The Political Economy of Football V2

Everton Football Club’s billionaire owners are seeking new investors less than two years after buying the club, following a summer transfer window in which Premier League rivals drove spending to new records in an arms race for talent. The Friedkin Group, the US conglomerate that also owns Italian football club AS Roma, is working with advisers on the Everton stake sale process, according to three people familiar with the matter. The process, which is still at an early stage, could result in new investors buying a significant stake in the Premier League club, though it is possible that a deal does not materialise. The Friedkin Group and Everton declined to comment. Any deal would follow John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group selling more than a third of crosstown rival Liverpool Football Club to a consortium including Amit Bhatia, the son-in-law of steel tycoon and billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at a $7bn valuation. The Friedkin Group paid about £330mn to tak...

On the basis of this summer, it is the belief that by signing players from the Premier League, a club is operating with the least jeopardy and is most likely to produce immediate and substantial results.  The evidence is overwhelming in the summer spend by the 20 current Premier League teams on players registered last season to Premier League clubs, therefore including purchases from relegated West Ham, Wolves and Burnley. By the time the window closed at 11pm local time last night, Premier League clubs had spent £3.6billion ($4.9bn), according to an analysis by  The Athletic , and £1.7bn ($2.3bn) of this was spent on those in last season’s Premier League,   in a spend that shatters all previous windows for spending within the division.  In the six summer windows between 2017 and the 2022 seasons, the average Premier League spend on players registered to Premier League clubs in the previous season was £418.2m, which means we have seen a comparative fourfold incre...

Everton succeeded in achieving the one thing no club wants from a transfer window. On many different levels, they have ended up weaker than when the window opened.   Squad numbers alone indicate that is the case with manager David Moyes having 22 outfield players last season only to find himself left with just 18 now. Thierno Barry is his only recognised striker.  The Friedkin Group (TFG), who have inflicted immeasurable damage on themselves by presiding over the entire farce which started with them pushing for the sale of homegrown midfielder Harrison Armstrong to Nottingham Forest for £35million only to then pull-out amid the prospect of a supporter uprising.  Certainly, this is not how matters were supposed to play out in January when club officials stressed that funds were being stockpiled for the summer when phase two of Everton’s rebuild would be implemented.  TFG’s entire ambition for the club is being scrutinised 20 months into its reign and Everto...

Another summer gone, another record broken. The rest of Europe will once more have gazed with envious eyes (or scarcely contained fury) as Premier League clubs indulged in another year of lavish spending. It had seemed at one point that last year’s figure of £3.1billion gross spending during the summer transfer window, which obliterated the previous record of £2.4billion, would not be reached. But as the end of the transfer window neared, clubs embarked on a spree that to some looked more akin to panic buying, perhaps for fear of being left behind by their rivals. Even before Manchester City had set a joint British transfer record by signing Enzo Fernández from Chelsea for £125million, the summer 2025 figure had been passed but once that move was confirmed, a new £3.3billion mark of gross spending had been set. There are some significant differences compared with last summer, however. Chelsea are once again among the biggest spenders with £349million splashed out, but they are ac...

The Swiss Ramble provides a forensic analysis of Championship finances.  The figures relate to 2024/5 and accounts for four clubs are not available.   One club (Wycombe Wanderers) published abbreviated accounts.   Sheffield Wednesday was in administration. It should be noted that overall Championship figures are very susceptible to the mix of clubs in any one season, i.e., ‘big’ versus ‘small’ clubs.      Spending by one club can have a distorting impact on some metrics, e.g., Sunderland spending on transfers. The underlying finances remain as crazy as ever as clubs compete to reach the promised land of the Premier League.   In effect what we have is a Premier League Division 2. Anyway, here are some highlights from the Swiss Ramble.   Much more is available on his Substack page. The 23 clubs (i.e. excluding Sheffield Wednesday) generated £907m of revenue and £22m other operating income, but then paid out £1.6 bn in operating exp...

The message was clear, loud and passionate from Everton fans at Bournemouth.   “Don’t sell Armstrong! Don’t sell Armstrong! I just don’t think you understand,” the away end sang at Bournemouth. “If you sell Armstrong, Harrison Armstrong, you’re gonna have a riot on your hands.” The news that prompted this outpouring was that 19-year-old midfielder Armstrong, the finest player produced by Everton’s youth academy in years, was likely to move to Nottingham Forest. Wary of breaching squad cost ratio rules (SCR), the club’s leadership were reluctantly willing to sanction the England youth international’s exit for some £40million. Had the Bournemouth game not taken place, giving Everton supporters the platform to vent their frustrations, Armstrong would likely be posing for photos holding a Garibaldi-red Forest shirt now. Instead, he will remain in the royal blue of Everton. For all of the owners’ billions, the episode shows that fan power remains in the Premier League — ...

Work on redeveloping Elland Road should give Leeds United a stadium more befitting of a vibrant regional capital and its team.  Construction projects are very reliant on materials and specialists turning up on time, and often they don’t, but the Leeds work has a special plus (see below). My stepdaughter undertook design work on the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium and upgrading a stadium in situ is no easy task.   She more usually works on venues such as airports and they present challenges, but of a different kind.   There are not that many people who specialise in football stadiums. On May 17th, hours after full time in the final home game of last season, the builders moved in at Elland Road. The redevelopment of the John Charles Stand, which will take its capacity from around 8,000 to more than 17,500 seats, was underway, and the clock has been ticking.    The overall capacity will be 53,000 when the work is finished. The Bremner Suite has been b...