The Political Economy of Football V2

The brutal facts of lower league football finance revealed as Kieran Maguire runs the rule over the finances of Bristol Rovers.  The club has done well to increase revenues, but has not kept pace with rising costs:  https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/bristol-rovers-finances-show-brutal-11019084

The Athletic has been looking at the hardest clubs in England to support.   Bristol Rovers were selected due to their 2025, which featured relegation as well as a record 10 consecutive defeats. The club have never been in the top flight in their 143 years, and the last time they were in the second tier was 1993. They have never won a major trophy or reached a semi-final.  It was the first home game of 2026, a new start and all that. An old face, Steve Evans, is the new Rovers manager, appointed shortly before Christmas. Rovers’ anthem, Leadbelly’s Goodnight Irene, gets an airing and there was some familiarity in the scoreline, too: Bristol Rovers 0-1 Colchester United. It was Rovers’ 13th home league game this season: they have won three, scoring eight goals. Eight. In the second half of last season, there had also been 13 home matches. Rovers won five of those. Nicknamed ‘The Gas’ and the ‘Pirates’, it meant in 2025 ‘Gasheads’ made 25 trips to the stadium, saw eigh...

A takeover of Bristol Rovers by a Kuwaiti businessman has been completed after a transition from the former Jordanian ownership:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c30pyg3e69ro I think that Rovers were the only team in the EFL in Jordanian ownership and off the top of my head I can't think of another from Kuwait.   Foreign ownership is consolidating in the lower divisions.

The parent company of Bristol Rovers makes operating losses of almost £50k a week, reports Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball.   Loan interest write offs decreased this, but total losses over the years now exceed £25m.  Although losses are down year on year, the full impact of Covid-19 is yet to be felt:  https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/losses-reduced-bristol-rovers-latest-5642646 Nevertheless, football finance guru Keiran Maguire reckons they are heading in the right direction:  https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/heading-right-direction--football-5643069

Neither Bristol club is doing as well as they would like at the moment.   Steve Lansdown has been a generous benefactor of Bristol City, but promotion to the Premier League has eluded them.  (Lansdown's recent views on the club's situation can be found here:  https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/steve-lansdown-updates-supporters/   Bristol is a vibrant city and the regional capital of the west of England, but is punching below its football weight. Bristol City — the Robins — have never won the league title. They have never won the FA Cup, nor the League Cup. Bristol Rovers — the Gas — have never won the top-flight title either, nor the FA Cup or League Cup. Bristol City have at least tasted top-flight English football, most recently in 1980, though many will not consider that to be recent. Bristol Rovers have never made it to the top division; they did come sixth in the old Second Division in 1959. Consequently, the city of Bristol has never staged a European football ...

Most EFL clubs regard themselves as being in a weaker financial position than in March when lockdown was imposed and Leagues One and Two were curtailed.  That allowed clubs to furlough most of their staff and take advantage of deferments on VAT and PAYE payments, as well as fees to the league. Advances in payments from the EFL and solidarity payments from the Premier League also helped them to stay afloat.  The decision to end the League One season early saved Bristol Rovers around £500,000. Over the past six weeks staff were redeployed in the expectation that substantial crowds would be returning from October 1st.   It was hoped that 30 per cent of stadium capacity could be used which would be near average attendances for some lower league clubs.  However, that hope is now very much in doubt.  If crowds were limited to 1,000, it would hardly offset the resultant increase in overheads. Costs are ramping up again with HMRC looking for its deferred money alon...

Bristol Rovers had an operating loss of £3.4 million in 2018/19. Would have been £4 million had it not been for profits on player sales, reports Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Bristol Rovers player trading 2018/19: Purchases £387k sales £720k. Bristol Rovers owe over £16 million to offshore tax haven based owners Dwayne Sports in Jersey, owned by the Al-Qadi family. Bristol Rovers total losses now exceed £24 million. The club president Wael Al-Qadi has said he will protect the club against debts of £24m: Pledge on debt Although the owner says that the level of debt is not unusual in the current football climate and is all internal, it is a large amount for a League One club.

I have two old friends who are lifelong Bristol Rovers supporters, but with one now living in Hong Kong I no longer get the chance to discuss matters with him. Manager Graham Coughlan has left for the delights of Mansfield, 18th in League Two, although it is evident that not all fans were behind him. Bristol Rovers are currently fourth in League One. According to Bristol Live, 'Both Coughlan and former boss Darrell Clarke have both now shared their grievances about the lack of financial support from the club, and a minimal to non-existent budget is something the new boss should expect.' That should attract some good candidates, although some worthwhile names have been mentioned. Leading football finance expert Kieran Maguire did express concern earlier in the year about the fact that 97 per cent of turnover was being spent on wages at the Memorial Ground: FFP rule could hinder Rovers The whole situation is something I need to look into in greater depth, but I doubt wheth...

The 2017/18 accounts for Bristol Rovers have finally been published well behind schedule and with some proof reading errors. They show the club lost over £65,000 a week last season from day to day operations. The main reason for losses for Bristol Rovers is that wages were £97 for every £100 of income, that doesn’t leave much to pay the other bills. That kind of wages to turnover ratio is more typical of the Championship. The main reason for the fall in Bristol Rovers income is a 12 per cent fall in matchday receipts while wages went up by 12 per cent. Bristol Rovers total losses over the years amount to just under £20 million. The club is technically insolvent and reliant on its owners to keep it going. Its existence depends on continued support from parent company Dwane Sports based in the tax haven that is Jersey.

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball notes that four clubs in the Premier League, EFL and Scottish Premiership have published wage data. 17 clubs spent more on wages than they generated in income, all of whom were in the Championship and League One. Only 27 were below UEFA's 'red line' of £70 wages for £100 income and only Spurs spent less than one half of income as wages. BTW, it is interesting that the Uefa 'red line' is now used instead of the Deloitte recommendation of a fifty per cent level. Maguire, who was wearing a strangely coloured pullover on BBC Midlands yesterday evening, also reveals that Bristol Rovers are threatened with being struck off by Companies House after failing to submit accounts on time. Will other clubs such as Sheffield Wednesday, who have also broken the law, follow suit, he asks?

Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball and the University of Liverpool is much in demand these days and the latest club he has been asked to comment on is Bristol Rovers. Shell shocked manager Darrell Clarke has accused the Al Qadi family of not investing enough in the club: Investment drought Maguire admits that the club is very reliant on the family and that they have only spent £8.6m of a promised £15m. He says it's a bit like not using all your credit card limit. Just because someone comes from the Middle East doesn't mean they have deep pockets.

Bristol Rovers have reported a £3m loss in 2016-17 despite turnover increasing to £6.2m. However, nearly £1 million of this loss was money that had to be written off because of the aborted University of West of England stadium project. The Al-Qadi family remains fully supportive of the country's only Jordanian-owned club: Bristol Rovers Player and staff costs amounted to £5.04m or 81 per cent of turnover, a relatively high figure. There was also a substantial increase in administrative costs.