Football's Magic Money Tree

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 12:25 am

I have only touched on the implications of Brexit for English football and the Premier League a few times of note (see posts #789 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... &start=788" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and #254 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... &start=253" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - there was also the thread last summer based on comments from our Chairman in this article https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/45206066" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Premier League is now less fearful it seems - from the Telegraph

Premier League convinced Brexit will not prevent clubs signing European players - Luke Edwards, Shanghai - 20 July 2019 • 10:30pm

The Premier League do not anticipate any threat to English clubs being able to sign European players after Brexit following discussions with the Home Office.

There had been fears that Britain’s exit from the European Union, which is due to happen on October 31, would make it far more difficult for clubs to sign players from European countries because of the end of freedom of movement.

But it seems as though football will be treated as a special case, with the Premier League’s interim chief executive, Richard Masters, once again voicing his opposition to any attempt by the Football Association to increase the homegrown player quota.

“Our clubs want to have full access to talent – and that is our focus,” said Masters, from the plush Shangri-la hotel in Shanghai, his base to attend China’s Premier League’s Asia Trophy.

“I think the government and politicians appreciate what English football in general and the Premier League, in particular, brings to the country.

“The Premier League is an important part of 'Brand Britain' around the world and I don't think the government would want to do anything that has a negative impact on the Premier League or the English national team.

“That's why I am sure we will sort it out. We have to come to an arrangement with the Home Office at some point.

“Obviously, no-one knows when Brexit is going to happen. And so, we're in constant dialogue with the Home Office and the FA and making sure that our clubs can continue to get access from talent from Europe and beyond.

“I don't think there is a scenario where the Premier League will be badly affected by Brexit. I think we will find appropriate accommodation and our clubs will be able to recruit the players they want from abroad.”

England manager Gareth Southgate has repeatedly warned of the risks to the national team caused by the Premier League’s fascination with foreign signings who are ready to go straight into the first team.

That has helped fuel the FA’s desire to use Brexit as a means to force clubs to have more homegrown players in their squad as they would no longer be restricted by EU laws.

That will be forcefully resisted by the Premier League who continue to blindly argue the Academy system already works well enough, even though there were only 113 British players used by top-flight clubs last season.

“We are developing a cohort of players through the academy system and we have to keep the balance right,” added Masters.

“We have a team of people involved in those conversations, looking at it, talking to all of the different stakeholders involved.

"We aren't convinced by the arguments that limiting the number of foreign players and increasing quotas on homegrown players will benefit the England team.

“We certainly think something like that would have a negative impact on the Premier League – and that's what we are talking to the FA about.”
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Are you convinced? - I know I am not

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 12:32 am

It would appear that Man United have not learned the lessons of the Alexi Sanchez stupidity - as they agree to pay an underperforming star so much for so long that no one will ever want to buy if you need to sell - Pogba will be after the same at this rate - From the Telegraph

David De Gea agrees six-year Manchester United contract worth £117m to become world's highest-paid goalkeeper - James Ducker, Northern Football Correspondent, in Singapore - 20 July 2019 • 10:30pm

David De Gea will become the world’s highest paid goalkeeper after agreeing a new six-year contract with Manchester United worth around £117 million.

But Romelu Lukaku remains determined to quit United and is hoping Inter Milan come back with an improved offer after the Italian club had an opening £54 million bid rejected.

De Gea - who made his first appearance of pre-season in United’s 1-0 win over Inter Milan in Singapore on Saturday - will put pen to paper on the new deal, which is believed to be worth around £375,000 a week, once he returns to Manchester from the tour.

Yet while the United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, will be relieved about the clarity over De Gea’s future, Lukaku remains stuck in limbo.

Teenage striker Mason Greenwood again took full advantage of Lukaku’s continued absence with the only goal against Inter in the International Champions Cup at Singapore’s National Stadium, three days after claiming his first senior goal in the 4-0 victory against Leeds United in Perth.

Solskjaer has ruled out any prospect of Greenwood being loaned out as the 17-year-old further boosted his chances of starting United’s opening Premier League game against Chelsea on August 11.

Solskjaer suggested for the first time on Saturday that United are able to play “a different way” without Lukaku but the manager risks being stuck with the Belgium striker unless Inter find a way of getting closer to his £90 million valuation. The Italian club need to offload Mauro Icardi, who is interesting Juventus, to free up cash.

“If you’re a player and don’t manage to train for a week - and he’s missed three games now - I think he’ll be concerned,” Solskjaer said. “He’s working to get back on the pitch and let’s see how long that takes. It’s his ankle.

“I think we have done really well without Romelu but we all know he’s one of the top, top strikers in the world. We’ve played a different way maybe with Anthony [Martial], Marcus [Rashford], Mason, so you adapt to the players who are available.”

Antonio Conte, the Inter coach, remains hopeful an agreement can be reached. “I like him because I consider him a player who could improve our team but on one side it is my hope, my will, on my other side we will see what we find with the club,” Conte said.

De Gea is believed to have thought long and hard about his future this summer after a dismal last season, when United finished sixth in the Premier League, 32 points adrift of champions Manchester City.

United’s willingness to make him the club’s highest paid player after Alexis Sanchez and the support he received from Solskjaer and the coaching staff in the final months of the campaign, when his form nosedived, had a significant bearing on his decision.

De Gea, 28, was said to have been at a very low ebb by the end of last season and needed his spirits lifting but he likes working with goalkeeping coach, Emilio Alvarez, and believes United can get back to challenging for top honours.

United would not sanction the England Under-21 goalkeeper, Dean Henderson, returning to Sheffield United on loan until De Gea’s future was resolved. But a meeting between Henderson’s agent, Sean McDaid, and United’s head of corporate development, Matt Judge, in London on Monday over a new contract for the goalkeeper went well and another loan deal with Sheffield United should be agreed soon. Henderson has attracted some interest from Bayern Munich but United regard him as a potential future No 1.

