The Political Economy of Football V2

The Swiss Ramble provides a forensic analysis of Championship finances.  The figures relate to 2024/5 and accounts for four clubs are not available.   One club (Wycombe Wanderers) published abbreviated accounts.   Sheffield Wednesday was in administration. It should be noted that overall Championship figures are very susceptible to the mix of clubs in any one season, i.e., ‘big’ versus ‘small’ clubs.      Spending by one club can have a distorting impact on some metrics, e.g., Sunderland spending on transfers. The underlying finances remain as crazy as ever as clubs compete to reach the promised land of the Premier League.   In effect what we have is a Premier League Division 2. Anyway, here are some highlights from the Swiss Ramble.   Much more is available on his Substack page. The 23 clubs (i.e. excluding Sheffield Wednesday) generated £907m of revenue and £22m other operating income, but then paid out £1.6 bn in operating exp...

The message was clear, loud and passionate from Everton fans at Bournemouth.   “Don’t sell Armstrong! Don’t sell Armstrong! I just don’t think you understand,” the away end sang at Bournemouth. “If you sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, you’re gonna have a riot on your hands.” The news that prompted this outpouring was that 19-year-old midfielder Armstrong, the finest player produced by Everton’s youth academy in years, was likely to move to Nottingham Forest. Wary of breaching squad cost ratio rules (SCR), the club’s leadership were reluctantly willing to sanction the England youth international’s exit for some £40million. Had the Bournemouth game not taken place, giving Everton supporters the platform to vent their frustrations, Armstrong would likely be posing for photos holding a Garibaldi-red Forest shirt now. Instead, he will remain in the royal blue of Everton. For all of the owners’ billions, the episode shows that fan power remains in the Premier League — ...