The Political Economy of Football V2

Normally reliable French sources are reporting that John Textor sold his 45 per cent stake in Cryst al Palace yesterday, clearing the way for the Eagles to claim their place in the Europa League:  https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2025/lyon-owner-john-textor-completes-sale-of-his-45-share-of-crystal-palace/

Scarborough Athletic face a projected loss of £150k in the coming season:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpqnzp7gxr9o

The following statement has been issued by the Accies Supporters Association: 'It’s agonising to have confirmation that we are once again in the wilderness after 25 years back at home in Hamilton. This is a situation that no one wanted. We are devastated – but we won’t give up. The fight to get Hamilton back in Hamilton has already begun. We need everyone’s support. Many fans will drift away, and we ask that people don’t judge anyone who chooses to boycott or to attend Broadwood [Cumbernauld], but those who do stick around were here long before the current board and we plan to outlast them. However, our overriding concern is that there will be no club to come back to Hamilton. We know how close Accies came to extinction during the previous seven homeless years, and we do not trust the board to deliver a second stadium in Hamilton. In fact, the only promise they have delivered on throughout their stewardship has been the catastrophic decision to take our club out of our home. ...

Manchester City have been fined more than £1million ($1.34m) by the Premier League over multiple breaches of their kick-off and restart obligations for the 2024-25 season. City have accepted and apologised for nine breaches of Premier League rule L.33, relating to late kick-offs throughout the campaign, with the fine for each individually breach incrementally increasing, adding up to £1.03m ($1.38m). It comes one year after City were fined more than £2m after breaching L.33 on 22 separate occasions, eight times in 2022-23 and on 14 occasions in 2023-24. City’s home match against Manchester United on December 15, 2024, saw delays at both kick-off and resuming after half-time, totalling three minutes and 42 seconds. Some think that the delays were relatively trivial, others have pointed out that the fans are not going to hit City hard.

Teams promoted to the Premier League are hampered by PSR rules which allow established clubs to spend more.  Football finance guru Kieran Maguire assesses how this affects Sunderland and sees grounds for optimism:  https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/sunderland-face-psr-warning-expert

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire praises Portsmouth's 'sustainable' approach to the Championship.  Some teams like Bristol City have spent big and got nowhere in what Maguire calls 'the most bonkers division' in world football:  https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/portsmouth-fc/portsmouth-fc-finances-championship-kieran-maguire-expert

A rare in depth look at the finances of a Scottish football club, Dundee FC (not to be confused with overlapping neighbours Dundee United:  https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-fc/5265494/dundee-fc-finances-history/ Unsurprisingly, it is a loss making business but some potentially useful numbers are not available. The club has a new stadium project at Camperdown Park. Near neighbours Dundee United have an American owner who has invested £13m and were on the cusp of being profitable:  https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-united/5265287/dundee-united-finances-history/

 Sheffield Wednesday should have a 55,000-capacity stadium, one of England’s best academies and be “way bigger than Wrexham”, according to the co-leader of a North American group trying to buy the crisis-hit Championship club. The four-time title winners are the second-oldest professional club in English football, and were founding members of the Premier League in 1992, but they dropped out of the top flight in 2000 and have spent the 25 years since yo-yoing between the second and third tiers. Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri bought the South Yorkshire side in 2015 — and initially spent heavily on a push for the Premier League — but that financial support has long since dried up and Wednesday are yet to meet all of their wage bill for May, having also been late with April’s payments. Having first said he would sell the club in late 2018, only to place a Premier League-level valuation on the business, Chansiri’s price tag is coming down fast and he is in talks with two U.S.-b...

Although things have taken a turn for the worse on the pitch, Luton Town’s finances look in pretty good shape. This was referenced by chief executive Gary Sweet after the double relegation, “The backdrop of our custodianship of the football club is financial stability. It’s an absolute cornerstone. The club was unstable, it’s more stable now than it probably ever has been financially and structurally.” The club’s sustainable approach resulted in limited expenditure on the squad after promotion to the top flight. Instead, the club invested much of their windfall gains in building a new stadium. While such investment will be beneficial to Luton’s long-term prospects, it is clear that this strategy had an adverse impact on their ability to compete in the Premier League.   Indeed, the directors admitted that they had probably under-spent in the transfer market, especially in the January window, as they attempted to stay up: “In hindsight the club might have reinforced more.” It...