Solskjaer said the situation with Greenwood reminded him of the one Sir Alex Ferguson faced with Ryan Giggs almost 30 years ago as he insisted the youngster’s development would be carefully handled.

“Mason’s never been on my mind to send out on loan, he’s one that we have to keep at our place, keep him playing when we feel it's good for him and at the moment he's flying,” Solskjaer said. “He reminds me a little bit of the Giggsy story, you can't really send him on loan and for me he's ready to be in this squad.”

Ashley Young was booed by United fans at the National Stadium and Solskjaer said he would talk to his captain. “I’ve not spoken to him but I’ll have a chat with him yeah,” Solskjaer said.

“I think Ashley is a top professional, he always gives absolutely everything and his delivery today ended up with a goal, we want our fans to support our players and Ash has been a very loyal servant to this club for many years and he will keep on performing when he plays.”

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 1:04 am

An absolutely fascinating Business talk that also tells us a lot about football, and perhaps goes some way to explaining our last 2 seasons

Rasmus Ankersen tells us What Football Analytics can Teach Successful Organisations - lasts about 16 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy2vc9lW5r0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 1:11 pm

No great surprise and obviously budgets would change downward (as would commercial revenue) - but it is useful to see in this stark format rather than as a percentage of revenue. @KieranMaguirre shows us the losses that would be made in the Premier League without the TV money

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2837184512" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 1:22 pm

@AndyhHolt makes yet another case for proper regulation and a new set of financial rules in the pyramid

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/11 ... 0392621056" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 2:04 pm

Chester Perry wrote:No great surprise and obviously budgets would change downward (as would commercial revenue) - but it is useful to see in this stark format rather than as a percentage of revenue. @KieranMaguirre shows us the losses that would be made in the Premier League without the TV money

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2837184512" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Normally I have a lot of time for any analysis that Keiran Maguire undertakes, but in this case the numbers are utterly pointless. For example, without the £119m TV money that we received in our last set of accounts, there's no way our Wage bill would have been £81m. In fact it would have been nearer £8m and we'd be unable to even compete in the PL.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 2:13 pm

I did make the point Roy it just illustrates our dependence in a different way - I debated about posting it for a few hours and came down on that point with the appropriate qualification

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Jul 21, 2019 7:27 pm

Given all the turmoil of FFP in the Championship especially. @KieranMaguire has begun looking at the position of each of the clubs - this is an initial rough calculation, I believe that a more thorough analysis will following in the coming days. It does seem to show that for all it's failings FFP (and Birmingham City's points penalty) is definitely reining in the rampant overspending - at least to the guidelines.

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1649181696" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 2:15 pm

In post #1089 (http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1088" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) I linked an article about the online phenomenon of fans blindly defending their club against any negative media articles - it was primarily about Man City's fan's mobilisation against the report of the desire by UEFA's Investigative Chamber to have them banned from the Champions's League (post #1046 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1045" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Here I link a very extensive article on the Man City/Abu Dhabi situation around that and more (***WARNING*** set aside at least 20mins to read and digest)

https://medium.com/@NcGeehan/trollerball-188bfad1e63a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

predictably it is already being hammered by the City online community - https://twitter.com/NcGeehan/status/1153178891915288576" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 2:28 pm

More on football and Brexit (following up on post #1712 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1711" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) this time from Daniel Geey (whose articles I have linked a couple of times in the past) a Football Lawyer and a colleague who specializes in Imigration - this is a transcript of a podcast from back in April

https://danielgeey.com/brexit-and-football-again/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 2:44 pm

In post #1693 (http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1692" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) I mentioned that Man City had finally started their own in house TV station. Man Utd have had theirs for well over 15 years) Roy Kean was effectively sacked in 2005 over criticisms he made of players on the channel. Now Utd are looking for it to become a serious financial contributor to their commercial efforts.

https://medium.com/swlh/manchester-unit ... c6a02407d3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On the face of it, it just looks like another commercial exploitation by the masters of it all - but if (and it is a big if) content is separated from Premier League content this kind of thing by the biggest clubs may just allow the Premier League collective agreement to survive

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 2:58 pm

In support of the previous post an overview of the current status of OTT (own channel) TV by top clubs and leagues as it currently stands

https://www.soccerex.com/insight/articl ... ott-growth" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:50 pm

In post #1621 (http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1620" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) I linked an article that recommended how visiting clubs should approach tours to China - it appears Man City have not been paying attention

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... tate-media" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 8:12 pm

Chester Perry wrote:Given all the turmoil of FFP in the Championship especially. @KieranMaguire has begun looking at the position of each of the clubs - this is an initial rough calculation, I believe that a more thorough analysis will following in the coming days. It does seem to show that for all it's failings FFP (and Birmingham City's points penalty) is definitely reining in the rampant overspending - at least to the guidelines.

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1649181696" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some interesting figures at the link. Preston continue to run a tight ship, always close to break-even and never in danger of falling foul of FFP. I recall reading some time ago that Trevor Hemmings was a big admirer of the Burnley financial model and their annual figures show a strong similarity to our own when we were in the Championship.

