The Political Economy of Football V2

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...

Aston Villa have been fined €22.5 million for breaching UEFA’s squad cost ratio (SCR) limit — but will only pay €7.5m with the rest only payable if their compliance with the regulations takes a downturn. UEFA, European football’s governing body, say Villa will only have to pay the remaining €15m if the club’s SCR position does not continue to show improvements, having seen a reduction in percentage between 2024 and 2025. For the 2025 calendar year, Villa’s SCR was still found to be above the tightened 70 per cent limit imposed by UEFA. The €22.5m fine is the second most expensive fine to be handed out to a European club for 2025, behind Strasbourg (€25m). Chelsea, meanwhile, were found to have breached and were fined €3m, €2m of which was conditional. UEFA said in a statement: “Regarding Aston Villa FC and Chelsea FC, which had already been sanctioned in the previous season, the CFCB First Chamber took into consideration the improving trend in their squad cost ratio between 2024 ...

Having lived in the Midlands for over 50 years, I regard Aston Villa as the leading regional club, a status that has gone from aspiration to fulfillment.  My chiropodist is a keen season ticket holder so we always discuss the club’s progress. Here I rely on the latest assessment by the Swiss Ramble of the club’s 2024/25 accounts.   He has an unrivalled data set and forensic financial skills which he applies from his Zurich base.    Read more on his Substack page. This has the makings of another fine season for Aston Villa, as they on course for fourth place in the Premier League, while they have guaranteed their qualification for the Champions League. In addition, they could get their hands on some silverware by winning the Europa League, as they are favourites to beat German side Freiburg in this week’s final in Istanbul. It bears remembering how far Villa have progressed under owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, who bought the club in July 2018.  ...

 Aston Villa’s ownership group, V Sports, are advancing in talks to acquire a controlling stake in French second-division club, FC Annecy.  Villa were leaning on the V Sports group, led by Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, to integrate Annecy into its multi-club umbrella, which included Japanese club Vissel Kobe and Real Union of Spain. V Sports’ director of global football development, Matthew Kidson, was tasked with connecting the clubs together, even if the partnership, at the time, was informal. However, V Sports is closing in on acquiring a controlling stake in Annecy, having held discussions and intending to finalise the agreement in recent months. V Sports have also been looking at other clubs in Europe. A formal investment would help to accelerate plans with Villa and other clubs in its stable. This will include a continuation of young Villa players moving to France, either on loan or permanently, plus improvements to Annecy’s facilities and possibly its 15,600-capac...

This is the first time that all three European finals have included an English side. Is it, perhaps, a cause for concern? Probably not when it comes to the Champions League. Financially, top European clubs are on a par with their English counterparts. In fact, only one Premier League side featured in the top five of the latest Deloitte Money League table. But in the second- and third-tier competitions, designed to broaden access to European football (and the associated cash boost from Uefa), worries may be creeping in. Uefa’s relatively new financial rules restrict spending as a percentage of income. Even smaller top-tier English clubs have far higher revenue than their continental counterparts, giving them a big financial advantage in both the Europa League and the Europa Conference (both of which were won by English teams last year). For example, Aston Villa had revenue last season of £378mn (€431mn). Their fellow finalists SC Freiburg had just €163mn. If these compe...

Fees paid to agents by men’s teams in England’s top four divisions raced past the half-billion-pound barrier for the first time this season, according to data disclosed by the Football Association (FA) on Wednesday afternoon. Chelsea spent £65.1million on agent fees, topping the club list for the third season running under the ownership of BlueCo, a consortium led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly. In BlueCo’s other season at the helm, Chelsea were the second-highest spenders on agents. In 2025-26, Chelsea accounted for 12 per cent of the agent spend of the 92 clubs in the football league. In all, Chelsea have spent £272million on agent fees in four seasons under their current owners, significantly more than anyone else in that period bar Manchester City (£236.7m). The jump to the next highest spender in that time, Manchester United, at £152.6m, is significant. Indeed, only three other clubs have spent more than £100m on agents over the past four years: Liverpool, Arsenal and As...

At Aston Villa and Newcastle United, the internal restructuring of assets by club owners generated combined paper profits of £247million. At Everton, who still posted a loss, similar moves generated £49m. Strip those out and Premier League losses topped a billion pounds. In essence, the moving around of companies or assets within the wider group controlled by each club’s owners created accounting profits. Those profits improved the bottom lines of teams who would otherwise have each posted pre-tax deficits beyond £50million. On Tuesday, it was revealed Newcastle turned an otherwise record loss into a £34.7million profit by ‘selling’ their home stadium St James’ Park and adjacent land to a new company three days before the club’s accounting year-end date last June. The company was set up by Newcastle’s ownership group, headed by Saudi Arabia’s state Public Investment Fund (PIF). The latter point was seemingly enough to obscure, for some, what the actions of last June now mean: New...

