madrid have driven a rise in LaLiga clubs' short-term financial debt by a combined €370.3 million from 18/19 to 19/20. The situation has been described as "worrying" with normalisation of revenues some way off in a comment to offthepitch.com.    However, the key point about any debt is whether one can service it.   A modern capitalist economy floats on a sea of debt – risky, but that’s how it is. LaLiga's director of economic control says cost reductions and financial flexibility across the board ensure clubs can continue to sustain operations. Transfer spending has been significantly reduced as a direct result of the league's financial regulations, with LaLiga playing an active role in helping clubs find financing solutions.

Nottingham Forest have published operating losses of £32m for 2019/20 taking total losses to £187,000,00, reports Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Forest bought players for £5.7m and had sales of £14m In each of the last 11 years Forest have paid out more in wages than they have generated in revenue, with revenue of £208m and wages of £289m, highlighting the insanity and lack of cost control in the EFL Championship. I have now received my copy of the 2nd edition of Maguire's book The Price of Football and it is even stronger than the first edition:  https://www.agendapub.com/books/151/the-price-of-football-second-edition Forest are in discussions with shirt sponsor Football Index after its catastrophic stock market crash:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-9350153/Nottingham-Forest-discussions-shirt-sponsor-Football-Index-following-catastrophic-collapse.html

Wasps rugby club and Coventry City have concluded a deal for the Sky Blues to return to the Ricoh Arena.  West Midlands mayor Andy Street played a significant role in bringing the two clubs together:  https://www.ccfc.co.uk/news/2021/march/news-coventry-city-and-wasps-group-agree-ricoh-arena-deal/ This is great news for Coventry City fans and for the city of Coventry.

West Ham United have announced their financial results for 2019/20 and the club was hit hard by the pandemic with turnover down by over £51m and a pre-tax loss of £63.5m:  https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/march/09-march/financial-results-201920-announced There was a £25 million profit on player disposals – about double the previous year’s – with ex-striker Marko Arnautović sold to China in July 2019 for a hefty fee. The consolidated cashflow statement shows just over £88 million spent on players in 2019-20, with £53.4 million of proceeds from player sales. The club has revealed that it has become the latest to accept financing from MSD, personal computer pioneer Michael Dell’s investment firm. Less than two weeks ago, MSD provided a new £120 million five-year term loan. The club says its intention is to “draw down against the new loan” in order to repay two other facilities: a one-year £55 million facility expiring in July; and a £20 million overdraft facility with Barclays

Clubs' need for financing has never been greater than since the start of the pandemic, resulting in an influx of new players on football's discreet loan market.  Despite never commenting publicly, few have made as much noise as MSD Capital that has provided loans to clubs such as Southampton and Burnley in relation to ALK Capital's takeover, but there are others who have gone more under the radar.  One of them is Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB), a more than 150-year-old German bank who launched a football finance unit in April last year, providing receivable financing and traditional lending solutions focusing on the top five European leagues, according to its CFO, Dr Rainer Polster. "Football finance requires very specific know-how and good networking in the community. That's exactly what we brought on board last year with our new team of football finance experts," he told offthepitch.com. The company targets a business volume of €500 million in the c

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire examines the latest accounts of Sheffield Wednesday.  While the owner is digging deep into his pockets, his predecessors were more cautious and hence didn't run up such big bills - which so far don't seem to have brought success on the pitch:  https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-wednesday/what-does-it-all-mean-your-questions-answered-on-sheffield-wednesdays-latest-accounts-3160188 The second edition of Kieran Maguire's book The Price of Football is now out with Agenda.