Others are less convincing and it's easy to see QPR following the downward spiral of Bolton now that their owner appears to be investing less and less in the Club.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:48 pm

Another article on gambling sponsorship in football - this time focussing on the normalising aspect for children and how the fight against such sponsorship appears to be coming from the lowest levels of the game

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/foot ... chin-town/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:01 pm

Having exhausted every other means of avoiding FFP sanctions (they seem to have invented most of them) Derby County have adopted a policy of banning all visitors from bringing their own refreshments into the ground - must have been looking at Burnley's now legendary twix pricing structure as a means of increasing revenue

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/2019/07/upd ... t-policies" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

unsurprisingly it has not gone down well https://twitter.com/henrywinter/status/ ... 3132692487" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:14 pm

Chester Perry wrote:Another article on gambling sponsorship in football - this time focussing on the normalising aspect for children and how the fight against such sponsorship appears to be coming from the lowest levels of the game

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/foot ... chin-town/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"..........At some point sense will surely prevail and the practise will be banned, but until then football and gambling executives will continue counting their cash, while the lives of thousands of children are ruined before they have even properly begun........."

Powerful and thought-provoking stuff.

I genuinely wish our Club did not have to be involved with these tacky Far East betting organisations but the reality is that, as a Club, we are now in it far too deep for it not to make financial sense to accept these deals. Think I pointed out higher up the thread that next season the Lovebet sponsorship to Total Income will represent 6% compared to the 1% with Fun 88 just six seasons ago in '14/'15. Sadly, very sadly, it's become a no brainer but I suspect there will still be members of our Board who are uncomfortable with the arrangement.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:20 pm

The really shocking thing Roy is that the shirt deal now brings in more than the matchday Income - not sure many fans would swallow a doubling of season ticket/ticket prices and a sponsor like Oak furniture land instead

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:21 pm

Chester Perry wrote:The really shocking thing Roy is that the shirt deal now brings in more than the matchday Income - not sure many fans would swallow a doubling of season ticket/ticket prices and a sponsor like Oak furniture land instead

Indeed.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:00 am

In post #1685 (http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1650" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)I revealed my shock at Juventus fans singing Mino Raiola's name when signing De Ligt - I how found out he will earn Euro 10-11m for his efforts

https://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/r ... rans-93672" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.gazzetta.it/Calciomercato/1 ... esh_ce-cpy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

he is also likely to get another fat wedge from his share of De Ligt's stonking salary if this is anything to go by

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... s-revealed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:06 am

A compliant Gazzetta Italia has a look at Juventus' finances - some of the translation is weird but you can get the gist

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... 7077.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:25 am

Football365.com give us the rundown of the last 5 record-breaking incoming transfers of every Premier League club - obviously a quite news day

https://www.football365.com/news/the-tr ... gue-club-4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:41 pm

Forbes have released the latest version of their annual list of most valuable sports teams

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenh ... 105713283d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

United are dropping down the rankings here too

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... teams.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:51 pm

Oldham have finally posted their accounts for 2017/18 - they have done the bare minimum necessary and left fans with even more questions, given all the ongoing issues - https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 5313760256" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 2:19 pm

Simon Chadwick thinks he knows why Man City are facing a bad press challenge in China (see post 1724 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1723" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 6170674179" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jul 23, 2019 2:24 pm

You may have read of the possibility of Gareth Bale going to China and rumours of wages of up to a £1m a week (though no transfer fee) - this would mark a very different policy to that which has been in operation until now by the Chinese authorities - Simon Chadwick on this new dawn in Chines football policy

https://www.policyforum.net/chinas-football-future/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 2:47 pm

I have put it on the Bolton thread - but will put it here also as it keeps everything contained - @KieranMAguire looks at the latest filings at companies house by the Bolton administrators, it includes 3 years of accounts and all their charges - which has provoked plenty of flippant comments from the Brighton fan

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 7367990272" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

on the whole the fees charging thing is overblown I think probably a deliberate misunderstanding of the costs for any organisation that earns revenue by fee charging - they have their whole infrastructure, training, development, admin, insurances and equipment to pay for and they do not come cheap in London - some of the expenses though - hmmm

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jul 24, 2019 6:19 pm

Mamadou Sakho sues WADA for £13m - effectively loss of earnings after being banned for 30 days and losing his place with Liverpool and France for using a substance that was not on any banned list

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -liverpool" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:08 am

Apparently Sky are looking at putting 3 minute highlights packages on you tube shortly after matches are finished (they have the rights for it) and well before Match of the Day (for which the BBC will be paying £70.5m a year from this coming season)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sport ... h-Day.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

superdimitri · Post by **superdimitri** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 9:11 am

Chester Perry wrote:In post #1685 (http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1650" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)I revealed my shock at Juventus fans singing Mino Raiola's name when signing De Ligt - I how found out he will earn Euro 10-11m for his efforts

https://www.calciomercato.com/en/news/r ... rans-93672" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.gazzetta.it/Calciomercato/1 ... esh_ce-cpy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

he is also likely to get another fat wedge from his share of De Ligt's stonking salary if this is anything to go by

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... s-revealed" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The literal translation of De Ligt is "the lie".

But what a profession an agent has. A summers work can net you enough money to never work again.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 12:32 pm

We first saw hints that Championship clubs may be changing their approach to getting to the promised land of Premier League riches when Leeds Director of Football Victor Orta mentioned the sanction of a points deduction on Birmingham City as the reason to be careful re FFP (see post #1559 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1558" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

Now Football365.com are noticing a trend and citing Derby as the bell weathers (I said they had probably used every trick available to them)

https://www.football365.com/news/look-t ... hard-reset" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now - Who would have thought that swift and meaningful punishment for breaches of regulations would have had such impact?

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:14 pm

superdimitri wrote:But what a profession an agent has. A summers work can net you enough money to never work again.

you might like this blog piece from Sports Lawyer and auther of Done Deal Daniel Geey - "But who actually pays agents"

https://www.danielgeey.com/post/but-who ... ll-agents/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:25 pm

In post #641 we learned that PSG had managed to put a binding block on investigations pre 2014 (http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... &start=640" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) now @TariqPanja of the NY Times has discovered some disturbing features to that outcome - Panja's track record of delving through the mire of football's governing bodies is very impressive.

