The Political Economy of Football V2

It has been confirmed that John Terry is part of a consortium engaged in detailed discussions to buy Colcbester United for a reported £14m.   His nephew, Frank Terry, is a defender in the first team squad there. Robbie Cowling took over the club in 2006 but has been looking to sell since last year.  In June the US-based Lightwell Sports Group failed in a bid.   More recently, Aspire Media Group showed serious interest, but did not proceed with an acquisition. Cowling told BBC Radio Essex that he could grow the club incrementally, but the fans weren't interested in that.   'They want a moon shot and all I can provide is a slightly bigger ladder each year.'   Now in League Two, the U's were in the Championship when Cowling arrived. Terry is working at Chelsea's Academy, but has never found a managerial role. Colchester and the surrounding area are prosperous with many commuters into London (one of my children once ran the early morning bookstal...

Colchester United are on the verge of a takeover by a US consortium, but football finance guru Kieran Maguire warns that fans must not expect an injection of cash for big new signings.  Maguire also discusses why League Two clubs are proving so attractive to US buyers - fundamentally because they are cheap compared with American sports franchises:  https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/25160314.colchester-united-takeover-expectations-must-managed/

Financial life at the wrong end of League Two and the National League is revealed in figures provided by Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball. Colchester United lost £50,000 a week in 2020/21 to take total accumulated losses of £33.5 million.   Colchester’s existence is due to the continued funding by the parent company who have lent over £29 million.   By the end of 2020/21 Colchester’s squad cost nothing. Oldham’s (unaudited) accounts show a profit of just over £100k in 2020/21 to reduce overall losses to over £5.2 million. The club is technically insolvent and has total liabilities of over £4m with a possible extra £882k due to “taxes and custom duties’. Aldershot Town lost £97k in 2020/21 but still had bash in the bank at the end of the season. Total losses over the years exceed £1.6m

Lower league clubs will be hit hard by the decision not to allow fans into matches, as they are particularly dependent on matchday revenue:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/54246745 Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball comments: 'National League c lubs will be especially hit by the decision to not allow matches to take place before fans. Only 3 clubs out of 24 made a profit in 2018/19, and total losses were £318,000 a week across the division.' Wrexham made the biggest profit (£755k) and Dover Athletic the biggest loss (£494k). Streaming games is one (relatively small) source of income for clubs, but how it works does not constitute a level playing field.  Here is the chairman of Colchester United on the issue: 'The way it works currently is that the home team keep all of the revenue for the tickets they sell through their own website and they also get the revenue for the first 500 that buy via the away team. For example: for Saturday’s game against Bolton, we sold 452 iFollow...

It is difficult to get as much information about lower league clubs from Companies House filings as they are allowed to produce 'exemption accounts' which give less detail. I am therefore reliant on Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football for tweeting about Colchester United: '[They] owe over £19 million to Jobserve who, along with Aspire Media Group, have underwritten the club’s total losses of £23.5 million and are keeping the club afloat. Rent will be about £150k a year from 2018' The club lost £58,000 a week in 2016/17. Colchester is a prosperous and growing centre, but there are good travel links to London and many incomers undoubtedly support London clubs in the Premier League. The attendance at the U's home game last Saturday was 2,772.