The Scottish Football Supporters Association reports: Next Friday, the SPFL will release the fixtures for next season.    At present, Hamilton Academical will feature in that list, but there is a serious chance that they may not be able to fulfil those fixtures.  Why? Well, it’s a mess to be honest, but this is what we understand the current situation is, with the caveat that this is changing on a daily, if not hourly basis. As we have reported over the last few weeks, the Accies Supporters’ Association has come together to do everything it can to save their club.  The SFSA has seen at first hand the passion and emotional involvement of the Accies’ supporters.  It’s both uplifting and harrowing: these fans really do fear, and with justification, for the future of the club that many have watched for generations. Currently, there are three parties involved.  They are: the directors/owners of the club; the man who owns the stadium; and the fans. ...

Crystal Palace have been asked by Uefa for more information about their ownership structure in a move that leaves the Premier League club more confident they will play in Europe next season. The decision over whether Palace can remain in the Europa League is likely to come down to whether UEFA believe that Textor has the capacity to exercise a decisive influence in the club’s decision-making. Palace would argue that they don’t really operate as part of a multi-club ownership model, but simply have a significant shareholder, who happens to have stakes in other clubs. Given the lack of genuine “decisive influence” that John Textor is able to apply at Crystal Palace, any punishment that banned them from the Europa League would seem to be wildly disproportionate. There are very good reasons why UEFA have implemented regulations to curb the excesses of multi-club ownership, but they surely weren’t designed to tarnish a fabulous story like Palace’s FA Cup win. If the issue is simpl...

My early memories of Tottenham Hotspur were of the double winning team of 1960-61.  At the time that was an exceptional feat and Spurs had some outstanding players such as captain Danny Blanchflower.  Our next door neighbour in Billericay was a keen Spurs supporter and my father expressed his admiration across the garden fence. Today I have a couple of good friends who are Spurs fans.  Winning the Europa League at last gave them something to celebrate. Looking in from the outside, big Ange seemed to me like a grumpy ideologue attached to one way of playing with no Plan B, but it is clear that many Spurs fans thought that he deserved another chance. I am a great admirer of his successor and I think that Brentford played more attractive football under his leadership than many allowed, but it's a big step up. In any case many think that the real problem at Spurs is Daniel Levy.   In many way he exemplifies the conflict between football as a business and fans who ju...

The Club World Cup kicks off late tonight when Inter Miami host Al Ahly, Egypt’s dominant team, in Florida. Fifa president Gianni Infantino has promised the new 32-team tournament will be the “pinnacle of club football”, yet many have been wondering if anyone will tune in. Players are unhappy at being asked to play yet more matches while domestic leagues complain that an already overcrowded calendar is at breaking point. A report from Deloitte this week warned that football’s “insatiable appetite for growth” risks having a negative effect on club finances through higher wage demands, while another from Fifpro called for a guaranteed 4-week off-season break and mandatory time off during the season. Yet Fifa and Uefa are pulling in the other direction. Commercially, the CWC has been an uphill battle. A lack of appetite among traditional broadcasters and big streamers led to a global rights deal with DAZN, now backed by the Saudi state. In the UK, half the games will also be sho...

Supporters Direct Scotland report on clubs in trouble north of the border: With two League One clubs in administration, the season just finished marked a new period of instability for Scottish football clubs after more than a decade without any insolvency events. There appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for both Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dumbarton, but following developments in recent weeks it seems that another may be in even deeper trouble. In Inverness, agreement has been reached for Caley Thistle to exit administration after almost 8 months. Earlier this week, a Creditor’s Voluntary Agreement was reached with 100% support which should see the club begin the new season under the ownership of Alan Savage. Meanwhile, we learned yesterday that an old name has returned to senior football in the north… Inverness Thistle, one of the two clubs who merged in the 1990s to form ICT and who re-formed last year, have been accepted as the 13th club in the North C...

A consortium of sport and entertainment executives, which includes the NBA star Jimmy Butler, is expected to make an offer in excess of $200million to purchase Eagle Football’s 43 per cent stake in Premier League soccer club Crystal Palace, sources briefed on the proposed deal have told  The Athletic . The group is led by former Morgan Stanley sports executive Bejan Esmaili and former Roc Nation attorney Wajid Mir, with the pair having previously agreed in January a period of exclusivity with John Textor — the largest shareholder in Eagle Football and one of Palace’s four primary owners — which they allowed to lapse. The Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd had formed part of that consortium but instead chose to join the ownership group of Everton in April. Now Butler, a six-time NBA all-star who has been with the Golden State Warriors since February, has become part of the wider group. Eagle and Butler, via his representatives, have been approached for comment...

John Textor is prepared to sell his stake in Crystal Palace for as little as £170million in a deal that would enable the FA Cup winners to play in the Europa League next season. Textor’s Eagle Football Holdings has 43 per cent of the Premier League club, but the company’s ownership of Lyon in France has left Palace facing the threat of expulsion from Europe’s second tier. Textor and the Palace chairman, Steve Parish, met Uefa last week, in the hope of persuading officials that the 59-year-old American’s 25 per cent voting rights limited his influence at Selhurst Park. Uefa will rule on the matter later this month but insiders are increasingly of the view that only if Textor sells will the matter be resolved. Lyon’s possible exclusion because of certain financial challenges might have offered a solution but senior sources insist the Ligue 1 side has now been issued with a Uefa licence. That said, other insiders believe Lyon still have certain requirements to meet. A deal for t...

