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New financial challenges for Wimbledon after investors walk away

Sloane Street Capital (SSC) has officially withdrawn from its proposed £87 million investment in AFC Wimbledon, causing the club to cancel its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and face heightened financial pressures.   The Dons Trust are holding their annual meeting on Monday. AFC Wimbledon are one of only two majority fan-owned clubs in the EFL – along with Exeter City – but that makes running a loss-making operation, as 94% of teams in England’s top five tiers are doing according to the State of the Game report, even more challenging. “In other clubs, the owner just puts their hand in their pocket, produces cash,” said Hannah Kitcher, who has been a member of the Dons Trust Board (DTB), which runs AFC Wimbledon, for seven years. “It’s harder when the owners are fans – you can only go to them so many times.” Wimbledon made a £2.6m loss in the 2024-25 season – a figure expected to increase by £500,000 when they publish their accounts next month – which, as Kitcher point...
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Palace's problems go beyond the manager

If Palace sign Thomas Frank he should sort out their problems, in particular their defensive woes, and steer them away from the relegation zone. Frank would be a logical appointment. Although he has been out of work since an ill-fated eight-month tenure at Tottenham Hotspur ended in February, he proved to be a savvy tactician and strong figurehead during the seven previous years at Brentford, a Premier League club on roughly the same level as Palace. Equally, he would have little time to implement his principles, because Palace return to action with a six-pointer against Coventry City a week on Saturday.  Moreover, Palace fans know that the problems at the club are more fundamental than the manager.  One commented: ‘we (Palace) have been woeful in the transfer market for the last 3 seasons ….. we leave everything to the last possible second in the transfer window and we haven’t recognised the squad depth required to be playing European football .’ Much of the Palace supp...

United: 'the club that survived its own balance sheet'

Much has been said and written about what has happened at Manchester United this week.  One of the best summaries has been produced today by the leading sports business paper, the Financial Times. ‘Michael Carrick’s sacking this week, the second United manager to go this year, was the seventh dismissal since Ferguson retired — a remarkable rate for a club that had only seven managers in the 68 years following the second world war. It has dropped to eighth in Europe by revenue, overtaken by Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City. The club’s impatience with coaches stems from several questionable management decisions made by the Glazer family, owners since 2005, and Ineos, the 29 per cent shareholder and controller of the club’s day-to-day operations. But it also reflects the remorseless ratcheting effect of the initial £540mn debt the Glazer family loaded on to a once conservatively run club in 2005. The calculation was that revenues and profits could be expanded while the clu...

Leeds appoint secretive bank to help with next phase of growth

Leeds United is increasingly establishing itself as the club from a vibrant regional capital able to overtake failing clubs like Manchester United.   It is showing increasing sophistication in raising the necessary funds. Leeds United’s owners have appointed a secretive New York investment bank to value the club and test the waters on fresh investment for the next phase of its growth.Allen & Company has no website and shies away from publicity, but does business with some of the world’s wealthiest people. Jed York, the billionaire American at the head of 49ers Enterprises, has led the dialogue with Allen & Co on behalf of United’s ownership group. The bank’s valuation of the club and search for potential new investment is one of several avenues being assessed in the quest for fresh capital. An injection of new funds will be needed to propel the club into its next phase under Enterprises, which includes Elland Road’s expansion and ongoing player recruitment. The que...

Friedel praises new Shrewsbury owners

The new director of football, Brad Friedel, says that the Miami-based consortium that took over Shrewsbury Town on Monday are the ideal fit for the club after they conducted a Europe wide search:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cm894wegv3lno The Shrews had been in the same ownership for 30 years.

Brady quits Blues. Nothing to see here?

Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion, has left his role at Birmingham City. Brady’s involvement at Birmingham followed a trend of high-profile north American celebrities investing in English Football League (EFL) clubs, most notably Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac at fellow Championship side Wrexham.Brady, 49, had been a minority investor in the club since the summer of 2023, but Birmingham confirmed his exit in a statement on Monday. The former New England Patriots quarterback’s departure comes with Birmingham top of the Championship, English football’s second tier, as the club aims to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2011. On the one hand, news that a minority shareholder who effectively paid nothing for his stake, had no previous attachment to the club or city, has not been to a game for a long time and is really busy with another sport, thousands of miles away, would not be a news at all. But this is Tom Brady, the NFL legend who provid...

Downward dip in the Burnley roller coaster ride

The Swiss Ramble applies his usual forensic analysis to the accounts of Burnley.  Much more in depth analysis is available on his Substack page. Life has certainly been a roller coaster for Clarets fans since Alan Pace took over the club in December 2020, when his company ALK Capital purchased an 84% majority shareholding. This led to a change in approach for Burnley, as the new owners made the acquisition via a leveraged buy-out, putting in very little of their own money, instead placing debt on the club for the first time in years, while also making use of the club’s own cash reserves. So, following the arrival of the new owners, Burnley’s debt shot up, rising to a high of £142m in 2025.   Incredibly, looking at external debt, this was the fourth highest in England, only behind two clubs that have heavily invested in a new stadium (Tottenham £852m and Everton £469m) plus Manchester United £637m, whose leveraged buy-out by the Glazers might have acted as the template fo...