In P.S.G. Case, Documents Show UEFA Surrendered Without a Fight - By Tariq Panja - July 24, 2019
Disputed facts and an investigator’s calculations raise questions about European soccer’s commitment to enforcing its financial fair-play rules.

To the judge, the math at Paris St.-Germain simply did not add up.

In one free-spending summer in 2017, P.S.G. made the two most expensive acquisitions in soccer history, paying more than $400 million to add the star forwards Neymar and Kylian Mbappé to the French champions’ star-studded roster.

To outsiders, the signings — without offsetting sales of similar value or a huge infusion of sponsorship revenue — simply could not square with European soccer’s so-called financial fair-play system. Those rules, created to reduce clubs’ indebtedness and level the playing field in an era in which teams were being infused with cash by billionaires and nation-states, require clubs to balance their spending with revenue.

An investigation of P.S.G. was begun. A report was produced. When it arrived last June on the desk of José Narciso da Cunha Rodrigues, a former judge at Europe’s top court and the chairman of the UEFA panel that penalizes teams that break the organization’s financial rules, he discovered that the lead investigator had cleared P.S.G.

So after a member of his panel went through the report, Cunha Rodrigues sent the file back, demanding that the investigator, the former Belgian prime minister Yves Leterme, reassess the case. In doing so, he also raised questions about several of Leterme’s conclusions.

The details of UEFA’s nearly yearlong investigation of P.S.G., and the fight over its conclusions, are included in documents obtained by The New York Times that in page after page eviscerate the decision by UEFA investigators to exonerate the Qatari-financed club, one of the biggest spenders in sports. But the documents also reveal how UEFA appeared to sink its own investigation, and how P.S.G. used a technicality to avoid the possibility of serious punishment and preserve its cherished place in soccer’s richest competition, the Champions League.

P.S.G.’s victory also has implications for a current case — the Premier League champion Manchester City, whose rise has been financed by the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, now faces a similar investigation over suspected financial violations — and even for the future of financial fair play itself, and UEFA’s ability, and willingness, to enforce its rules.

“There are clubs who could not care less what their real incomes are when they want to sign a player because they receive incomes from a state,” Javier Tebas, the head of the Spanish league, said in May. “It forces other clubs into an economic situation which is really living on the edge. It skews the balance of the entire European football structure.”

P.S.G.’s defense in the 2017 case lay in its accounting, and its argument that rich sponsorship deals with Qatari entities like the telecom company Ooredoo, the Qatar National Bank and, most crucially, the Qatar Tourism Authority had made the purchases of Neymar and Mbappé — and other world-class players — possible.

But in words that barely disguised his incredulity, Cunha Rodrigues rejected the calculations presented by Leterme in his report, which favored the French club and allowed it to fall just within a ratio of UEFA’s accepted losses.

It would be, Cunha Rodrigues wrote, “adverse to the interests of clubs competing in UEFA competitions for one club to maintain a substantial financial advantage from an erroneous application of the regulations by the chief investigator.”

“The decision to close the case,” Cunha Rodrigues wrote, “was manifestly erroneous.”

But there would be no further investigation, and no re-analysis of Leterme’s decision. P.S.G. appealed the decision by Cunha Rodrigues’s adjudicatory chamber to send back the file, taking its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. There, it argued that there had been a procedural error that required Leterme’s decision to stand. UEFA sided with P.S.G., agreeing with the French club’s interpretation of the rules. Its failure to back Cunha Rodrigues’s committee meant the case was closed.

In a statement, UEFA said it had “full trust in the work” carried out by Leterme and Cunha Rodrigues, pointing out the committees they oversee are run independently.

“It is therefore possible that the views of the members of one chamber are not always the same of those of the other chamber,” it said.
The details surrounding the decision to clear P.S.G. in 2018 have been shrouded in secrecy, but the documents reviewed by The Times suggest that, at the very least, the French champion had a narrow escape. But the outcome of the case is likely to lead to further scrutiny of the close relationship between the team’s Qatari owners and UEFA. P.S.G.’s president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, sits on UEFA’s executive committee and is also the chairman of beIN Media Group, the Qatar-based broadcaster that has committed billions to secure television rights from UEFA and other partners.

P.S.G. had been mired in mediocrity until it was purchased by Qatar’s sovereign investment fund, Qatar Sports Investments, in 2011. Having secured hosting rights to the 2022 World Cup a year earlier, the tiny Gulf state was eager to create a superclub that could challenge established soccer royalty like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United. It immediately went on a spending spree to construct a team, and an organization, capable of overwhelming domestic rivals and challenging for Europe’s biggest trophies. By 2017, it seemed to conclude that Neymar and Mbappé might put it over the top.

Those high-end, head-spinning purchases came against a backdrop of UEFA’s financial regulations, which had come into full force a few years earlier. How, critics and rivals asked, could P.S.G. surpass the world transfer record not once, but twice, and stay within the rules?

The solution the club reached — as did Manchester City, which was accumulating high-end players in England in a similar spending spree — was to sign a slew of sponsorship deals and associations with enterprises linked to its owners. One in particular stood out: a huge agreement with the Qatar Tourism Authority for a nebulous concept known as “nation branding” that was booked as P.S.G.’s highest sponsorship deal, more than 100 million euros ($111 million) per season.

It was those sponsorship deals that came under the microscope when P.S.G., already penalized for a financial breach in 2015, came under investigation again only a month after the Neymar and Mbappé transfers. Under F.F.P. rules, clubs cannot spend more than they earn, and if they do, they can only fall within a limit of 30 million euros across three years.