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire has warned Aston Villa that they cannot afford to slip into Euripe's third tier given that they have long been struggling to comply with Premier League financial fair play rules.   If you qualify for Europe you can only spend 70 per cent of your revenue on player costs comapred with 85 per cent in the Premier League. Maguire pointed out that for every £1 you earn in the Champions League you get 22p in the Europa League and 11p in the Conference League.    Moreover, every place in the Premier League is worth £2.5m. There are plans to expand the capacity of Villa Park to more than 50,000, but even if Villa double their match day revenue it will be over £100m behind that of United - they also attract more tourists who sp\end more on merch (yield at United is £80 per fan and at Villa £24). Maguire reckons that Villa need to be in the Champions League two years out of three if they are going to join the big six.

A ston Villa are set to be hit with a heavy fine for breaching Uefa’s financial rules for a second year running. The club are expected to have breached Uefa’s squad cost rule, which imposes financial penalties if a club’s spending on player wages, transfers and agents is more than 70 per cent of its revenue.  The rule is effectively a luxury tax and   Villa   were fined €6million (about £5.2million) in July for breaching the 80 per cent level during 2024, and that limit was reduced by Uefa to 70 per cent for 2025, which the club have struggled to comply with. However, it is thought Villa are not in danger of violating their settlement deal agreed with Uefa last year for breaching its separate football  earnings rule that covers financial losses. That deal included a €5million fine, targets around future losses and some transfer restrictions. Breaches of the settlement can lead to more serious sanctions such as exclusion from European competition. Villa are understood...

The Deloitte Money League has received extensive coverage, but It is well worth picking out some highlights from the Swiss Ramble’s forensic analysis in which he identifies key trends in football finance.   Subscribe to his Substack page for much more detail – and insights. There are no fewer than six Premier League clubs in the Top 10, split between three from the North West of England (Liverpool 5th, Manchester City 6th and Manchester United 8th) and three from London (Arsenal 7th, Tottenham 9th and Chelsea 10th).    That’s pretty impressive, though it was also the first time in this report’s history that no English side featured in the top four, largely due to the positive impact of the FIFA Club World Cup on some continental clubs. In addition, we find three other English clubs in the bottom half of the Top 20: Aston Villa 14th, Newcastle United 17th and West Ham 20th.    The total number of English clubs in the Top 20 was unchanged at nine, but was...

Newcastle United face Aston Villa on Sunday as two teams who have come closest to breaking the dominance of the so-called ‘Big Six’. This term has been used to refer to Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, who have regularly finished in those places in the Premier League and therefore received the benefits of European football that come with it. Though some of those clubs have fallen down the division regularly in recent years, the financial aspect of their advantage largely remains.  Undoubtedly the single-biggest impediment to Newcastle’s growth has been financial regulations. The idea that they would become the “richest club in the world” was also a fallacy — yet even if they wanted to call upon the full resources of their mega-wealthy owners, they would be unable to do so. While Chelsea and Manchester City could keep spending following their respective takeovers in 2003 and 2008, Newcastle were forced to sell players again...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble examines Aston Villa’s troubles with PSR.   Here is a summary of his main points. Villa were the one Premier League club whose transfer window this summer was very clearly impacted by PSR, as noted by manager Unai Emery,   Villa actually had the lowest gross spend in the top flight this summer with just £42m, which was miles below the likes of Liverpool £459m, Chelsea £331m and Arsenal £291m.   For even more perspective, this was also a lot less than the three promoted clubs: Sunderland £193m, Burnley £135m and Leeds United £116m. Villa’s financial challenges directly led to the sale of Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United for £39m, which was a “pure profit” deal, as he is an Academy product.    However, it’s fair to say that Villa would have been willing to sell more players, e.g. both Emi Martinez and Ollie Watkins seemed destined to leave at various stages of the transfer window, though other clubs would have low-balled the...

When a small group of staff were told of Monchi’s exit from Aston Villa on Monday afternoon, they were startled to learn one of Villa’s most senior figures, and a renowned football executive, had departed. Players left training earlier in the day and only learned of the news when  The Athletic  broke the story hours later. Wider staff not directly involved in Monchi’s departments, including senior figures, were equally surprised. They acknowledged that Villa’s recruitment had been poor and tensions were developing, but not quite to the extent of Monchi leaving just over a month into the new season. The exact framing of that departure depends on who you ask. For some, it was a matter of necessity on the back of the summer’s transfer struggle; others present it as a mutual decision, while there are also personal reasons for Monchi wanting to return to Spain. Monchi is expected to remain in an advisory capacity within Villa’s ownership group, V Sports, as part of plans to r...

Monchi (as the former goalkeeper is usually known) is set to leave his role as Aston Villa president of football operations, according to multiple club sources.  Monchi had come under growing scrutiny from supporters for the perceived lack of improvement within Villa’s squad. Since joining the club in the summer of 2023 at the request of manager Unai Emery, Monchi has been in charge of player recruitment. However, as  The Athletic  explained last week, Emery has the overarching say on signings, with Monchi’s remit being to facilitate the former’s wishes. Inescapably, though, Villa’s transfer strategy has come under question. Nine of the starting XI that featured against Sunderland were already Villa players before Emery’s arrival in October 2022, with a lack of squad turnover contributing to the current stagnancy. This is a monumental departure in Villa’s hierarchy, with Monchi forming the triangle of power alongside Emery and director of football operations, D...

