The Political Economy of Football V2

Liverpool fans are planning a raft of actions against the club’s owners amid “overwhelming opposition” to planned ticket price rises. Last month the club announced general admission tickets would rise in line with inflation for the next three seasons, despite consultation with the club’s supporters’ board, who petitioned for a freeze.  Inflation is now likely to increase because of the conflict in the Middle East. Now Liverpool fans, led by Spirit of Shankly, are to stage a series of protests against these ticket price rises which they say have been made in the face of “overwhelming opposition” from supporters – starting at Saturday’s game at Anfield against Fulham. Spirit of Shankly said: “This decision sits with ownership. Not just at Anfield. Not just at Chapel Street. In Boston. They have made the call. They can reverse it.” Anfield's flag group, Spion Kop 1906, said they will be withdrawing their displays from the ground for the remainder of the season after next Wednesd...

Leeds United are the only club in the United Kingdom’s third biggest and arguably most vibrant metropolitan area, enjoying a strong fan base, so it should be in the top flight.  I hope they stay up. Below is a summary of the salient points from the Swiss Ramble’s analysis of their latest accounts.    Much more depth and analysis can be found on his Substack page (free trial often available). Despite the success on the pitch, Leeds United still posted a large loss of £49m in 2024/25, though this was an improvement on the previous season’s £61m deficit. Revenue rose £9m (7%) from £128m to £137m, while operating expenses were only up £1m from £204m to £205m and net interest payable dropped by two-thirds from £18m to £6m. However, profit on player sales was £9m lower, falling from £34m to £25m. Revenue growth The main driver of the revenue growth was commercial, which shot up £15m (34%) from £43m to £58m, an incredible figure for the Championship, while gate receipts ...

Birmingham City are very positive about their financial results for 2024/25 despite making an operating loss of £39 million which they somehow fail to mention:  https://www.bcfc.com/pages/en/media-article/birmingham-city-football-club-posts-strong-financial-statement-for-24-25 The club is undoubtedly making real long-term progress under its new ownership, although performance on the pitch has been a little underwhelming. The operating loss represents a significant increase of approximately 115%, as compared to the loss of approximately £16.1m for the corresponding period last year. This compares to Wrexham’s operating loss of £14.84m over the same period but is far less than Leeds United’s £49.1m when they were a Championship club last season. Cardiff City, who were also in the second tier in 2024/25, lost £35.1m over the same period. Much of Blues’ situation can be explained by wages of £38.9m, which are up 9 per cent on the previous year from £35.8m. What cannot be ignored,...

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire says that the £10m loss at Blackburn is not that bad (particularly when you compare it with other Championship clubs not receiving parachute payments:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c1d9013y4zdo Maguire says that owning a football club is a bit like being the bank of mum and dad.  I know what me means, except in my case it's the bank of step-grandad, grandad and great-grandad!

Disreputable satirical magazine Private Eye is rather disobliging about the West Ham board and in particular Baroness Brady in its latest issue.   As well as her West Ham role, she is a mentor on The Apprentice and has a column in the Currant Bun. Baroness Brady was paid £1.47m by West Ham in 2024/25, up by £35,000 from the preceding year. West Ham lost £104m in that year and is currently battling relegation from the Premier League. In all fairness it should be pointed out that the directors of top flight clubs are rarely recompensed on a payment by results basis.  Just think Tottenham Hotspur where as the club goes down, directors' fees go up. In addition Brady has been involved in football since the age of 23 when she was appointed managing director of Birminghan City by David Sullivan.   Indeed, she married a player at the club. The 77-year old Sullivan is now the largest shareholder at West Ham.    Private Eye claims that 'he has assembled a board ...

The early promotion of cathedral city team Lincoln to the Championship has rightly attracted attention and praise.   For example, the latest edition of Four Four Two has a feature on the club which is well worth reading. Lincoln is a classic ‘stand alone’ club.   It is clearly the pre-eminent club in Lincolnshire (Grimsby play in Cleethorpes and former EFL club Boston play in the National League, as do Scunthorpe). Lincolnshire is probably the leading arable farming county in England with many large scale and prosperous enterprises – I gave a talk to some of the leading producers many years ago, before Sir James Dyson got involved with his innovative agricultural enterprises. For the first time in 65 years, Lincoln City will play in the second tier of English football next season — a success achieved despite starting their 2025-26 campaign with the seventh-lowest budget among the 24 clubs in League One. American investment Lincoln are one of many English clubs t...