To assess the value of P.S.G.’s sponsorships, Leterme, the UEFA financial investigator, commissioned the sports marketing company
Octagon Worldwide to analyze the agreements. He also told P.S.G. it could hire a different firm to conduct its own analysis.

The Octagon version returned a verdict that valued the Qatar tourism agreement, a sponsorship that had hardly any visibility, at less than 5 million euros; P.S.G. said its analysis, conducted for the club by Nielsen, came back with a figure close to the amount claimed by P.S.G. Rather than request a third study, Leterme determined, to the consternation of members of his investigative committee, that the Nielsen figures should be used.

When those higher figures were used as the basis to clear P.S.G., Cunha Rodrigues was incredulous. “The chief investigator took into account the value most favorable to the club as derived from the Nielsen report, and did not give any reasons the fair values reached in the Octagon report should be disregarded,” he wrote. Cunha Rodrigues noted that in some calculations submitted by Leterme, the investigator had increased P.S.G.’s sponsorship income even higher than the figures proposed by Nielsen.

Yet the structure of UEFA’s financial fair play organization meant Leterme had sole discretion in the cases presented to his committee. While some members of his panel vehemently disagreed with his decision to clear P.S.G. — one person familiar with the committee’s work labeled his conclusions “absurd reasonings” — Leterme’s decision was nonetheless announced on June 18, when the world’s soccer media was focused on the 2018 World Cup that had kicked off four days earlier.

By Leterme’s calculations, P.S.G. had, despite its record spending and with the help of its disputed sponsorships, incurred a loss of only 24 million euros over the three-year period — just within the mark that would have triggered a referral for penalties to Cunha Rodrigues’s adjudicatory chamber.

“Contrary to the assertion by the chief investigator, this treatment of the fair value of the QTA agreement in reporting period 2017 was indeed of great advantage to the club,” Cunha Rodrigues wrote. He also pointed to other agreements that also appeared to be overvalued, to P.S.G.’s benefit, in Leterme’s final report.

This and a number of other findings led him to the conclusion that the decision to clear P.S.G. should be “vitiated,” or scrapped, and that a new investigation should be undertaken immediately.

But before that could happen, P.S.G. announced that it was mounting an appeal, saying that there were no grounds for Cunha Rodrigues to scrap Leterme’s decision, and that he had missed a 10-day deadline to conduct a review. Cunha Rodrigues described that as a “logical absurdity,” given the amount of work needed to assess the documents and valuations in an F.F.P. case. The 10-day limit, he said, referred to starting a review, not concluding it.

Galatasaray, a Turkish team that had reached a settlement with Leterme that Cunha Rodrigues also wanted re-evaluated, filed a similar appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport a week later. P.S.G. and UEFA agreed to wait for the result in the Galatasaray hearing before resuming the case.
But UEFA, to the horror of Cunha Rodrigues and other adjudicatory chamber officials, sided with Galatasaray’s interpretation of the 10-day limit, and didn’t even mount a defense. A few weeks later, it did the same in the P.S.G. case, and on March 19, in a short news release, it announced Leterme’s decision would stand.

“Following a legal assessment made, with support of external legal counsel, concerning the interpretation of the above-mentioned article, UEFA concluded that indeed there were strong arguments supporting the interpretation presented by the club,” UEFA said in its statement to The Times.

There are no longer any active investigations into P.S.G. And Neymar and Mbappé, for now, still form one of the most potent attacking forces on the planet.

Manchester City’s case is up next: Cunha Rodrigues is scheduled to deliver a verdict later this year.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:50 pm

Interesting move - Liverpool football club want to trademark the word "Liverpool" in the context of football products and services

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... d-16642974" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

wonder what Everton think of that being a football club in Liverpool longer than Liverpool and a founder member of the league and former landlords of Liverpool

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:14 am

You can add City of Liverpool FC to those disgruntled with Liverpool's attempts to trademark the name

https://twitter.com/CityofLpoolFC/statu ... 0754697216" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GodIsADeeJay81 · Post by **GodIsADeeJay81** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:20 am

Chester Perry wrote:Interesting move - Liverpool football club want to trademark the word "Liverpool" in the context of football products and services

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... d-16642974" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

wonder what Everton think of that being a football club in Liverpool longer than Liverpool and a founder member of the league and former landlords of Liverpool

Considering Liverpool were actually Everton's reserve team originally, I'd say Everton are going to be annoyed.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 12:29 pm

The Times has a look at what Football at the top level will look like in 10 years - it is part of a series on the Future of sport

Future of sport: what will football look like in ten years’ time?
In the second part of a new series exploring what sport will look like in a decade’s time, Martyn Ziegler speaks to industry experts about the future of football

On the pitch
If you think football is already too technical then you ain’t seen nothing yet. Football has been way behind many other professional sports in terms of a scientific approach but in ten years’ time it is probable every Premier League side will have a much bigger team of analysts, sports scientists, data gurus and specialist coaches. Liverpool are one of those leading the way on this, and other clubs are following quickly behind.

Simon Austin, the founder of the Training Ground Guru website, says: “Data science is going to be a massive thing over the next ten years. The clubs are gathering massive amounts of data at the moment — GPS tracking, camera-based data on everything a player does and where he goes, health and fitness data, blood markers. Attention is now turning to how to best use all that data.”

Austin says clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester City are already using computer modelling to determine where players should go to on the pitch in certain situations, and he believes it will be common practice in ten years’ time.

“Liverpool are using analytics to determine where players should move to in order to create space,” he says.

The other big change in tactics which is already becoming established now and will almost certainly be widespread in the next decade is the end of the focus on what is known to tactical researchers as Zone 14: the “golden square” in front of the penalty box, which for years coaches have concentrated on to formulate their attacking plans.

