The Political Economy of Football V2

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...

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...

Newcastle United’s owners injected a further £95 million ($127.8m) into the club as equity in October, filings at UK Companies House show. The cash injection, Newcastle’s 11th since the club was taken over by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), takes owner funding at the club to almost £600m since that deal was struck in October 2021. The latest equity raise is the first at St James’ Park since the announcement, in April, that the PIF was ceasing its funding of LIV Golf, a rebel league which failed to turn masses of PIF funding into anything resembling a viable business. That had raised the idea PIF would seek to scale back other sporting investments too, and the fund sold a 70 per cent stake in Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal around the same time. With Newcastle having been heavily reliant on owner funding in the past half-decade, there were concerns purse strings may be tightened on Tyneside. The Athletic reported then that club figures were expecti...

Now is the era of the sports lawyer in football   Northridge have just 41 lawyers and a turnover of £16.5m. but they are increasingly movers and shakers. Founded in 2017, Northridge has grown into one of the largest dedicated sports practices in Europe. Its lawyers advise athletes, clubs, governing bodies, investors and sponsors across the commercial, regulatory and contentious sides of sport. Some of the world’s richest investors, including the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, paid more than £2bn for a 38 per cent stake in Liverpool Football Club in August, amid speculation over the club’s future. Northridge advised K5 Sports, a fund backed by Bezos, on its part in the acquisition by 1892 Holdings, a consortium led by the former Queens Park Rangers chairman Amit Bhatia which also includes the Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. The deal valued the club at £5.5bn. It could ultimately pave the way for a change of control at Anfield, with the consortium given first refusal to a...

Burnley’s return to the Premier League last season saw losses reduce, though the club would have posted a record deficit were it not for £38.8million ($52.3m) in damages received from the club’s successful lawsuit against Everton for rule breaches in 2021-22. Bank debt, first loaded onto Burnley by a leveraged buyout in December 2020, fell by a third on the back of the club’s ownership group providing almost £80m in funds. Such debt of £70million at the end of July 2026 was higher than the day of that takeover, though borrowings due to be repaid within one year reduced from £67.5m then to £45.9m by the beginning of this week. Whether it means Burnley’s overall debt has reduced by over £20m since the summer or there is further bank debt still due but over a longer term is unclear; at the time of publication, a spokesperson for the club’s ownership group had not responded to a request from The Athletic for an up-to-date figure for Burnley’s total bank debt. Either way, pressingly,...

In his Zurich fastness the Swiss Ramble has been diving down into his data base to produce fascinating statistics on Premier League and Championship finances.  Much more on his Substack page. In any statistical analysis ‘outliers’ that break the general pattern are always interesting and here that crown goes to Chelsea.   Whether all the money spent has paid off on the pitch is a moot point. The main source of cash is obviously revenue, though the difference between the Premier League and the Championship is stark. For example, in 2024/25 the £6.9 bln revenue in the top flight was more than seven times as much as the Championship’s £929m. One driver of investment in Premier League clubs is the very impressive revenue growth, especially compared to leagues in other countries. This has shot up by nearly a third (£7.1 bn) in the last 5 years, comparing £29.8 bn to the £22.7 bn in the preceding 5-year period.   The Championship has also grown in this time, but at a much...

Oh, to be a sports lawyer now that autumn is here.   I hadn't expected to report on a second football law suit today. The Forest Green Rovers owner, Dale Vince, is to sue Peterborough United for £2m over their controversial hiring of his former manager Robbie Savage.   It is the latest escalation in the row that followed the former Wales international’s switch from the National League club to the League One side at the start of the month. Vince and the Peterborough chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, have been involved in a war of words since, with Forest Green accusing the EFL club of an illegal approach — “tapping up” — of Savage. Peterborough deny those allegations. Now Vince has confirmed on his personal social media channel that he has launched legal action for compensation of £2m.   “We have begun a legal process for the tapping up of our manager — our ex-manager now — Robbie Savage,” Vince said. “It’s hassle that we didn’t want, but what are you going to do?” ...

We live in a litigious age and sports lawyers are increasingly becoming prominent in the game.  A recent Private Eye cartoon displayed well-nourished lawyers running round with briefcases and wearing Manchester City shirts. However, defamation actions are still relatively rare, although not unknown   For example, note the recent claim launched by West Ham's David Sullivan against the BBC:  https://www.skysports.com/football/news/13594030/david-sullivan-west-ham-co-owner-suing-the-bbc-in-lb150m-defamation-claim-over-panorama-documentary Aston Villa have announced plans to initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his “unacceptable insults” about the club.  Villa released a statement signed off by chairman Nassef Sawiris outlining their intentions on Friday after incendiary comments from the Sky Sports pundit earlier this week. “Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans,” it re...