Barcelona had been admired across global football as a club that combines success on the pitch with fan involvement.   It is a key part of the resurgence of Catalonia. In the 2018/19 season, it became the world’s highest revenue-generating club with €840.8m — an increase of nearly €500m from a decade earlier.  Barcelona’s stated ambition was to be the first football club to reach annual revenues of more than €1bn. The pandemic has punctured that notion.  Years of financial mismanagement have seen the club accumulate debts of a barely believable €1.17 billion — which, for any normal business, would mean bankruptcy and liquidation. The arrests last week of Bartomeu and three other past or present Barca executives in a judicial investigation into potential financial crimes at the Nou Camp was yet another reminder of just what a mess the club is in.    (Bartomeu emphatically denies any wrongdoing). The hope of a recovery from these challenges was what prompted a record turnout of “soci

Peterborough United have reported an increased loss of over £3m, mainly due to a decline in player sales.  However, it should be noted that the accounts do not include the sale of star striker Ivan Toney to Brentford for an eventual fee reported to be £10m:  https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/football/peterborough-united/posh-announce-a-near-ps35-million-loss-3155886 Meanwhile the club is pushing for promotion to the Championship, showing a capacity to replace lost talent.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble turns his forensic gaze to the latest accounts of Manchester United.  Some highlights from his analysis follow. Despite the reduction, a £41m profit during the pandemic times represents an impressive achievement for Manchester United. As Ed Woodward said, “While the disruption to our operations remains significant, we are pleased by the tremendous resilience the club has demonstrated.” These results might look better than many feared, but it is worth remembering that figures are usually worse in the second half of the year, emphasises the Zurich-based analyst.    They are in better shape than most with their many commercial partners. While they will struggle with the financial challenges of COVID-19, Finance Director Cliff Baty said, “We are well positioned to weather the current uncertainty and optimistic for the future.” The main reason for lower revenue was match day, which fell £52m (94%) from £55m to just £3m, while commercial dropped £29m (19%)

The owner of Sheffield United has confirmed that he is about to complete the acquisition of French Ligue  2 club Chateauroux.  It will be the fifth club in Abdullah bin Mosaad's United World portfolio:  https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/football/news/prince-abdullah-united-world-chateauroux-19427107

Undertaking his usual forensic analysis of the latest Arsenal accounts, the authoritative Swiss Ramble identifies a number of areas of concern from his Zurich fastness.   They are not just pandemic effects, which can be seen across Europe, even though Arsenal has been hit harder in some respects. The operating loss increased from £33m to £99m. Very few clubs make operating profits, but Arsenal now have the third highest loss in the Premier League, only surpassed by Everton £175m and Chelsea £112m. This is concerning if they cannot compensate with player sales (as Chelsea do). The £79m revenue fall in the last three years is the worst of the Big Six with only Manchester United also experiencing a decrease in that period. Despite the impact of the pandemic, all the others have significantly grown their revenue, most notably Liverpool £126m and Tottenham Hotspur £86m Commercial is the most important revenue stream at 41%, having overtaken broadcasting 35%, followed by match day 23%

Are Manchester City going to dominate the Premier League in the way that Liverpool hoped to last year?  I think it remains competitive at the top and football finance guru Kieran Maguire seems to hold a similar view. He told The Athletic : “If you take a look at the data in relation to the Premier League, City are certainly competitive, but Manchester United have spent more on the transfer market over the last five to six years and Chelsea’s wage bill is up there, so there are three clubs that are spending money at the top." “And then, of course, we’ve had Liverpool dipping their toes into the water in the last two to three years on the back of making a lot of money from player sales, so there are four players in the market.” According to figures supplied by Maguire, the man behind the Price of Football book [2nd edition now out with Agenda] and podcasts, Manchester United have generated £1 billion more in revenue than any other club over the past 10 years. From 2015 to 2019 a

Daniel Levy prepares to celebrate 20 years as Tottenham Hotspur chairman, but will fans be joining him?  As he notes, there is a tension between shareholders who want profit and fans who want success on the pitch:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56300543

Are Lewes FC ahead of the curve in the approach they have taken to football, including equal pay for their women's and men's teams?   https://www.cityam.com/the-football-club-of-the-future-how-lewes-fcs-principles-have-started-to-pay-off-and-their-aim-of-becoming-the-worlds-most-owned-team/

