The Political Economy of Football V2

Six months ago, no Tottenham Hotspur fan, unless they had a particular interest in wealth management, would be able to tell you who Peter Charrington was.  But after a dramatic week, Charrington is the name on everyone’s lips. On Thursday afternoon, he stepped into the role of non-executive chairman. It was the start of a new era at Spurs. Charrington himself has been learning the ropes of the football industry over the last six months, especially since Venkatesham arrived. Charrington’s background is not in sport but in private banking. He spent 26 years at Citibank and made his name at Citi Private Bank, which manages the money of high-net-worth individuals. He ran its operations in the UK and North America before becoming Citi Private Bank’s global head from 2014 to 2020. He won ‘Best Leader in Private Banking’ at the 2019 Global Private Banking Awards. It was not just Charrington’s professional expertise that led him to Spurs, but also his relationship with the Lewis family...

The story of Tottenham Hotspur in the 21st century has been the story of the relationship between Daniel Levy, the long-standing chairman, and the Lewis family, the majority shareholders. Levy started working for Joe Lewis as a young man in the 1990s, was widely thought of as Lewis’ protegee, and became the managing director of ENIC, the investment firm who bought 29.9 per cent of Tottenham from Alan Sugar in December 2000 for £22million. Levy became chairman in 2001 and, for 24 years, he ran Tottenham with a firm grip, as the club grew into a huge global brand, valued at roughly £4billion ($5.4bn), playing in one of the best new stadiums in Europe. The Lewis family were content to stay in the background, as Levy became the public face of the club. Levy was not just one of the longest-serving Premier League chairmen of the modern era. He was also one of the most dominant, across everything that happened in his club with ferocious attention to detail. As much of a shock as Thursda...

Daniel Levy, one of the top power brokers in England’s Premier League for decades, has stepped down as executive chair of Tottenham Hotspur, the north London football club announced on Thursday. Levy oversaw the construction of a £1.2bn, 62,850 seat stadium that has transformed Spurs into one of the biggest revenue makers in global football. Spurs generated about €615mn in revenue 2023-24, placing them ninth in the worldwide rankings of football clubs compiled by Deloitte, the consulting firm. Levy’s departure is part of a broader leadership shake-up at Spurs, but the club said there were “no changes” to its ownership or shareholder structure. Spurs’ majority shareholder is Enic Sports, an entity that was controlled by Bahamas-based billionaire Joe Lewis. Peter Charrington, former global head of Citi Private Bank and an Enic director, has been named non-executive chair of the club following Levy’s exit. Spurs, which last season won the Europa League, the second tier trophy in Eur...

There is no doubting the sizeable and growing divide between London and much of the rest of England.  A recent report found London wages were 33 per cent higher than the national average and as high as 68 per cent more than in Burnley. But what about football? Do London clubs hold an advantage when it comes to signing prospective players?   Well, there has certainly been a geographical shift in where the Premier League’s clubs are based. Last season, there was a record-low number of northern clubs — just five — since the league’s rebranding in 1992. Conversely, there were seven London clubs and a further three from the south (Southampton, Bournemouth, and Brighton), meaning half the division came from London or further south. This season, the balance has been restored slightly, with three northern clubs promoted from the Championship, but the growing trend has certainly driven south in the past three decades. There were 10 northern clubs in the inaugural Premie...

Fans see Liverpool as most likely to win the league, though most Arsenal and Man City fans also believe they have a realistic chance of the title  Ahead of Liverpool vs Bournemouth kicking off the new Premier League season on Friday, a new YouGov* study looks at fans’ hopes and expectations for the 2025-26 competition. What do Premier League fans see as realistic for their teams in the 2025-26 season? While most fans are optimistic of their teams’ chances this season, their sights are set at different levels.   Among the ten clubs with fanbase samples large enough for us to look at in detail, just three teams’ fans primarily think topping the league is within their grasp. Three quarters (75%) of Liverpool fans say they can realistically hope to retain the title, while 59% of Manchester City supporters and 55% of Arsenal fans believe they can win the league this season. Topping the table is an ambition also held by 32% of Chelsea supporters, though most (56%) see qualifyi...

After many years when Premier League debt levels were relatively flat, this has really taken off in the last few years, rising from £3.2 bln in 2017 to a high of £5.2 bln in 2020. This then dropped to “only” £4.0 bln in 2021/22, but the decrease was a bit misleading, as it was only due to Chelsea writing-off £1.5 bln of debt following Roman Abramovich’s forced sale of the club. Over half of the debt is at just three clubs, namely Everton £1.0 bln (new stadium and squad investment), Tottenham £851m (new stadium) and Manchester United £547m (the lingering effects of the Glazers’ leveraged buyout).   In addition, four other clubs owe more than £300m (Arsenal £342m, Liverpool £314m, Chelsea £303m and Brighton £300m). In the Premier League, 41% of the financial debt was from the club’s owners, while 59% was external debt.   However, as you work your way down the leagues, it is often the case that the majority of a club’s debt is provided by the owner, e.g. in the EFL Champion...