Increasingly, the successful teams in the Premier League, and their playmakers, have been looking elsewhere. For example Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City and Mohamed Salah at Liverpool rarely stray in to Zone 14.

“At Manchester City , Pep Guardiola has been focusing on the “half space” — the channel between the full back and the centre half — and something like 85 per cent of their goals come from there,” Austin adds.

“Other clubs’ coaches and managers know now they have to start to follow this kind of analytical approach. The old Mourinho approach of “transitions” and quick counterattacks has long gone.”

The rules
Football prides itself on being a conservative sport in terms of changes to the laws of the game, but every so often a reform is made which has a major effect on how it is played. Preventing the goalkeeper from handling pass-backs has been perhaps the most significant change to the laws in the last half-century, and it certainly had an immediate impact in terms of speeding up the game.

So what is in the melting pot for changes to the laws of the game in the 2020s?

There probably is nothing as dramatic as the back-pass rule, but the International FA Board, football’s law-making body, may well look at the offside rule. Some in the game believe it should be altered so that there has to be daylight between the attacker and the defender to make it both easier for officials to spot, and to make the game more exciting.

The other area which will be given serious consideration is sin-bins for dissent by players. This has been trialled in England already with considerable success, and is now being spread out across amateur football, and there is a very real chance of it being extended to the professional game.

Players’ fitness
It might seem that there is no way that the highly-trained and honed footballer of today’s Premier League can get any fitter, but that is far from the truth.

The future of football will not necessarily see players being able to run further during a match, but it will almost certainly be able to see them running faster more often.

Enhanced fitness techniques are coming in to train players to be able to make more high-intensity sprints during a match. The old box-to-box midfielder, who ran up and down the pitch at a medium pace for 90 minutes may be a thing of the past, as are the days of squads being sent out for a cross-country run, or up and down a hill, as part of their fitness regime.

European competitions

At European club level , the future of the Champions League is the elephant in the room. Uefa, the European Clubs’ Association (ECA), the leagues and the national associations are locked in negotiations about future changes to the competition to come in from 2024, which effectively means they will still be in force in 2029.

The most likely outcome appears to be a greater number of European matches for the clubs involved in the Champions League, but not at the level proposed by the ECA.

An expansion looks a real possibility, with 48 teams in the Champions League split into eight groups of six teams, and meaning ten group games instead of six under the existing format.

There is also likely to be a greater number of clubs in the Europa League and a third tier European competition.

One domestic impact of that could be on the EFL Cup — it would be challenging for teams involved in Europe to also play in the competition as well given the number of extra games.

As for a European Super League, that has been used for the last 20 years as a threat by the top clubs to scare Uefa and the domestic leagues, and it will probably still be being used in another 20 years.

TV, technology and commercial
Imagine sitting down to watch a football match on TV, but instead of slumping on the sofa, you can actually choose a seat in the stadium and experience the game “as live”. Virtual reality is where football broadcasters are expected to focus their technological research, and it is already happening in e-sports.

Tim Crow, an independent sports marketing adviser, says: “What is possible in ten years’ time could be radically different from what is possible now.
“The TV viewer could have a virtual reality experience of sport and other entertainment through technology. It could be as though you are not just watching remotely, but you feel as though you are there.”

Ten years ago, 138 of the 380 Premier League matches per season were televised live. This season, 200 will be screened live, more than half. Elsewhere across Europe, every single match in the big leagues can be accessed live by TV viewers, so the pressure will be on the Premier League to follow suit — especially as domestic TV rights’ values have declined in the 2019-22 deal.

The fall in domestic rights could hasten another possible change, and that is the big clubs looking to increase their direct links with their fans globally to give them access to video content not available elsewhere. That is a potential concern for the balance of the game, if it means the rich clubs becoming still richer.

“The big clubs with global fanbases have a popularity that is off the charts in lots of different countries,” says Crow. “The relationship between clubs and fans globally is going to change.

“These clubs may be valued at a fraction of what a service such as Netflix is valued at, but have the potential to reach millions and millions of people who are prepared to pay for an OTT [streaming] service.

“Everyone is eyeing this and looking at how they can maximise this opportunity.”

Sponsorship income has the potential to grow significantly if the clubs manage to achieve success with their own streaming services, but not necessarily from all sponsors.

By 2029, the chances are that betting companies will not be permitted to have their logos plastered all over the front of players’ shirts.

Crow believes most bookmakers already know the writing is on the wall, even if the Conservative Government has shown no appetite to introduce a ban, and are already planning for a future where they will have to be more creative with their football-related advertising.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:01 pm

We know they need the money but Real Madrid have decided not to sell the Naming rights to a revamped Santiago Bernabeu when work is complete

https://sponsorship.sportbusiness.com/n ... hopkinson/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That may just be that they have found that there is not really much of a market for an established ground where fans would demand a premium be paid - Barcelona have been having that difficulty over the last couple of years - the redevelopment of Camp Nou depends on a deal being in place and being paid up front

https://www.thestadiumbusiness.com/2019 ... -proposal/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and of course you have the problems Spurs have found for a completely new stadium that features NFL, concerts as well as Football (I suspect in a few years the primary purpose (other than making money) will be blurred as non football events will occur more often than football

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:07 pm

We read almost constantly on this board about the problems getting refreshments at the Turf - how about this initiative from Los Angeles FC

https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/s ... home-games" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:17 pm

Timely piece from the 21stclub.com on transfer prices proportionate to revenue pro-rata to the expected transformative value to the team's performance

https://www.21stclub.com/2019/07/25/the ... d-defence/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

@FootballLaw the author and football lawyer Daniel Geey says
"As a rule of thumb, clubs generally spend less than 5% of revenues on squad players, 5-12% on players expected to go straight into the first team and 13%+ on star players expected to have a significant impact on results."