It’s been an awful week at FC Barcelona. The Catalan football club’s offices were raided by police. Its senior staff and ex-president were arrested. And it was ordered to pay back millions in euros after Europe’s highest court judged it had received illegal state aid. Barcelona’s 140,000 members vote on its next president on Sunday. It is a three-way race between former club president  Joan Laporta , technology investor  Victor Font  and lawyer  Antoni Freixa .  Laporta appears to be out in front, any previous errors forgiven. Their in-tray includes: recovering lost revenues due to the pandemic; rebuilding a stagnating team; and convincing  Lionel Messi , Barcelona’s greatest ever player, to stay at the club. to stay at the club. Then there’s the urgent matter of tackling the growing €1.1bn debt pile, the majority of which is considered short term with repayment due this year.  Some of the borrowing relates to a €1bn redevelopment of its Camp Nou stadium, which could pay for itse

Arsenal have published their 2020 results and the effects of the pandemic are apparent. Here are a few highlights selected by Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball (the 2nd edition of his book with that title is now out with Agenda). Revenue was down £51m, day to day, losses up from £28m to £87m, net transfer spend £116m, borrowings down (but this is before club borrowed from the Bank of England) Arsenal net spend on players was £116m in 2019/20, a record for the club. Squad cost up to £616m. Player signings for the season higher than that of any club who has reported to date. The cost to Arsenal of sacking Emery and his entourage was £9.5m. Arsenal matchday revenue down to £345m, a noticeable gap repeatedly appearing between them and other big earning London clubs.   Arsenal earn about £3.5-£4m per home match from ticket sales, so lockdown in March 2020 hit matchday revenue by £17m. Broadcast income was down one third due to timing of matches as well as rebates to broadcasters.  E

Birmingham City face a bill of around £1m for repairs to two stands before supporters return, otherwise the stands would have to be closed:  https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/birmingham-city-face-paying-1million-23579084?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar Tenants Coventry City are likely to leave as they are on the verge of securing a ten year deal to return to the Ricoh Arena.

It looks as if Coventry City are close to an agreement to return to the Ricoh Arena, the home of Wasps Rugby Club.  It would be a ten year deal guaranteed for a minimum of seven years which is the time it would take to build a new stadium on the Warwick University campus:  https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/coventry-city-ricoh-arena-return-19964559

Four Spanish clubs will have to pay millions of euros in extra taxes after the European Court of Justice found against them in a state aid case:  https://www.cityam.com/barcelona-and-real-madrid-handed-multi-million-tax-bills-as-european-court-of-justice-issues-definitive-verdict-in-state-aid-case/ For Barcelona the decision comes on the heels of a police raid on the club in pursuit of the so-called 'Barcagate' scandal.

Christian Seifert stands down as Bundesliga chief executive next year.  At the recent FT Football Business summit he discussed the potential for private equity deals in German football similar to those being negotiated by Serie A. Observers see the potential sale of international rights to private equity funds as a crucial closing act for Christian Seifert. His legacy could be damaged if he doesn’t succeed in opening German football up to foreign investors. Earlier on, DFL tried to pitch a partnership to private equity funds but was turned down due to the controversial 50+1 rule (much praised by some fans in the UJ). Now an opportunity has suddenly arisen and German clubs might need to act on it. Most executives in German football remain sceptical that they will get fans back to stadiums in 2021, so they are preparing for another year with serious pressure on finances. Private equity partnership could secure the continued building of a global business case around German football

