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Rules help maintain the Big Six cartel

Newcastle United face Aston Villa on Sunday as two teams who have come closest to breaking the dominance of the so-called ‘Big Six’. This term has been used to refer to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who have regularly finished in those places in the Premier League and therefore received the benefits of European football that come with it. Though some of those clubs have fallen down the division regularly in recent years, the financial aspect of their advantage largely remains.  Undoubtedly the single-biggest impediment to Newcastle’s growth has been financial regulations. The idea that they would become the “richest club in the world” was also a fallacy — yet even if they wanted to call upon the full resources of their mega-wealthy owners, they would be unable to do so. While Chelsea and Manchester City could keep spending following their respective takeovers in 2003 and 2008, Newcastle were forced to sell players again...
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Liverpool top English club in Money League

 In 2024/25, Real Madrid remained the only football club to generate over €1 billion in revenue, doing so for the second consecutive year. While the club reported a 6% decrease in matchday revenue, primarily driven by a reduction in revenue from the sale of Personal Seat Licenses, its €233m matchday revenue would still rank as the second highest ever generated by a Money League club. Additionally, the club reported a 23% increase in commercial revenue, driven by improved merchandise performance and new commercial partners. For the first time since 2019/20, FC Barcelona returned to the Deloitte Money League podium (2 nd ), generating €975m. Despite continuing to play matches away from the Spotify Camp Nou, which is due for completion during the 2025/26 season, the club reported a 27% growth in revenue compared to 2023/24. A key driver for this growth was the introduction of Personal Seat Licence arrangements, generating one-off c.€70m. Much like Real Madrid during the 2023/24 se...
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Commercial revenue away from the pitch more important for top clubs

The Deloitte Money League for 2026 has been published.  The cumulative revenue of the Money League clubs grew by 11%, rising to €12.4 billion (2023/24: €11.2 billion). Matchday (€2.4 billion), broadcast (€4.7 billion) and commercial (€5.3 billion) revenues all grew to record levels, as the latter became the first revenue stream to exceed €5 billion. For the third consecutive year, commercial revenue represented the most significant proportion of total revenue for Money League clubs, generating an average of €265m (2025: €244m). The key drivers for this included improved retail performance, increasing sponsorship revenue, as well as the use of stadia and surrounds on non-matchdays. The latter represents a significant shift in the business models of certain clubs to focus on greater utilisation of stadia assets through a diversified entertainment offering. On-site breweries, restaurants, hotels, and other offerings are therefore becoming more common, demonstrating the importance ...
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An 'uneven battle' for clubs like Preston

A look at the finances of Football League founders and Championship perennials Preston North End.  Extracts come from the latest report on the club from the authoritative Swiss Ramble. Preston’s pre-tax loss worsened from £14.3m to £17.7m in 2024/25, despite revenue rising £3.6m (21%) from £16.9m to £20.5m, a new club high.   This was more than offset by a steep increase in operating expenses, up £6.7m (21%) from £31.6m to £38.3m. In addition, they made nothing from player sales, though the previous season was not so hot either, only contributing £0.4m.   The result after tax was better, thanks to a £4.3m tax credit, though this still widened from £9.9m to £13.4m. There was growth across the board, as all three revenue streams set new club records. The largest increase was in broadcasting, which rose £2.3m (25%) from £9.5m to £11.8m, but match day was up £1.1m (25%) from £4.3m to £5.4m. In addition, commercial was slightly higher, rising £0.2m (7%) From £3.1m to £3.3m...
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90 per cent of clubs lose money but investors are not worried

Accountancy firm BDO reports that global interest in domestic game continues to grow with record-breaking revenues of £6.4bn in the Premier League in 2024, rising club valuations and a surge in interest in women’s football.   Clubs face persistent high costs, with wages representing 63% of revenues in the Premier League and 93% in the Championship, and over 90% expect to incur pre-tax losses in 2025, with the nearly the same proportion stating that they will require shareholder funding in the near future Player transfers hit record highs in 2025, but separate analysis from Twenty First Group highlights that the correlation between spend and on-field results is surprisingly low (just 57%, and a mere 35% when you exclude ‘superclubs’) Despite financial challenges, investor interest in clubs remains high with two-thirds of clubs saying they have received an approach from prospective investors in the last 12 months     There is widening financial disparity both ...
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Football fans join the tech backlash

Henry Mance of the FT provides a balanced assessment of the debate about VAR.  For me, it confirms that most fans are conservative technophobes at heart.  Back in the 1950s many of them opposed the introduction of floodlights. It does need tweaking and Mance has some useful suggestions. Moreover, if the VAR team can't reach a decision in three minutes, the on field decision should stand.   But so much is at stake financially in modern football that mistakes by officials can't simply be shrugged off. Here’s some good news about the world in 2026: football refereeing is more accurate than ever. If you don’t believe me, look at the English Premier League’s list of recent wrong decisions. Most of the mistakes are marginal. Thanks to technology, glaring errors are now even rarer than successful Manchester United signings. It is basically impossible that England will be knocked out of this year’s World Cup by an equivalent of Diego Maradona’s 1986 Hand of God (they will ...
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Do Argyle pay a price for sustainability?

Throughout all their ups and downs, Plymouth Argyle have strived to be financially sustainable, so let’s take a look via the Swiss Ramble at the latest accounts to see how they have performed against this objective. Despite relegation, Argyle actually managed to generate a pre-tax profit of £0.3m in 2024/25, following a £2.4m loss the previous season. The club said this was “the result of success in player trading, which overcame significant costs of competing in the Championship”. The main driver of Argyle’s revenue growth was broadcasting, thanks to the new EFL TV rights deal, which led to an increase of £2.3m (22%) from £10.6m to £12.9m. However, there was also good growth elsewhere, as match day rose £0.4m (9%) from £5.5m to £5.9m, while commercial was up £0.4m (5%) from £9.6m to £10.0m. Argyle’s return to profitability was good news, but they have still posted losses six times in the last eight years.   That said, Argyle’s losses have been very small compared to the vast...
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