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 1:41 pm

A piece from Sheridan's Sports Law on sports documentaries - why you do it (commercial opportunity obviously) and the legal practicalities - a growing media trend in recent years

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sports-d ... 43c5565e27" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:28 pm

Barcelona have announced another revenue rise for the 2018/19 season though profits have fallen - that revenue is astonishing Euro 990m - yet we will comfortably make more profit than their Euro 17m I believe

https://en.as.com/en/2019/07/24/footbal ... 93247.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:33 pm

The sheer breadth of coverage of that Liverpool Trademark application (see post #1745 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=1744" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) is staggering

https://twitter.com/AgainstLeague3/stat ... 5676805120" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Classes and terms

Class 9
Software; downloadable software; mobile apps; podcasts; downloadable podcasts; mobile apps; software applications; software for the provision, development and editing of podcasts; all of the aforesaid goods relating to the sport of football. .

Class 16
Printed matter; posters; photographs; calendars; books; all of the aforesaid goods relating to the sport of football; stationery and office requisites; wall planners; all the aforesaid being memorabilia in connection with a football club.

Class 25
Clothing, footwear, headgear; tracksuits; socks; jogging trousers; scarves; hats and caps; underwear; shorts; trainers; jerseys; shirts; uniforms; boots; singlets; all of the aforesaid goods being sporting goods used for playing the sport of football, or being memorabilia in connection with a football club.

Class 28
Games, toys and playthings; video game apparatus; sporting articles; decorations for Christmas trees; all of the aforesaid relating to the sport of football; footballs; reduced size footballs; tables for table football; miniature replica football kits; football or soccer goals; shin pads for football; nets for football goals; football ball bags.

Class 35
Retail, wholesale and online retail services relating to printed matter, posters, photographs, stationery and office requisites, books, calendars, wall planners, clothing, footwear, headgear, socks, tracksuits, jogging trousers, scarves, hats and caps, underwear, shorts, trainers, jerseys, shirts, kits, uniforms, boots, singlets, games, toys and playthings, video game apparatus, sporting articles, decorations for Christmas trees, footballs, reduced size footballs, tables for table football, miniature replica football kits, football or soccer goals, shin pads, nets for football goals, football ball bags; information, advisory and consultancy services relating to all of the aforesaid; all of the aforementioned relating to the sport of football, or being memorabilia in connection with a football club. .

Class 38
Telecommunications; Broadcasting services; messaging services; video, audio and television streaming services; live transmissions accessible via home pages on the internet; data communication services accessible by access code; providing access to databases; providing access to internet chatrooms; online messaging; information, advisory and consultancy services relating to all of the aforesaid; all of the aforementioned relating to the sport of football.

Class 41
Education; Providing of training; Entertainment; Sporting and cultural activities; all of the aforesaid relating to the sport of football; football academy services; organisation of football events; entertainment in the nature of football games; football camps; organisation of football matches; arranging and conducting of football training programs; information, advisory and consultancy services relating to all of the aforesaid.

Class 43
Provision of food and drink from a football stadium; corporate hospitality services in connection with the sport of football; information, advisory and consultancy services relating to all of the aforesaid.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:45 pm

Interesting thread on the Liverpool Trademark application

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1154664769917509632" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 2:49 pm

Article about the growth of professional roles that have developed around football as the business side has grown - la liga based but easily transposed across the game - from FC Business

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/comment-fo ... -profiles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:29 pm

Notts County have been sold - hopefully staff will now get paid

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48282230" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:13 pm

Following all the positive press regarding Everton's proposals for it's new ground at Bramley Dock @JonathonLiew asks can football stadiums still serve the public good? - it covers some themes I have posted on this thread before

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 22831.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jul 26, 2019 11:33 pm

Martin Samuel at the Mail talks to Mike Ashley - obviously PR - but there are a few of us on here that think Ashley has been inexcusably attacked for the sound financial management of that club and he pleads his case

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... owner.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and that full piece on Rafa

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... astle.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:58 pm

The Times takes a look at the mess in the pyramid and the authorities who apparently do not know what to do about it

Historic clubs being driven into dirt – yet game does nothing
Travels around the country made clear the scale of unease as clubs struggle financially, writes Gregor Robertson

A week before the EFL season gets under way, Bury have four registered first-team players. For a recent pre-season friendly against Nantwich Town, the Shakers submitted a team sheet with 22 players named “Trialist”. Ryan Lowe, their former manager who led a buccaneering team to automatic promotion from League Two last season, departed for Plymouth Argyle this summer. So far five players, among a host who have cancelled their contracts because they have not been paid in months, have followed Lowe south to Home Park.

Believe it or not, Bury have bigger worries. On Thursday, the EFL threatened the club with expulsion in 14 days if Steve Dale, their owner, fails to provide evidence of how he intends to pay creditors under the terms of their company voluntary arrangement.

Seven days before Notts County’s first season in non-League football gets under way, the club still do not have any strips. It appears, at the time of writing, that their interminable takeover saga is reaching a conclusion, so the famous black and white strips will hopefully now be paid for and delivered from the supplier’s warehouse. Lilian Greenwood, the local MP, had approached Juventus, whom the Magpies furnished with a kit in 1903, to ask if they would return the favour. How times change. At least a fourth visit to the High Court on Wednesday over an unpaid £250,000 tax bill, and the very real prospect of liquidation, should now be averted.

Bolton Wanderers, like Bury, will begin life in League One with a 12-point deduction, the result of becoming the first professional club to enter administration since Aldershot Town in 2013. Bolton’s fall from grace has been lengthy and well documented. They, too, have a shell of a team. Players have not been paid in more than 20 weeks. A series of pre-season friendlies have been cancelled. Meanwhile, the sale of the club to the Football Ventures consortium, their prospective new owners, has been “imminent” for too long and faith in their levels of funding, and the club’s administrator, is gradually eroding.

