The Political Economy of Football V2

The interim board at Hartlepool has said that it has received indications of interest from potential new owners for the mid-table National League Club:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c241dngv8lyo Owner Raj Singh took over the club at the end of the 2017/18 season as it faced collapse, but has now exited with the hump blaming personal abuse from a section of the fan base, although he has said he will fund the club until the end of the season. Hartlepool did get promoted to the EFL in 2021, but were relegated back to the National League in 2023.  The businessman's refusal to sell the club to a series of prospective buyers frustrated fans. It's really a classic case of a businessman thinking that an injection of funds (£1.2m) and his 'expertise' will turn a club round.    But Singh employed 12 different managers or head coaches, three alone this season including the veteran Lennie Lawrence. Football is a unique business and because one does well with an ...

The 2023/24 accounts marked Wolves’ eighth season under the ownership of Fosun and their sixth consecutive campaign in the Premier League.  Indeed, although the owners have faced plenty of criticism recently, it should be noted that the club has improved during their tenure from the lower reaches of the Championship. Since Fosun bought Wolves, the club has lost money six years out of eight, including a hefty £128m in the last three seasons alone. Initially, investment in the squad led to £80m net losses in the Championship, though the owners’ gamble did pay off, as this helped secure promotion to the Premier League. However, to outside observers it would appear that Wolves have hit a wall, having twice finished seventh in the Premier League, and also qualifying for the Europa League, where they reached the quarter-finals.   Since those heady days, the club has cut back on its spending, leading to some struggles on the pitch. In fact, as it stands, although they are surely ...

Until I read a long investigative report in this weekend's Financial Times magazine, I wasn't up to speed about recent events at Blackpool Football Club.   I was familiar with how Tangerine fans had suffered under the Oyston regime, but I assumed that things had settled down even if performances on the pitch had been a bit up and down. What I didn't know was that the current owner, Simon Sadler, was facing criminal charges for insider trading in Hong Kong and might put up the club for sale. Sadler is the typical 'local boy made good' from humble origins who bought the club and stadium for £8.2m, partly because he felt guilty about leaving home and making so much money.   He set up 'a hedge fund in Hong Kong and established himself as one of the most powerful players in a niche of global finance.' The article is written by the Pink Un's Asia financial correspondent and it is clear that she is not familiar with the world of football, despite some local col...

A club's stadium or ground evokes powerful emotions among fans.   It is a special case of t opophilia , the love of place.  I know about that as a Charlton fan where fans formed a political party to secure their return to the ground.   Many West Ham fans still miss the Boleyn Ground. Moving stadiums is expensive, but so is rebuilding them.  Arsenal had to move to the Emirates but it hit spending on the team for some years.   The new Tottenham Hostpur stadium is probably the best club sports venue we have, but it hasn't done much for performances on the pitch. Yet Chelsea are constrained by their stadium which is difficult to redevelop.   Brentford have succeeded in creating an intimate atmosphere in their new stadium but match day revenue is limited.   Southampton have hardly flourished at St. Mary's, but along the coast Brighton have clearly been boosted by having a proper stadium.  Yet Bournemouth have done well at the m...

The huge projected cost of Manchester United’s new stadium may have contributed to the club’s share price hitting a 52-week low.  As well as the £2billion price tag — and some well-placed figures believe that is a conservative estimate — there has been no confirmation by the club how the new 100,000-capacity stadium next to Old Trafford will be funded. The announcement of the stadium plans on Tuesday was followed by the share price on the New York Stock Exchange falling to $13.22 the following day — more than $5 less than the highest price over the past year. Kieran Maguire, the football finance guru, said: “It suggests the markets are cautious about the club’s prospects following the announcement of the new stadium and will await details of how it will be funded with interest.” The share price may also reflect United’s struggles on the pitch, while their co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s description of players as “overpaid and underperforming” cannot have helped sh...

Fans of other clubs may be less than pleased to hear about the prospect of public funding for Manchester United’s new stadium, but the funding would be for associated works rather than the stadium itself.   In other countries, not least the United States, there is public funding for stadium projects because of the claimed wider benefits.   Indeed, local governments compete to attract sport franchises. Influential Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham says he is expecting to secure more than £200mn in government funding for the regeneration of Old Trafford in the forthcoming spending review, paving the way for Manchester United to build a new stadium.  Burnham told the Financial Times that he was having accelerated talks with ministers about his funding request and was confident of a “quick answer”. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to outline the government’s public expenditure plans for the rest of the parliament on June 11. Asked if he was expecting a promis...

It was cloudy first thing this morning in Warwickshire, but now patches of blue sky have appeared, providing an analogy for the recovery of Coventry City. This is the first set of accounts under Coventry’s new owners, after local businessman King purchased the club in January 2023, initially through the acquisition of an 85% stake and then buying the remaining 15%. The previous owners, London-based hedge fund SISU Capital, had saved the club from administration in 2007, but came under fire from many supporters for their penny pinching approach in subsequent years. Coventry swung from a £4.9m pre-tax loss to an £8.7m profit, mainly thanks to a huge improvement in profit from player sales, which shot up from just £2.4m to £23.7m, though revenue also rose £8.9m (44%) from £20.4m to £29.3m. Last season’s profit bucked the trend, whereby Coventry had posted losses four years in a row. This was only the second time that they reported a profit in in the last 10 years – and the last occasi...