UEFA’s PSR regulations are a fair bit stricter than the Premier League, as the allowable losses are much smaller, even though these have been increased over the years, while clubs also have to contend with the new squad cost control ratio. Aston Villa In contrast to Arsenal who appear to meet the criteria, the authoritative Swiss Ramble thinks that Villa have missed UEFA’s PSR target by a country mile.    By his reckoning, their adjusted PSR loss for the 2-year monitoring period was a hefty £140m, using figures provided by the club itself for allowable deductions. That would mean a €161m PSR loss, which would be a cool €100m over the allowable target, even though this was boosted by the €55m allowance for an equity contribution. It very much looks like Villa have also breached the new squad cost control limit, though the magnitude of the over-run depends on how the 13th month in their accounts is treated. This has been tacitly admitted by the club, as Villa basically i...

My early memories of Tottenham Hotspur were of the double winning team of 1960-61.  At the time that was an exceptional feat and Spurs had some outstanding players such as captain Danny Blanchflower.  Our next door neighbour in Billericay was a keen Spurs supporter and my father expressed his admiration across the garden fence. Today I have a couple of good friends who are Spurs fans.  Winning the Europa League at last gave them something to celebrate. Looking in from the outside, big Ange seemed to me like a grumpy ideologue attached to one way of playing with no Plan B, but it is clear that many Spurs fans thought that he deserved another chance. I am a great admirer of his successor and I think that Brentford played more attractive football under his leadership than many allowed, but it's a big step up. In any case many think that the real problem at Spurs is Daniel Levy.   In many way he exemplifies the conflict between football as a business and fans who ju...

Thomas Frank looks set to be Spurs manager, but many of their fans were disappointed to see Ange go and argue that the club’s problems are far deeper than the manager but stem from the owner’s strategy. Brentford have flourished in the top-flight despite having one of the lowest wage bills. Frank’s side finished 13th in their first year and recorded memorable victories over Chelsea and Arsenal. Ivan Toney, David Raya and Bryan Mbeumo blossomed into superstars under Frank’s guidance. After finishing ninth the following season, they placed 16th in 2023-24 as they struggled with injuries. But this season they bounced back to record a top-10 finish, coming close to qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history. Brentford’s rise under Frank has been meteoric, and it is no surprise that Spurs have him in their sights. Frank initially joined Brentford in December 2016 as an assistant and the long-term plan was for him to replace Smith. Two years later, Smith moved to hi...

The scale of Manchester United’s underachievement has been highlighted by a financial analysis that rates their performance last season compared with money spent as one of the worst ever by an English club. United had the third-highest outlay in the Premier League on wages, transfers and agents, behind Manchester City and Chelsea, but finished in 15th place on 42 points. The analysis suggests that was 33 points fewer than the club should have achieved. Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur were the next biggest underperformers, while Nottingham Forest were the biggest achievers compared with their spending, followed by Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion. The analysis, carried out for The Times, was based on figures reported in clubs’ most recent annual accounts (2023-24) to measure spending on wages and amortisation, which reflects the outlay on transfers over several years, as well as on agents’ fees for the 2024-25 season. The sports intelligence agency Twenty First Gro...

Some highlights of Premier League club finances in 2023/24 provided by the Swiss Ramble. In 2023/24 no fewer than four clubs made more than £100m from player sales, namely Chelsea £152m, Manchester City £139m, Brighton £110m and Nottingham Forest £101m, while West Ham weren’t too far behind with £96m. Four clubs generated more than £100m from match day income, namely Manchester United £137m, Arsenal £132m, Tottenham £106m and Liverpool £102m, while three clubs made less than £10m (Burnley £9m, Bournemouth £7m and Luton Town £6m). The Premier League’s other expenses, effectively a club’s running costs, have also massively grown in the past decade, rising from £670m to £1.5 bln. Costs dipped during the pandemic, but have shot up since then, first due to higher costs for staging matches with fans, then because of the impact of higher inflation, especially on services and utilities. Fans often overlook this cost category, but each of the Big Six now pay well over £100m, led by Manche...

The Financial Times this week talked about a ‘deglobalising world’.  I have long argued both in my book Political Football and also here that globalisation is alive and well in football and other sports. Indeed, the world’s top competitions are pressing ahead with growth strategies rooted in globalisation, as has been acknowledged by the Pink Un’s sports writers in their e mail bulletin. The Fifa Club World Cup is taking place in the US across four weeks to July 13, in another example of how football, or soccer, is making its case to new audiences. The English Premier League is taking its Summer Series of matches — featuring Everton FC, AFC Bournemouth, Manchester United and West Ham United — back to the US from July 26 to August 3. On the other side of the world, the north London derby will take place outside the UK for the first time when Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur play in Hong Kong on July 3. That’s not to say that these efforts will be immune to geopolitical and econ...