Neither Bristol club is doing as well as they would like at the moment.   Steve Lansdown has been a generous benefactor of Bristol City, but promotion to the Premier League has eluded them.  (Lansdown's recent views on the club's situation can be found here:  https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/steve-lansdown-updates-supporters/   Bristol is a vibrant city and the regional capital of the west of England, but is punching below its football weight. Bristol City — the Robins — have never won the league title. They have never won the FA Cup, nor the League Cup. Bristol Rovers — the Gas — have never won the top-flight title either, nor the FA Cup or League Cup. Bristol City have at least tasted top-flight English football, most recently in 1980, though many will not consider that to be recent. Bristol Rovers have never made it to the top division; they did come sixth in the old Second Division in 1959. Consequently, the city of Bristol has never staged a European football fixture. It has

Ligue 1 has been in difficulties ever since it lost its lucrative television deal and got a less satisfactory replacement.  Now it appears that the American owners of Bordeaux want out:  https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2021/king-street-seeking-to-sell-ligue-1-side-bordeaux/   The problem is they can't get the price they want for a depreciating asset, so bankruptcy may be the answer.

An old school friend from across the county border in Essex who lives in Orkney these days became an Ipswich supporter when he lived and worked there so I have always followed what is happening to them with interest. Under Sir Alf Ramsey Ipswich Town won the Football League title in 1961-2.   Ramsey then left the club to become England manager in 1963 and there was a period of decline and then revival under Bobby Robson. For two years running, Ipswich were the second-best team in England, finishing runners-up to Aston Villa in 1980-81 and again to Liverpool 12 months later. The title eluded them but their UEFA Cup triumph, coupled with a FA Cup win in 1978, gilded a glorious Robson reign that ended when he got the England job in 1982. Ipswich were the community club who punched above their weight, producing England internationals and mixing it with the best sides at home and on the continent.    And now, asks The Athletic? Departing owner Marcus Evans came from a rural Suffolk ba

In the wake of the pandemic with firms suffering cash flow problems and scrutinising their marketing budgets, quality sponsorships have become harder to secure, particularly for lower league clubs more reliant on locally based businesses. Colin O’Toole, associate director of marketing of Cadbury Equity has told offthepitch.co, how they have changed their mindset towards the football industry. In the last 14 months, Cadbury has agreed sponsorships with 19 clubs based in the UK, including the ‘big six’ and teams in the lower leagues. Cadbury are currently in the final year of their three-year partnership with the Premier League with no plans to renegotiate the current deal. Cadbury have implemented a society-driven approach in their marketing – seeing them team up with the likes of Notts County for The National League Play-Off final. The sponsorship deal agreed with Notts County last summer was rather unusual as it was directed to local businesses affected by the pandemic:  https://w

This is the question that The Times poses this morning, five years and £585m into the Moshiri era. The article by Paul Joyce suggests that it has taken longer and cost more to get the club where Moshiri would want to be - within sight of a Champions League place with the Europa League as a second best solution. So far Moshiri has spent £135m on acquiring a majority stake; another £450m has been made available, mostly for transfers; and £100m is earmarked for the new stadium at Bramley-Moore. There has been no lack of commitment from Moshiri 'when other owners might have got tired of banging their head against a glass ceiling [but] there have been various costly missteps along the way.'  Getting decisions about managers and players right is never easy, but at last the club have a genuinely word class manager.  The squad still needs greater strength in depth. Of course, relying on a generous benefactor has its risks.   And as Paul Joyce points out. 'in contrast to how Chelsea

I am not sure I agree with this analysis of Liverpool published in The Athletic over the weekned and I am not sure many Liverpool fans will either, but it is at least worth thinking about. An extract states: 'In the long term, perhaps football has reached a point where it is impossible for any Liverpool owner to deliver what the fans want unless there is a bottomless pit of money and the club is run on terms that some of FSG’s fiercest critics claim to despise. To consistently compete with Manchester City, Liverpool would have to essentially  become  City, the only club at the moment capable of threatening the theory that the Premier League is no longer possible to dominate (four titles in 10 seasons isn’t a bad start). By comparison, Liverpool currently operate like a deluxe Sevilla: the system only works when they sell well. Success came because of the buys of Virgil van Dijk and Alisson but the funding was only in place for those deals because of the outrageous fee involved