The Political Economy of Football V2

Almost all Premier League clubs are now American owned and some foreign investors have seen the Championship as a cheaper route to the riches of the top flight.   In time the franchise owners will question whether their investments can be relegated which does not happen in the US. Charlton fans, admittedly among football's leading moaners, sometimes assert that League One is a pub or crap league, so it was interesting to read in this week's  Football League Paper  what two newly promoted managers think. Gareth Ainsworth forged Wycombe Wanderers into a League One force and indeed, somewhat to my surprise, they are currently chairing the division. Ainsworth has now taken on the unenviable task of reviving Shropshire's finest and he made a first rate start against moneybags club Birmingham City on Saturday. Ainsworth says: 'Over the years, this division has probably run away from the smaller clubs. League One has got stronger and stronger over the years.   Som...

I am old enough to remember when floodlights were an innovative novelty and games in midwinter finished in near darkness.   These days we take them for granted, but energy price rises have focused attention on their cost. Exeter City chairman Julian Tagg, like many executives in football, knows that hard times could be on the horizon amid the cost of living crisis this winter. As energy bills soar for clubs and fans, the margins will get even tighter for EFL and non-League clubs. “Every club has a huge dependence on bums on seats,” Tagg says, with Exeter having made an impressive start to life in League One after promotion last season. “Lots do great work but you’re only as good as the number of bums on seats at our level. Everyone is going to feel that. Cashflow is king and many football clubs have to walk a tightrope on that front.” League Two Mansfield Town have announced that their upcoming home match against Walsall on October 15 will be moved to an earlie...