Football's Magic Money Tree

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 1:12 pm

On the 20th of September - Yeovil Town went from being fan-owned to having a majority shareholder - as it was believed the best way for the club to move forward - that very same day a loan was taken out on land around their ground - not a great way to start is it by immediately leveraging assests

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4126082048" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 1:13 pm

@SwissRamble with one more thread on football clubs’ cash flow. This one briefly compares the incomings and outgoings in the Premier League and the Championship.

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 1003517952" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:45 pm

This is incredible - just how out of touch can you be - Barcelona fined £265 (300 Euro) for Griezman approach that saved them £72m (80m Euro)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49840614" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 3:26 pm

Athletico Madrid make astounding revenue projections for the current season *when compared to stated numbers for last season)- the growth in revenue in the last few seasons is incredible

https://www.soccerex.com/insight/articl ... for-201920" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 3:59 pm

Simon Chadwick gives a reasoned perspective on Fosun and Wolves following the Thomas Cook collapse

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 1516612608" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

in short The Chinese government may (unlikely at the moment) tell them to pull out, Fosun will do as they are told - just like Wanda did with Athletico Madrid, where they went from ownership to sponsorship

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:27 am

yet another proposed bid for Newcastle

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

My observations
- doesn't value the club at the price Ashley wants (i.e. the money he has put into it)
- doesn't pay all the money at once
- talking about making it worth much more while offering the above will not endear them to Ashley

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:03 am

Chester Perry wrote:yet another proposed bid for Newcastle

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

My observations
- doesn't value the club at the price Ashley wants (i.e. the money he has put into it)
- doesn't pay all the money at once
- talking about making it worth much more while offering the above will not endear them to Ashley

Peter Kenyon seems determined to get his foot through the door at Newcastle but Ashley remains the big stumbling block. I'm far from convinced he has the desire to relinquish control there and the details within this latest bid are unlikely to have him running for the exit door.

Similar situation here at Turf Moor in that Mike and John, over the years, have suggested they would be prepared to move aside if the suitable level of investment came along but again I'm not so sure. When they look around at the carnage caused at so many other clubs when changing ownership to people with little or no connection to the club, then I suspect any offer would need to be very special for it even to be considered. We are so fortunate that we have owners that are Burnley fans first and foremost.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:41 pm

The Price of Football does a deep dive into Manchester United's financial results from 2018/19 (suspect @SwissRamble will have is perspective on Monday)

http://priceoffootball.com/manchester-u ... waterfall/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:47 pm

I have posted about Everton's financial situation a few times (especial the expected losses to come in their financial results) - seems they are busy doing something about it - today companies house shows filings of 7 different loans being settled - no details on values as yet - good to see they are doing some housekeeping with the Bramley Dock initiative getting ever closer

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:39 pm

Some interesting detail coming out of the court papers in the New Balance - Liverpool - Nike case. Liverpool are using an innovative approach for the proposed Nike deal which sees a much lower fixed payment but a royalty share of 20% on all sales together with some interesting tie-ups

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

PSG have a tie-up deal with Air-Jordan that is proving very successful and raking lots of money in for them especially in the States

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 10:47 pm

That Newcastle bid fronted by Peter Kenyon - Ashley apparently open to being paid in instalments, but still values the club at £350m

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

absolutely no surprise on the price - Ashley has been firm on getting all his money back at all times - not concerned about profit just break even

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:12 pm

With reports that under new FIFA regulations the Premier League could save £100m on agents fees each year it is no surprise that Agents are preparing to challenge them in the courts - From the New York Times

Agent Group Solicits Donations to Sue FIFA Over Transfer Limits
A series of rules changes would restrict the money — sometimes tens of millions of dollars in a single deal — that agents can earn when players switch teams.
By Tariq Panja - Sept. 27, 2019, 1:09 p.m. ET

An organization representing some of the world’s biggest agents has written to its members and urged them to contribute to a fund for what it expects will be an “expensive” legal fight to block proposed FIFA regulations to cap the fees they earn in the multibillion-dollar soccer player transfer market.

The Association of Football Agents, a trade organization for intermediaries in Britain, home to global soccer’s richest transfer market, issued an emotional appeal to its members in the wake of the plans revealed earlier this week that would severely restrict the money — sometimes tens of millions of dollars in a single transaction — that agents can earn when players switch teams.

The new rules are set to be ratified by FIFA’s leadership at a meeting in Shanghai on Oct. 24.

The A.F.A., whose board members include the representatives of Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale and the former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, told its members that FIFA had “totally reneged” on commitments to consult the group before making a final decision. The letter sent to its agents and intermediaries included details for a bank account collecting donations toward legal fees in case the group goes to court to contest FIFA’s new rules.