For years, CFG has been viewed as the gold standard for multi-club networks. It still is, having housed so many of the game’s top executives along the way.  While City dominated English football and clubs around the world came scavenging for their staff, it carried that tag unabashed. But after the judgment delivered by the independent commission that deemed City’s success was partly built on inflated revenue from “sham” commercial contracts to the tune of over £900million ($1.19bn), what does the future hold for the rest of the group? Manchester City’s on-pitch success has been the veneer behind which CFG has existed. The leaders at the Premier League outfit, namely chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and chief executive Soriano, have been effective at presenting City as a well-run, profitable club. They recorded four profitable years in five between 2019 and 2023, and their player trading, particularly the conveyor belt of academy talent, has been the envy of many teams. City acco...

Inter and Milan hope to move into their new home in 2031-32. It will be built on the same footprint for an estimated €2billion ($2.24bn) and carry the name of Italian insurance giant Generali, who have agreed to a record naming rights deal worth £650m over 20 years. Change is going to come. This is different from the projects that have come and gone before. It will not go the way of Barbara Berlusconi’s plan to build Milan their own stadium in the Portello neighbourhood of the city in 2015. Nor will it be held up as The Cathedral was by Covid-19, lockdowns, local elections in Milan and Suning, Inter’s former owners, being on the brink of a bankruptcy that was formally declared earlier this year. Make no mistake — this is happening. A year ago, Milan city hall approved the sale of the publicly owned San Siro to Milan and Inter for around €200m. There were five appeals to block it, all dismissed by the regional administrative court, and threats by political party the Greens to collap...

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS, Manchester United’s minority owner, has put Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport up for sale.   INEOS, whose global headquarters had been in the city between 2010 and 2016, bought the team in November 2017. At the time, it looked like more like an exercise in corporate social responsibility than the first step in the creation of a multi-sport empire that would eventually span cycling, F1, football, rugby union and sailing. But that empire is now in retreat, with the decision to sell Lausanne coming after abrupt exits from sponsorship deals with the All Blacks (New Zealand, rugby union) and Tottenham Hotspur in 2025, a messy divorce from America’s Cup partner Sir Ben Ainslie and the decision to put French club OGC Nice on the market. INEOS will be hoping for a much quicker exit from Lausanne than their long, painful goodbye at Nice. The French side have won three of their last four games to climb to mid-table in Ligue 1 but the club’s fan bas...

During the past few days, we have been enjoying the world gymnastics championship well staged in an impressive arena in Rotterdam.  In this posting the focus is on the port city’s football club. From his fastness in Zurich, the Swiss Ramble has been casting his usual forensic eye over the 2025/26 accounts from Feyenoord.   Here are his key findings. Feyenoord had a “challenging” season off the pitch, as they swung from a €31.1m pre-tax profit to €17.0m loss, a sizeable year-on-year deterioration of €48.1m.   Revenue dropped by nearly a third, falling €51.5m from €166.7m to €115.2m, but costs remained at virtually the same level, so this all fed through to a much larger operating loss, which widened from €28.8m to €78.9m. This was partially offset by €62.6m profit on player sales, up €2.2m from the previous year’s €60.3m.   The net loss after tax was lower at €12.6m, thanks to a €4.4m tax credit. The main reason for the revenue decrease was significantly lower...

The supporters who own AFC Wimbledon will vote over the next four weeks on whether to accept an £87million ($116m) investment in the League One club from a consortium led by former Southampton and England full-back Ryan Bertrand. In a complicated deal, Sloane Street Capital (SSC), a newly set-up investment vehicle, would pay £16m for approximately 34 per cent of the club’s shares this season but then invest a further £71m over the next five years, at which point SSC would own 90 per cent of the club’s economic value. However, under a shareholders’ agreement, the club’s current owner — the 6,265-strong Dons Trust — will always retain at least 50.01 per cent of the voting rights, giving the trust veto control over the club and its stadium’s freehold. Bertrand, who played for nine different clubs during a 17-year career including Chelsea, Southampton and Leicester City, is SSC’s senior football advisor and would hold the same role for Wimbledon, with two of SSC’s minority shareholde...

