The Political Economy of Football V2

The financial crisis at relegated Notts County has intensified after staff and players were not paid their wages for June. The sum involved is understood to be about £200,000: Staff unpaid The Magpies have been available for sale since January, but no new owner has been secured, although talks with a consortium involving a convicted fraudster are continuing. Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball notes, 'Notts County join a long list of clubs, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Blackpool, Macclesfield, Reading, Morecambe etc. who have failed to pay their wages on time in the last 12 months.' Events like these reinforce the case for some form of independent regulation of football, although the record of utility regulators has been mixed to say the least and such a regulator would face myriad challenges: MP calls for regulation

Takeovers, even partial ones, are relatively rare in the Bundesliga. Hence, it is a significant development when a controversial businessman buys a minority stake in Hertha Berlin. Lars Windhorst has splashed out €125m on a 37.5 per cent stake in the heavily indebted (€119.6m) and loss-making club. He has an option to acquire a further 12.4 per cent in the future at a higher valuation through his investment vehicle Tennor Holding which would give him effective control. Mr Windhorst has a history of legal troubles. He is at the centre of a controversy over illiquid and high-risk corporate bonds held by H2O Asset Management’s funds, a subsidiary of French bank Natixis. The funds suffered outflows of more than €5bn since the Financial Times reported on the exposure last week. However, his spokesman has specifically denied that it is a trophy purchase saying it would be too expensive for that. He thinks there is real potential in a club located in Germany's capital city. In pa...

Changing rooms at the Garrison Field Vodafone is to sponsor the world's smallest football league, the Isles of Scilly League, which has just two teams, Garrison Gunners and Woolpack Wanderers: Sponsorship deal The keeper's role can be a lonely one. The two teams play about twenty games a year at the Garrison Field stadium and also play in a number of cups including the charity shield which launches the season. Teams are chosen by the captains making alternate choices. The Isles of Scilly League will not only become the world’s first 5G-connected league, it will also see the launch of the first ever crowd sourced fan-assisted referee (FAR) system later this year. In addition to live streaming key league games over 5G for the forthcoming season starting in October 2019, Vodafone will also connect supporters elsewhere on the island so they can instantly have a say on key decisions during a game via their mobile phones. The writer is mainland football correspondent for Rad...

Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football writes, 'Some people have asked me why it’s only in last couple of years EFL clubs such as Derby, Villa (and if they ever publish their accounts possibly Sheffield Wednesday too) have been selling their stadiums and booking profits to comply with FFP. Under old rules this was specifically excluded from FFP.' 'However a look at the new Profitability and Sustainability rules shows that this clause appears to have been removed so clubs can sell land, their stadium etc to a "friendly" party (i.e. another entity controlled by the club owner) for a big sum and book a profit which reduces FFP/P&S losses.' 'Whilst I have some sympathy for Steve Gibson at Boro for being unhappy with the behaviour of Derby, Villa etc. the rules were approved by EFL club owners. So what has been done by these clubs gets a tick for compliance but a question mark for ethics.'

Inter Milan have agreed with their rivals AC Milan that their shared San Siro stadium should be knocked down. Originally they wanted to renovate the stadium, but now they have agreed that a new stadium should be built on nearby car parks. They will continue to play in the San Siro while the new stadium is built which will presumably take some years These projects always take longer than expected and cost more than expected: think Tottenham Hotspur. More here: New €630m stadium To me the two clubs sharing looked like Spurs and Arsenal having one stadium in North London, or even Celtic and Rangers sharing! But then one wonders about Dundee and Dundee United having their own stadiums on the same road which perhaps reminds us how crucial the ground usually is to a club's identity.

In another triumph for the 'Cashley' regime, Rafael Benitez is to leave Newcastle United when his contract expires next weekend. Toon fans think that he has tried his best in difficult circumstances. A brief statement on the club website offered little in the way of explanation. Benítez wanted greater control of Newcastle’s recruitment process, including the freedom to sign the players he wanted regardless of their age or potential resale value. Various unlikely and unpopular names are now being mooted as successors. The BBC's chief sports writer has said that 'the biggest losers will be the long-suffering fans of Newcastle United: The losers Ashley can't run the club properly, but he won't sell at a realistic price.

In the latest twist in the Coventry City saga, Sisu has described the ground share at Birmingham City as an 'absolute tragedy' and Joy Sepalla has said she will always be a Sky Blues fan: She also claimed that Wasps were behind attempts to buy the club as they had 'topped out' as a rugby club. They certainly are said to have big debts, but the rugby club swiftly denied any intention to make a bid for the Sky Blues. Sisu have said recently they want to build a new stadium on the site of Woodlands Academy. 100 years ago the city was celebrating the admission of the club to the Football League (more on this soon).