Tottenham’s pre-tax loss significantly reduced from £95m to £26m, despite revenue falling £22m (4%) from £550m to £528m, as profit from player sales shot up from £16m to £82m and operating expenses were also cut 4% (£28m) from £615m to £589m. However, net interest payable increased £2m (6%) from £45m to £47m, which makes a big difference to the net result. In fact, without this hefty charge, Spurs would have made a £21m profit. Their loss after tax was almost exactly the same as the pre-tax figure at £26m, but the year-on-year improvement was £8m less, because the previous season benefited from a tax credit. The main reason for Tottenham’s revenue decline was the lack of European football, which led to reductions in both broadcasting, down £37m (18%) from £204m to £167m, and match day, down £12m (10%) from £118m to £106m. This was partially offset by further growth in commercial, which rose £27m (12%) from £228m to £255m, a new club record. As Levy put it, “Our off-pitch revenu...

The chairman’s statement accompanying the latest Spurs accounts is brief and much less upbeat than last year.  Even though Levy’s comments are brief, it does not mean that they are devoid of content. The most eye-catching part comes when he issued a passionate defence of the club’s operating model, hitting back at the argument that Tottenham should simply start shovelling money at the transfer market if they are to make progress on the pitch. This has been a constant criticism of Levy, not least earlier this season when thousands of fans marched in protest against him before the 1-0 win against Manchester United on February 16. “Profit before glory” has become one of the most widespread criticisms of the way the club is run. Tottenham are certainly attuned to this point: Levy makes clear in Monday’s message that in the six years since the new stadium opened, the club “have invested over £700m net in player acquisitions”. And it is certainly true that Tottenham have co...

Football finance guru Kieran Maguire reports that Spurs have  published their 23/24 accounts.    Revenue £528m was down 4%.   Wages £222m down 12%.   Wages £42 for every £100 income down £4. Underlying loss (pre player sales) was £59m up 7%.  Player sale profits £82m up 431%.   Pre-tax loss £29m was down 70%.  Player purchases £272m.   Gross squad cost £697m. Player sale receivables £58m.  Player purchase payables £441m.  Borrowings £872m (new stadium). Daniel Levy says that spending has to be 'smart and sustainable':  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cz6dwwzn7vdo "We cannot spend what we do not have, and we will not compromise the financial stability of this club," Levy said. Official club statement here:  https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2025/march/financial-results-year-ended-30-june-2024/

Eagle-eyed viewers of Sky Sports’ coverage of Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win against Manchester United last Sunday will have noticed a change. When head coach Ange Postecoglou was interviewed before kick-off and asked about the lift of having players back from injury, he was described as “Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach”. When the Tottenham starting XI was displayed down the left-hand side of the screen, it said “Spurs” at the top. And when the graphics showed the team in their positions, starting with a cutout of Postecoglou, arms crossed, the word across his chest was “Spurs”. An email that was circulated to Premier League broadcasters on February 10 has been seen by  The Athletic . Titled “Tottenham Hotspur Naming Update”, the email makes clear how the club wants to be referenced. “Tottenham Hotspur have provided clarification regarding the club’s name. They have requested that the club are primarily known as Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs being the preferred short version. The c...

Manchester United’s part-owner Ineos is seeking an early termination of its multimillion-pound sponsorship deal with Tottenham Hotspur as Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues the drastic reduction of his investment in sport. In 2022 Ineos struck a five-year deal with the north London club to promote its 4×4 Grenadier car, displaying the company’s logo on the seats in both dugouts and on the digital advertising hoardings during matches. It could be seen during United’s Premier League encounter at the Tottenham Stadium last weekend. The Times has revealed that Ineos is now in what have been described as amicable discussions to exit their deal with Spurs two years early.

The most striking events of yesterday’s game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium came long before kick-off, with an organised protest march to the stadium. It was the biggest organised display of discontent Tottenham have seen for years. There have been moments of frustration and disappointment over the years, just as you would endure at any football club. There was a real outburst of anger in April 2021 when Spurs signed up to join the Super League and fans congregated outside the stadium with anti-ENIC and anti-Levy banners not too different from those seen on Sunday. But that was still the era of Covid restrictions and those protests were just a few dozen fans outside the ground, many of them wearing masks. This was something bigger. It all started two hours before kick-off at the junction of Lordship Lane and the High Road, just down the road from the stadium. At first, a few dozen fans were gathered on the pavement in front of The Trampery, the grand red brick building on the cor...