Real Madrid became the first football club to generate over €1 billion in revenue during the 2023/24 season and are at the top of the 2025 Deloitte Money League. The completion of renovations works to the Bernabéu Stadium catalysed the growth of matchday revenues to €248m in 2023/24, a 103% uplift on the previous year. The increase was realised predominantly on account of the marketing of Personal Seat Licenses 1 , which provided an uplift of c.€76m, as well as the sale of new VIP seats and the increased capacity of the stadium from December 2023. The club also reported a 20% increase in commercial revenue (from €403m to €482m), boosted by increased merchandise and new sleeve sponsorship.  Manchester City remained the highest revenue generating English club, with revenue of €838m. The gap between the top-two Money League clubs in 2023/24 was €208m, the highest on record (previous record: €84m in 2018/19).  Several clubs identified the impact of infrastructure investments a...

The Deloitte Money League for 2025 has now been made available. The 2023/24 season created football history, as Real Madrid became the first football club to generate €1 billion across a single season. The club’s financial success during the season was underpinned by the newly renovated and expanded Bernabéu Stadium, which delivered significant uplifts to matchday and commercial revenue over the previous season.  Cumulatively, the Money League clubs in 2023/24 generated a record €11.2 billion, an increase of 6% over the 2022/23 season, with record matchday, commercial and broadcast revenues. In 2023/24, the average Money League club generated €560m, comprised of €244m (44%) commercial revenue, €213m (38%) broadcast revenue, and €103m (18%) matchday revenue.  A rise in clubs’ stadium capacity, general ticket prices and premium matchday offerings caused matchday revenues to grow 11% year-on-year, making it the fastest growing revenue stream for Money League clubs once agai...

Thomas Frank looks set to be Spurs manager, but many of their fans were disappointed to see Ange go and argue that the club’s problems are far deeper than the manager but stem from the owner’s strategy. Brentford have flourished in the top-flight despite having one of the lowest wage bills. Frank’s side finished 13th in their first year and recorded memorable victories over Chelsea and Arsenal. Ivan Toney, David Raya and Bryan Mbeumo blossomed into superstars under Frank’s guidance. After finishing ninth the following season, they placed 16th in 2023-24 as they struggled with injuries. But this season they bounced back to record a top-10 finish, coming close to qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history. Brentford’s rise under Frank has been meteoric, and it is no surprise that Spurs have him in their sights. Frank initially joined Brentford in December 2016 as an assistant and the long-term plan was for him to replace Smith. Two years later, Smith moved to hi...

Reading's new owner believes that only three or four clubs in League One will have a bigger budget in the coming season, although fans are concerned about a slow start to new signings:  https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/sport/25223833.reading-fc-chief-financial-muscle-ahead-crucial-summer/

Nottingham Forest have written to Uefa with their concerns about Crystal Palace participating in the Europa League when they could be in breach of multi-club ownership rules. Palace met Uefa officials last week in a bid to avoid exclusion from the competition because John Textor, the American businessman who has a 43 per cent stake in the club, also owns Lyon, who have qualified for the competition too. Uefa is looking to rule on the matter by the end of this month. But The Times understands that Forest, who would be promoted from the Conference League to the Europa League should Palace be deemed non-compliant with multi-club ownership rules, have been in correspondence with Uefa on the matter. Palace’s Europa League place could yet hinge on whether Uefa decides to allow Lyon to take part in the competition next season.   Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) disqualified Lyon from European competitions in December but allowed them to continue after the club met certain d...

Blackburn Rovers fans have many concerns about the club’s future, as Venky’s continue to limit investment in the squad. The supporters’ frustrations at the owners’ frugal approach was shared by the last two managers, as they both left for greener pastures, complaining of a lack of money. The departure of John Eustace in February 2025 was described by the Rovers Trust as “heartbreaking”, when the manager opted to leave Rovers while they were in the top six in order to move to Derby County, who were in the relegation zone at the time. The Trust said that this was “a damning indictment of everything that is wrong about our club.” This situation was horribly familiar, as a disillusioned Jan Dahl Tomasson had also left Ewood Park 12 months earlier, after he was given a reduced transfer budget, which meant that the club had to pull out of a couple of important deals just as the players were about to put pen to paper. This was the third time in four years that Rovers had a decent chance...

