Skip to main content

Posts

The Big Six are on the hunt

The Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ are on the hunt again.  After last summer’s transfer window was characterised by the league’s financial powerhouses harvesting talent from their domestic competitors, the biggest moves of this window so far suggest that trend is set to continue. All the mooted deals involve the Premier League’s traditional powerhouses attempting to poach from their domestic competitors — and in all cases, the would-be sellers insist their stars are not going anywhere, or that it will take an enormous sum to persuade them otherwise. How long can they hold out? Many think that the financial fair play rules are designed to protect the existing elite and disadvantage aspirational clubs. Aston Villa As ever, much depends on finances. Close examination of Villa’s situation reveals why they are determined to secure a huge fee for Rogers if he departs and why they might face pressure A UEFA settlement agreement will see them banned from Europe for a year if they breac...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Arsenal to set new revenue recordx

Highlights from the Swiss Ramble's Premier League financial forecasts for the coming season: Arsenal are likely to set a new revenue record for English clubs after winning the Premier League and reaching the final of the Champions League. Revenue is boosted across the board by an uplift in central Premier League TV rights, mainly from overseas deals. Higher TV money from UEFA competitions, as nine clubs were involved in UEFA competitions, compared to seven in the previous season. Seven clubs froze ticket prices, but 13 increased their match day income via price increases. Only one club managed to generate an operating profit. However, there was a big increase in profit from player sales, partly driven by the assumption that deals completed in June 2026 are booked in the 2025/26 accounts. Three clubs have wages to turnover ratios above 80%, though, on the other hand, seven clubs are below 60%. Six clubs are profitable at a pre-tax level, though all but one of these are driven by sig...
Post a Comment
Read more

The challenge of keeping island football alive

How one organizes football on islands is an interesting challenge.  One solution adopted in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man is to enter an all island team, backed up by a local competition, in non-league competitions on the mainland.  Travel and other expenses of visiting teams have to be met, so wealthy backers are needed. The Garrison Field stadium At the other extreme, the Isles of Scilly has two teams which play each other in league and cup competitions every week at the Garrison Field stadium. The latest Four Four Two features football on the Scottish island of Arran.   Attempts to field a representative island team on the mainland faltered in the face of the unreliable ferry service (thank you, Scottish Government). In the island competition Lochranaz Northend Thistle went 18 games without a victory before finally folding after Covid.  They played at the Ewe Camp and had a special machine for picking up sheep dropings Brodick, the islands 'capital', c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Daggers aim for the top flight

Talking football with Alan Curbishley As a Charlton supporter, I have reason to remember Dagenham & Redxbridge.  When we were in the Premier League, they held us to a 1-1 draw at The Valley and we managed to just beat them 1-0 when we played them away.  Alan Curbishley, Charlton manager at the time, told me, 'They gave us a torrid time.' I got the impression at the time that they were a second choice team for quite a few West Ham supporters.  Certainly they are located in area which has a strong basis of West Ham support.  Now the club admit they have a rather old demographic. In 2010 the club played in League One under John Silk.  Now they are in the National League South, but are aiming for the Premier League.   American CEO John Grabowski arrived at Dagenham in January 2025.   He had previously overseen an attempt to buy Dunfermline, prior to leading the investment group takeover of Dagenham this February. The objective is to make Dage...
Post a Comment
Read more

Atletico reach concerts deal

Atletico Madrid have reached a 10-year strategic agreement with entertainment company Live Nation to stage concerts at their Metropolitano home ground,  The Athletic  has revealed. It comes at a time when city rivals Real Madrid have seen their own plans to hold concerts at their refurbished Santiago Bernabeu stadium curtailed by complaints and legal disputes over noise pollution regulations. Under Atletico’s new deal, between 15 and 20 concerts are expected to be held each year at the Metropolitano, all during the off-season months when there are no competitive club fixtures.   The agreement also includes the option of an extension beyond its 10-year term and is expected to be announced officially in the coming hours. The plan is to use not only the stadium itself but also a new smaller arena that is due to be built alongside it, as well as an existing fan zone just outside the ground, which already has a stage. According to industry sources, Atletico expect to r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Celebrities move into football

Four Four Two has a special feature on celebrity involvement in football.  We all know about Wrexham, but I was surprised at the extent and breadth of the involvement.   Who would have thought that tennis Naumi Osaka (she of kimono fame) would have a stake in North Carolina Courage? Harry Redknapp recalls that when he joined West Ham as a player the chairman was a Mr Pratt who owned the wood yard over in Wanstead.   Redknapp admits that he does not know who Snoop Dogg is.   I am from an analog age, but even I know that. The rapper turned up for Swansea's match against Preston in February.  The marvelously named Prestgon gaffer Paul Heckingbottom commented, 'Just the smell of weed in the tunnel is the only thing where we realised something was different.' Quite a few of the investors are celebrity footballers or at least retired footballers with money to splash.  They include Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.   I'm not sure that Hector...
Post a Comment
Read more

Les Bleus face the challenge of diversity

France are the most impressive team I have seen in the World Cup so far, but their team faces the challenges of a divided nation, a situation examined by football writer Simon Kuper in the Financial Times. Kuper notes that the federation’s president since 2023 (Philippe Diallo) unites two different worlds. He passed through the obligatory grande école, Sciences Po university in his case, that is the entry ticket to the French ruling class, but also played football in Nantes’ youth academy. And, unusually among France’s overwhelmingly white elite, he is the son of a boxer from Senegal. That background helps him manage relations between the diverse national team and a divided nation that may elect a far-right president next year.  France’s talent pool is certainly unmatched. Les Bleus reached four of the last seven World Cup finals, winning in 2018 and runners-up last time. Dozens of the 98 French-born players at this tournament represent their parents’ countries of origin, inclu...
Post a Comment
Read more