Aston Villa today celebrated a 2-1 win over Manchester City despite playing in a three sided ground. The North Stand, behind one of the goals and opposite the famous Holte End, is closed for the 2026-27 season as part of Villa Park’s redevelopment.   Once functional, it should house more than 12,000 spectators. Incremental additions to the ground’s three other sides will lead to the targeted capacity and, longer-term, to a 52,500-seat venue. Having secured Champions League qualification at the end of 2023-24, the football department were keen to avoid playing home matches in a three-stand stadium. There was a desire for Villa Park to remain atmospheric and intimidating for opponents, as well as not be an eyesore. Club sources estimate shutting the stand this season costs about £6million. Villa decided it was better to bite the bullet and get the work done in one season rather than two, as the estimated increased income from the revamped stand exceeds the agreed fixed interest r...

Valencia won both the Spanish league and the Uefa Cup in 2004, an achievement that propelled the team’s then head coach Rafa Benítez all the way to Liverpool.  But glory has eluded the club ever since, with form dropping off sharply in the past decade under the ownership of Singaporean palm-oil billionaire Peter Lim. Now, perhaps, a new chapter is opening. On Friday, the club announced that a consortium of US investors, including the family offices of KKR co-founders George Roberts and Henry Kravis, had agreed to buy a 42 per cent stake valuing Valencia at €1.25bn. The group, which also includes the owners of the Denver Broncos NFL franchise, will inject €100mn of working capital too, helping the team buy players and improve the training ground. Despite previous success, Valencia are well past being at European football’s top table. The team sits 19th in La Liga at the moment, while the club generated annual revenue of just €103.7mn in its most recent accounts. Brentford, 30th ...

Real Madrid want the six Premier League clubs that signed up to the European Super League (ESL) to pay a share of the initial costs of the abandoned project. Multiple sources with a close understanding of the situation told The New York Times that the Spanish club believe Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur should still be liable for the setup costs of the plan, despite subsequently pulling out. One source said these costs could be as high as €80 million (£67.3m; $89.9m) in total. Madrid, alongside domestic rivals Barcelona and Juventus of Italy, have so far shared promotional costs associated with the ESL, plans for which were announced in April 2021. Of the 12 founding ESL members, nine — each of the six English clubs, along with Spanish side Atletico Madrid and both Milan and Inter of Serie A — pulled out swiftly in the days following its launch. Another, Juventus, said in 2023 that they had withdrawn from the proposal, before ...

From his Zurich eyrie, the authoritative Swiss Ramble turns his attention this week to Porto who have changed their strategy.  Here is a summary of his main conclusions, much more on his Substack page. Porto have started the season in great form, at least domestically, where they have won their first eight games in the league, though results have not been so impressive in the Champions League, as they have lost both games to date. There has been a marked change in strategy, as the club chose to spend heavily on strengthening the squad and retain some of its talent, as opposed to its usual approach of selling players to balance the books. The “significant investment made to restore sporting competitiveness” clearly paid dividends in the league, but it was also reflected in Porto’s financials, as they swung from the club record pre-tax €45.0m profit to a €20.3m loss, a significant year-on-year deterioration of €65.3m.   Porto’s €20.3m pre-tax loss was actually the worst in...

Sunderland could get a big financial boost from the Europa League, although there is always the rsik of their domestic performances being affected by the additional demands:  https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/sunderland-europa-league-prize-money-financial-boost-9291882

Spain is facing a closely fought and arguably historic general election, but probably most football fans are more interested in a clash between Real Madrid and the president of La Liga.  With one branch of my family now resident in Spain and my great-granddaughter likely to become a Spanish citizen, I have been reading up on the country’s politics and history.   My preliminary conclusion is that some of the rows in football have deeper historical roots in a country that was wracked by a civil war. Real Madrid have demanded the “immediate resignation” of La Liga president Javier Tebas after he likened the approach of the club’s management to that of Joseph Goebbels, the Nazis’ infamous propaganda chief.     (Nazi Germany gave active support to Franco during the Spanish Civil War). Madrid described Tebas’ remarks as “deeply offensive” and “morally repugnant”. Madrid said they disqualified him from continuing to hold his positions as head of the Spanish to...

One issue that has surrounded financial fair play rules is whether they are really designed to protect the position of existing top clubs and prevent well-funded aspirational clubs breaking through the glass ceiling.   If that could be shown to be the case, the courts could rule that the Premier League’s rules are a breach of competition law by a private entity that has facilitated cartel activity. Newcastle host Aston Villa, a meeting of the division’s aspirational interlopers, who both recently ended long waits for silverware and each qualified for the Champions League twice. Both have found their pathways blocked by more stringent rules than those faced by City. Newcastle’s takeover, which was led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and completed in October 2021, brought an immediate stiffening of the Premier League’s rules, with fellow clubs concerned they would use their extraordinary wealth to game the system. Having spent big in a bid to avoid relegatio...