The Political Economy of Football V2

  Exeter City's chairman says that the Grecians have overcome the financial issues they faced last season.  However, they are operating on a restricted budget in League Two:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c4gjk3834nqo

It's difficult to think of West Ham in the Championship, even if they do get the dubious bonus of a revival of the Dockers' Derby with Millwall. However, Four Fur Two forecasts they will return as champions and that's my view as well, although unfortunately it means six points taken off my team, Charlton. In its season preview the magazine says: 'Off-field it's a work-in-progress, but on it the Irons look firm favourites, with a mix of good Premier League players, recent second tier stars and emerging academy products, all under a top boss in Nunio.' But how did the club with the 20th highest revenue of any club in Europe and with the eighth largest average gate get relegated in the first place?  Average attendances at the London Stadium are more than 60,000. Since moving from Upton Park they have spent £1 billion in the transfer market, making them rivals to Liverpool and the Haringey club.  Around £450m has been spent on 53 'strikers',  Take Jared Bowe...

A high-profile U.S. sports executive pardoned by Donald Trump in December, following an indictment for allegedly rigging a bidding process, has bought a minority stake in Championship club Bolton Wanderers, subject to regulatory approval. Tim Leiweke was accused by the Department of Justice last summer of orchestrating a conspiracy to put off a rival bid for the construction of a sports arena at the University of Texas so that his own company, Oak View Group (OVG), could win the $375million contract. In May, the 69-year-old invested €100 million ($114m; £85m) in newly-promoted Serie A side Venezia, with his daughter Francesca Bodie becoming the club’s president. Last month, he was blocked from buying a 16 per cent stake Benfica, as the Portuguese club’s board raised concerns about being part of a multi-club group. And now Leiweke, his daughter and former OVG executive Keegan McDonald have formed a new entity called Entrepreneur Equity Partners to buy a stake in Bolton, ...

Oxford United are not the club of dreaming spires.   That mantle belongs to non-league Oxford City once chaired by the warden of Nuffield College, Sir Norman Chester who wrote a long forgotten government report on the future of football. Oxford United were originally Headington United and crook Robert Maxwell has to plan to merger them with Reading as the Thames Valley Royals playing at Didcot. The Swiss Ramble analyses the situation of the club, having to base his analysis on th 2024/25 accounts which are the lates t available.     More on his Substack page. The last few years have been a bit of a roller coaster for Oxford United, featuring promotion to England’s second tier for the first time in 25 years, followed by relegation to League One, as well as uncertainty around the stadium, numerous changes off the pitch, issues with the EFL’s financial regulations and most recently a transfer embargo. Questions about the owners It’s clearly not a great look, w...

MK Dons new parent company MKD HoldCo Ltd, which also runs the hotel, events and car park, made a £9.1m operating loss in its first trading period. Player sale profits (Matt O’Riley sell on?) helped reduce this to just £6.2m, reports Kieran Maguire. Turnover was £20.5m.

I am rather sceptical of this list of Nigerian billionaires who might buy Leicester City.  They might find better uses for their money away from football:  https://www.afrik-foot.com/en-ng/leicester-city-nigeria-billion-epl-dangote Nigeria as a country has had quite serious issues with corruption, but there is genuine interest in football. Nevertheless, it does seem increasing likely that the Foxes will have new owners.   This is certainly the thinking in Thailand:  thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2026/07/24/king-power-in-tentative-talks-with-citigroup-about-leicester-city-sale-after-freefall-to-uks-third-tier/ Football finance guru Kieran Maguire notes: ' The interest costs at Leicester on the loans are a bit troublesome at £200k a week. The player sales this summer should offset that and cover the costs for the next few months at least. Club increasingly reliant on sales in recent years. '