Sympathy for Everton, but the club did blunder

Breaking the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations over the three-year period ending in season 2021-22 has earned Everton a 10 point deduction, the first in the top flight.. Specifically, according to the findings of a regulatory commission, the club exceeded the permitted losses by a sum of £19.5million and “submitted misleading information about the stadium financing costs”.

Even among rival fans, there was sympathy for Everton on Friday. Is financial mismanagement and errant book-keeping on this scale — an overspend of £19.5million higher than permitted over a three-year period in which the club finished 12th, 10th and 16th — really the most grievous offence committed by any club in the Premier League era?

It is a legitimate question, even if those clubs relegated over that period are entitled to feel aggrieved that Everton breached the rules in staying up at their expense.

Everton, who immediately announced their intention to appeal, called it a“wholly disproportionate and unjust” sanction, adding they would “monitor with great interest the decisions made in other cases concerning the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.”

For all the genuine sympathy felt by many over the points deduction, for all the us-against-the-world instinct that will grip their fanbase, the real grievance felt by their supporters should still be — as it has been all along — the shoddy, shady way in which a proud club has been mismanaged in recent years.

The commission’s report underlines a series of uncomfortable truths that the fanbase has echoed when the conversation has been about the need for regime change, rather than sanction: 1) “mismanagement” in running up such big losses; 2) “recklessness” in continuing to sign players in 2021-22 “despite repeated warnings” by the Premier League, 3) a business plan which relied so heavily on the largesse of USM Services Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands and owned by Alisher Usmanov, one of the oligarchs sanctioned by the UK government after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Everton’s ownership and board were warned. They were already close to their break-even limits in the summer of 2020 when, to the astonishment of some of their rivals, and with their revenue streams severely compromised by the Covid-19 pandemic, they signed Ben Godfrey, Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez adding £16million to their wage bill and making a loss of £120.9million.

All that excess spending, which put the club at serious risk, brought so little reward by way of reward. A seventh-place finish in year one, under Ronald Koeman, remains their highest under Moshiri’s ownership. They have not got beyond the quarter-finals of any cup competition. A 10-point deduction in either of the last two seasons, which were spent battling grimly against This year? Going by their recent results under Sean Dyche and the struggles of the promoted teams, they could well be fine.

Some within the game wonder whether the Premier League has thrown itself into a series of bruising battles, some of which it will not win.

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

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 income is

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 depl

The Political Economy of Football V2

Search This Blog