Villa’s lack of goals has felt like a surface-level issue for a team with many deficiencies. The league season is only five games old, yet the mood among squad and supporters alike is already weary. Players have spoken privately of feeling the pressure and, throughout the summer, eagerly awaited renewed impetus via the transfer market. The atmosphere around the training ground, already low, is expected to worsen this week. Internally, there is a flatness. Throughout last week, close observers speculated on the cause, but none could find the root issue.  It is a collection of everything, starting with last season’s final-day defeat at Manchester United, where Villa missed out on Champions League qualification on goal difference. Emery’s thousand-yard stare at the full-time whistle that afternoon — unlike here, he stuck around on the touchline to the end of the game — would be the mood of the summer around the club. The gambles to sign Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashfor...

Now that the dust has settled from the transfer window it is worth looking at the pattern of spending courtesy of the authoritative Swiss Ramble.  These are just highlights: for comprehensive coverage subscribe to his Substack blog which covers all the European leagues including minor ones. Liverpool’s £459m spend in the transfer window was the third highest of all time, only surpassed by Chelsea’s massive spending since Boehly and co arrived (£745m in 2022/23 and £553m in 2023/24). Liverpool had the highest gross spend of £393m, followed by Chelsea £284m and Arsenal £254m, though six clubs in total spent more than £200m.   The three promoted clubs all spent a fair amount, led by Sunderland’s £163m, though Burnley £117m and Leeds United £98m did not exactly hold back either. The lowest gross spend of the Big Six was Manchester City’s £179m, though this was partly because they were very active in the previous January window. On the other hand, three clubs spent less than £5...

Alexander Isak’s £125million move from Newcastle United to Liverpool was a fitting final act that helped add a juicy full stop to the most spectacular summer of trading that English football has known. Deadline day alone saw £375m change hands, nudging the totalizer up to a figure that already ensures this coming January is not needed to make this the most lavish season on record. Never before have the Premier League’s 20 clubs spent nearly as much on players, both in gross and net figures. The total spend, in fact, was a remarkable £1.1bn more than last summer once the final agreements were struck by 7pm, representing a 55 per cent year-on-year increase. The fact a record number of deal sheets were lodged ahead of the deadline, a figure that ran into double figures for the desperate, illustrated the frenetic nature of business from start to finish. No club has ever had a higher gross spend than Liverpool, either. The £420m they committed on the deals to land Isak, Florian Wirtz, H...

Championship club Hull City took English forward Louie Barry on loan from Aston Villa in January but then failed to pay his initial loan fee or monthly wages until early July. These sums came to more than £830,000 and the total number of days in default were 311, with the February-to-May wage payments adding up to 168 days between them. Under EFL rules, clubs get a warning when they hit a cumulative late-payment total of 10 days, an automatic fine of five per cent of the amount owed after 20 days and a transfer-window ban on paying fees for players after 30 days. All of this is managed by the EFL’s Club Financial Reporting Unit, with any disputes now handled by the Club Financial Review Panel, a bespoke group of experts on call for expedited decisions. Having been notified of their three-window ban on July 3, Hull City promptly appealed against the decision and were given a hearing on August 6. The club wanted the three-window ban replaced by a suspended sanction for the current ...

The first weekend of the Premier League season was also the beginning of an end. A new campaign that kicked off with Liverpool’s 4-2 win against Bournemouth on Friday will be the last to see gambling sponsors on the front of playing shirts, closing the book on over two decades of financial support. More than half of the Premier League’s 20 clubs have a gambling firm as their primary sponsor and they soon must look elsewhere for solutions to a commercial shortfall that collectively runs to £100million ($135m). There will still be the chance to display betting firms on the sleeves of kits, advertising boards and on training wear, but it is forecast that the value of some sponsorship deals could be halved in the next 12 months. Eleven clubs — Aston Villa, Everton, West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest, Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brentford, Bournemouth, Burnley and Sunderland — are all having one last dance with a betting platform this season. It has typically be...

Birmingham City Council’s planning committee will convene on August 28, with a view to voting on plans to expand Villa Park.  Planning permission is sought for the extension of the stadium’s North Stand, increasing its size by 5,926 seats to take the ground’s overall capacity to 48,809. This marks a key date in Aston Villa’s ambition to raise the maximum number of spectators above 50,000 in time for the 2028 European Championship, being co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, in which theirs is set to be one of the nine grounds staging games. A raised capacity would also assist with Villa’s efforts to grow matchday revenues, helping them comply with profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). Presently, a major issue impacting the ability to drive revenues is stadium capacity. West Ham United, for example, boast a ground that holds 20,000 more spectators than Villa Park’s 42,640. Within draft papers seen by  The Athletic  are the de...