How Palace punches above its weight

Crystal Palace neat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley almost 15 years to the day since the club was rescued from looming liquidation by a group of four local fans, its second escape from near-ruin in just over a decade. Now part-owned by Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, Blackstone executive David Blitzer and tech entrepreneur John Textor, it has held its place in the Premier League since being promoted 12 years ago, despite a budget dwarfed by many of those around it.

Manchester City, owned by Abu Dhabi, is the second-richest club in global football, with revenues last year of €838mn, according to a study by Deloitte that ranks all clubs in euros. Crystal Palace is 26th on the list with just €219mn.

So far, riches have correlated with trophies: during Crystal Palace’s 12-year Premier League spell alone, City has notched up seven Premier League titles, six League Cup victories, two FA Cup trophies and one Champions League. In contrast, this is Palace’s second cup final in a decade — and only the third in a history the club says stretches back to 1861.

The last time the two sides met, a month ago in the Premier League, City won a thumping 5-2 victory. Alongside the likes of Fulham, Brentford and Brighton, Crystal Palace is one of a handful of medium-sized, aspirational clubs seeking to loosen the stranglehold on success enjoyed by the Premier League’s “Big Six”: City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

Besides them, only three teams have won the FA Cup this century. With league titles typically out of reach beyond an elite few, cup triumphs and qualification for European competition have become the prizes for English football’s emerging middle class.

“It’s a chance to win a first major trophy and qualify for Europe,” said Crystal Palace chair Steve Parish told the Financial Times. “For the club and the whole of south London it would be a huge achievement.”

The Crystal Palace squad has been assembled relatively cheaply, especially compared with clubs that have been in the Premier League for a similar stretch. The club’s recent approach to recruitment has been mixing emerging talent from England’s lower leagues, budget buys from Europe and a smattering of experienced veterans, often signed on free transfers.

Several team members are expected to be the subject of offers from bigger clubs this summer, which should improve Crystal Palace’s poor record at generating funds from player sales. Parish said the club’s finances had been run “prudently”, and put the over performance down to “stability of strategy, fantastic personnel and a shared purpose and positive culture that starts from the supporters and permeates the club”. The situation off the field has been less harmonious.

Textor — who bought a 45 per cent stake in 2021 — has since grown restless with his lack of influence over how the club is run, and told the Financial Times he has been trying either to sell his stake or buy out the other shareholders. So far no resolution has been found.

But progress has been made on club infrastructure. In 2021, a new youth academy was opened, key to long-term plans to develop local players from the talent hotbed of south London. Competition has become fiercer after Brexit, with English clubs no longer able to hoover up talent from across the EU, the battle for homegrown players has intensified.

The club has also been pressing forward with plans to upgrade Selhurst Park with a new main stand to replace the current one built in 1924. However, the proposals to increase capacity from 25,000 to 34,000 — first announced in 2017 — have run into several issues, including rising building costs. Executives hope work can finally begin this summer.

“We focus on continuous improvement so winning would be a high moment to enjoy and a springboard to the future,” said Parish. “It would show what is possible and encourage us to strive for more.”

Fulham requires big funding from owner

After lengthy delays, Fulham’s shiny, new Riverside Stand has finally opened, creating “a unique Thameside destination with first class facilities for supporters and partners on match days, as well as for the wider community year-round”. This ambitious project has increased Craven Cottage’s capacity by around 4,000 to 29,600, while it has also taken advantage of the club’s fantastic location and wealthy catchment area by including two Michelin star restaurants, a rooftop swimming pool, corporate hospitality and event space, all benefiting from views of the Thames. Chief executive Alistair Mackintosh observed, “Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.” Indeed, there is also an exclusive members club – with a football season ticket as an optional extra. It’s fair to say that “the times they are a-changing”, as this is a long way from the traditional pie and a pint. However, in a world where clubs face the tw...

It's no deal say Spurs insiders over Taiwanese takeover

Senior figures at Tottenham Hotspur insisted on Friday that they had not been informed of any deal to sell Daniel Levy’s stake in the club. A business group, Eight Sports Capital — which is said to include a billionaire Taiwanese financier — claimed that it had an agreement in place to buy a 24.99 per cent stake in ENIC, the club’s majority owners, from Levy, who owns 29.88 per cent. The Times has been told Ng Wing Fai and Brooklyn Earick form part of the group, having both been linked previously to potential takeovers of the Premier League club. The Taiwanese businessman, Richard Tsai, is also said to be part of the consortium. He is reportedly worth £7 billion. Last year Earick, the former DJ and tech entrepreneur, was part of an attempted £4.5 billion takeover, which was “unequivocally rejected” by Spurs. An ENIC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that neither ENIC nor THFC are aware of any sale by Daniel Levy’s Family Trust of its minority stake in ENIC, THFC’...

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...

The Political Economy of Football V2

Search This Blog