Faith in the game’s governing bodies has been eroding for some time now too. Catastrophic mismanagement by owners with dubious motives and business histories, unsustainable levels of debt and a regulatory framework that looks increasingly unfit for purpose does not paint a pretty picture.

To travel around the country last season left no doubt about the scale of unease. Oldham Athletic, Morecambe and Macclesfield Town’s players were all paid late last season. The same is true of players of Oxford United, Reading and Southend United. Add to that the long-running disputes between maligned owners and embattled supporters of Charlton Athletic, Port Vale, Hull City, Blackpool and Coventry City, who must watch their team play their home games in Birmingham next season, and the picture is even bleaker.

Financial distress? Dodgy owners? Nothing new there, of course. More than 40 professional football clubs have faced administration in the past 25 years, some on more than one occasion. Insolvencies spiked at the turn of the century, catalysed by the collapse of ITV Digital in 2002-03 — around which time ten clubs entered administration, but since then the number in professional football has largely been in decline. Yet players, staff and bills are being paid late more regularly than ever before, winding-up petitions are being issued with increasing regularity, in part as a result of a more aggressive approach to collecting tax from HMRC. Seventeen clubs were issued with winding-up petitions in the five seasons between 2012-13 and 2016-17, eight were issued with winding-up petitions last season alone.

In the Championship, an increasingly cosmopolitan race for the riches of the Premier League meant all but five of 24 clubs ended 2017-18 in the red (in League One six clubs were in profit and in League Two eight). According to Kieran Maguire, a football finance lecturer at the University of Liverpool, in the five seasons up to 2017-18, while Championship clubs’ income and wage spend increased by more than 50 per cent, operating losses more than doubled and net losses totalled more than £1.1 billion.

A “new breed’ of owners, Maguire says, who are “prepared to underwrite losses in the short term to reach the Premier League”, and for whom “losing £50 million a year is not an issue”, has led to “creative accountants circumnavigating FFP [financial fair play] rules” — as we have seen with Aston Villa, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday selling their stadiums and leasing them back from the club’s owners.

The nine-point deduction for Birmingham City in March for exceeding permitted profitability and sustainability losses of £39 million over three seasons may convince some Championship clubs to rein in spending. With less than two weeks of the transfer window remaining, the division’s 24 clubs have parted with about a third of the £200 million that they spent last summer. After the success of Sheffield United and Norwich City last season, who prospered through intelligent recruitment, coaching and leadership, there are hopes that more clubs may adopt a more long-term ethos.

Luton Town’s unprecedented 30-point deduction for failing to adhere to insolvency rules led to them plummeting from the Championship to the Conference a decade ago. David Wilkinson, the Luton chairman and an original member of the 2020 consortium that bought Luton from administrators, has seen first-hand the “trickle-down” effect of inflated spending as clubs stretch themselves to compete. After securing back-to-back promotions, Luton are preparing for a return to a very different second tier, where the average wage bill now stands at £28 million.

“We can’t compete with big transfer fees and we can’t compete with big salaries — if we do, we’ll end up where we did as a club before,” Wilkinson says. “We’d rather be relegated than go back to that. The club is more important than the league we’re in. So what we’ve done, at least for now, is spend a lot more on scouting and coaching, because we think that’s the only way we can compete — to be better, sign cheaper.”
In 2017-18 player sales meant that the club turned a small profit for the first time and this summer the full backs Jack Stacey and James Justin have been sold to Bournemouth and Leicester City for a combined sum of about £14 million.

In a bid to improve regulation, supporters’ groups’ have proposed a new owners’ and directors’ test that would include assessment of a business plan, relevant skills and capabilities. A code of practice on stewardship, the adherence to which would be monitored, has also been mooted.

Tightened restrictions surrounding the way in which the purchase of football clubs is funded, greater protection of their assets and a bond delivery from proposed owners, which would be forfeited in the event of any default in payment of wages or taxes, have been consulted upon too. The most ambitious proposal, championed by Andy Holt, the Accrington Stanley owner, and supporters groups, is the introduction of an independent
regulator, which some believe should come under the auspices of the FA, which would almost certainly require government legislation. But it is easy to be persuaded by such an idea when, as things stand, the EFL (and Premier League and National League) — which are members’ clubs, with hugely varying priorities, ambitions and agendas — are in effect self-regulatory.

Holt, Wilkinson and others admit, in private discussions with their fellow EFL owners and directors, that there is an acknowledgment that the status quo is unsustainable.

“Turkeys won’t vote for Christmas,” Holt says. “They won’t vote for something that might restrict them from having a gamble, or getting their money back. They’re of a mindset: it’s their money, they’ll do what they want. But in doing what they want, they jack up costs for everybody, including Accrington. Players, wages, gradually pumping up the bubble.”

Clubs can never be completely safeguarded. But doesn’t the game owe it to Bury, Bolton, Notts County, and the next club, to try?

Clubs in trouble
Late wage payments
Bolton Wanderers, Reading, Bury, Oldham Athletic, Oxford United, Southend United, Macclesfield Town, Morecambe, Notts County

Winding-up petitions served
Oxford, Macclesfield, Bury, Bolton, Notts County, Southend, Ipswich Town, Morecambe

Fan protests/boycotts
(last season) Charlton Athletic, Hull City, Blackpool, Coventry City, Bolton, Port Vale

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:22 pm

Meanwhile Nottingham Forest appear to have taken a punt on the coming season - fans can be thankful that it is via a share issue rather than a loan

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9411898368" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;