27-year old Puerto Rico based American businessman William Rush has taken over Alfreton Town.   The new owner has ancestral links in the area.   They will not be going full time next season. As more EFL clubs are snapped up by foreign investors, non-league clubs become more attractive.

Manchester United’s New York-listed shares jumped 11 per cent in early trading on Friday, in a rare sign of support for the English football club’s owners after it reported a sharp fall in costs and raised its earnings guidance.  The club, co-owned by the American Glazer family and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reported a net loss of £2.7mn in the three months to March 31, after a loss of £71.5mn a year earlier. It said it expected to make adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in its full financial year to the end of June of between £180mn and £190mn, up from previous guidance of £145mn to £160mn. Investors have been wary of Manchester United under Ratcliffe, who took a minority stake in the club in February 2024 and assumed control of sporting operations. Despite Friday’s bounce, the shares are down almost a third from their peak in the month of his arrival. Fans have criticised Ratcliffe for raising ticket prices, while staff morale ha...

There has been a lot of focus today on the result of the Hamilon by-election, but local football fans are more concerned with the fate of Hamilton Academicals. It is proposed to relocate the club to the Broadwood Stadium at Cumbernauld, a considerable distance away.   The Broadwood Stadium did for a time house Clyde who are now seeking to rebuild their historic links in the Glasgow area. It's a convoluted story, but you can read more here:  https://scottishfsa.org/saving-accies-one-day-at-a-time/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email The board's view is set out here:  https://hamiltonacciesfc.co.uk/hamilton-academical-fc-board-statement-on-stadium/

Coventry City have received a £15m cash injection but it's unclear whether its from ownerDoug King or a new investor:  https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/sport/football/football-news/coventry-city-doug-king-shares-31793657 The Sky Blues were disappointed in the play offs, but Sky Blue fans I have talked to admit that the club was not ready for promotion.

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews earnings from the various Uefa competitions. As you would expect, the two Champions League finalists earned the most: PSG received a hefty €145m, which is a new record for UEFA club competitions, while Inter’s pain from their paddling would have been slightly eased by €134m. Five other clubs trousered more than €100m, namely Barcelona €118m, Arsenal €118m, Bayern Munich €106m, Real Madrid €105m and Borussia Dortmund €101m, while Liverpool were just shy of three figures with €98m. Similarly, the two Europa League finalists earned the most in that competition, as Tottenham received €41m, as Big Ange continued his habit of winning a trophy in his second season at a club, while Manchester United got €36m as runners-up.   Income was even lower in the Conference League. Chelsea might have completed a clean sweep of European trophies, but their feat was only worth €22m this season, while Real Betis got €17m for reaching the final. Tottenham’s...

Only a couple of clubs broke even in League One in 23/24 reveals football finance guru Kieran Maguire . Legacy losses from previous years take total to almost £1 billion Average revenue was £8.4m down £2.2m.   Average wages £8.3m down £400k.   Wages 97% of revenue up 14%.   Average weekly wage £3,700.   Average losses were £8.9m up £4.6m. Total accumulated losses of all 24 clubs £998m up £26m.   Total player purchases £12.8m down £2.5m. Total cost of squads, £25.1m up £9m.   Total borrowings £343m up £9m.

Crystal Palace’s Europa League place could hinge on whether Uefa decides to allow the French club Lyon to take part in the competition next season. Uefa’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) disqualified Lyon — owned by the Palace shareholder John Textor — from European competitions in December but allowed them to continue after the club met certain demands. Manchester United eliminated them from the Europa League at the quarter-final stage. However, Lyon are being “carefully monitored” by the CFCB and if they are deemed to be in breach of a settlement agreement they could be disqualified from next season’s Europa League. That should leave Palace, who qualified for the Europa League after winning the FA Cup, in the clear in relation to Uefa’s multiclub ownership rules, which obliged sister clubs to set up separate ownership structures before March 1 if they hoped to play in the same competition next season. Rival clubs such as Nottingham Forest and Palace rivals Brighto...

It’s strange to think that as recently as 2008/09 Bournemouth finished a lowly 21st in League Two after they were deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement. However, these days the trend is very much their friend, as the club has steadily improved since then. In fact, they have spent no fewer than eight of the last ten years in England’s top flight, including the most recent three seasons after they were promoted from the Championship in 2021/22. Much of the recent improvement can be attributed to owner Bill Foley, who bought Maxim Demin’s 100% stake in Bournemouth via his Black Knight group in December 2022 to end the Russian’s 11 years tenure. Foley has plenty of experience in running a sports club, as he also owns the Vegas Golden Knights, a successful NHL franchise. Various figures have been given for the purchase price, but the most commonly reported is £120-125m. The American billionaire certainly has big plans, “I want Bournemout...