“This is going to be an expensive fight and we need your moral and financial support,” read the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

FIFA’s proposed limits on agents’ fees — part of a broader set of changes to the transfer market — come amid growing public pressure to regulate the $7 billion a year player trading market. FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, expressed a desire to curb excessive behavior by some agents upon entering office in February 2016. Months later, leaked documents revealed by the hacking platform Football Leaks detailed how the Italian-Dutch agent Mino Raiola secured more than 40 million euros in payments by representing all three parties — player, buying club and selling club — in Paul Pogba’s world-record transfer to Manchester United from Juventus in August 2016.

Mel Stein, the A.F.A. chairman, said in an interview Friday that FIFA was trying to “punish” agents for deals like the one involving Pogba, which he said was “atypical.”

Under the proposed rules, the fees paid to agents representing selling teams in a player’s transfer would be capped at 10 percent. The cap would be 3 percent for those acting for buying clubs and for intermediaries acting on behalf of players. Agents also would no longer be able to work for both buying and selling clubs in the same deal, a measure designed, according to FIFA, “to protect the integrity of the system and prevent abuses.”

“There has been a consultation process with a representative group of agents so their inputs could be taken into account,” a FIFA spokesman said in response to the A.F.A. letter. “The Task Force Transfer System has kept an open dialogue with agents on all aspects of the proposed reforms.”

As well as writing to its members — a group that the A.F.A. said accounts for collective annual revenues of 500 million pounds (more than $615 million) — the group also has written to FIFA to warn it that the agents would begin legal action within seven days if the proposals were not abandoned.

“We cannot accept any regulations that provide for capping of our fees or restrict our freedom to act for any party in a transaction,” the A.F.A. wrote to FIFA. It described the regulations as “unlawful and anti-competitive.”

According to data released by FIFA, agents earned more than $2 billion in the five years from 2014 through 2018, a figure that dwarfed the amount paid to teams as part of a separate so-called solidarity mechanism designed to reward youth development programs for their roles in producing players.

Stein, the A.F.A. head, accused FIFA of “breathtaking arrogance” for failing to engage with his group before making a final decision on its new rules, and suggested the excesses of soccer leaders were worse than any found in his industry.

“Have you been to their offices?” he said of FIFA. “All that marble and gold, that’s taking money out of the game.”

Controlling agents’ growing influence in the global marketplace has been a struggle for FIFA since the value of the transfer market — and the prices for top players — began to grow exponentially amid a television revenue boom that began in the 1990s. As part of the proposals FIFA will consider next month, it will take responsibility for licensing agents, a role it gave up about a decade ago. At the time, it acknowledged that the task, on a global scale, was beyond its capabilities.

Peter Kenyon, a former chief executive of the Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea, suggested actors in the soccer industry would be able to find ways of getting around the new rules, as they have done when it comes to other forms of regulations. He noted that it was not agents who determined the fees paid for players, but clubs.

“Nobody has to pay an agent anything — that’s a club decision and they choose to pay it,” he said. “Clubs are great at wanting someone else to make a regulation that makes it easier to say no.”

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:15 pm

With UEFA having given a name to their new 3rd tier club competition - they are now gearing up to sell the rights for all three for the period 2021- 2024

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/excl ... petitions/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:18 pm

Celtic have posted their financial results for the 2018/19 season - @KieranMAguire has a quick peek - treble treble winners, Europa League group stages, ground capacity of well over 50k, global fanbase - Income slightly more than a club in it's first year back in the Championship following Premier League relegation

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 7916874753" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:31 pm

This new guy at Plymouth seems to be going about things in the right way - on Wednesday we saw that he had converted all outstanding loans to shares, making them essentially debt free, as he seeks to get them onto a sustainable path - now he has given fans a presentation of the finances so they have a full understanding of what he is doing and why

https://www.pafc.co.uk/siteassets/pdfs/ ... -1-1-2.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

there really is a growing group of owners who are showing some sanity with their clubs in the lower Leagues

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:38 pm

By way of contrast, yet fully in keeping with minimum requirements of law and the EFL - Mansfield have released a financial statement for the 2018/19 season

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9010875392" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:59 pm

One thing all the recent financial turmoil and FFP dodging has done is make clubs more aggressive in calls for fairer competition and quick substantive action for those who fail to comply - Yesterday's EFL members meeting saw calls for automatic points deductions for those clubs that fail to pay wages on time - @AndyhHolt has been very vocal about this all summer

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

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:23 pm

@KieranMaguire tears strips out of Peter Kenyon's brochure seeking Investment in his bid to take over Newcastle - the level of factually incorrect data and strange comparisons is diabolical - to my mind it is not just incompetent but fraudulent in places - though anyone with a remote level of interest could verify it in a few minutes via Google

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3129496576" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 9:35 am

Less than 3 weeks after appearing to resolve their issues in Kenya (see post #2099 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=2098" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) - Everton sponsors SportPesa are pulling out of the country altogether (a blessing for Kenyans but I am sure someone else will step in and use the same unscrupulous approach)

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

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 8:12 pm

We all get frustrated about kick-offs being changed for television - as yet the Premier League haven't really changed kick-offs specifically for international audience - or even for a specific international audience - all the other big leagues have - in fact it is often a deliberate strategic move to build audiences in a long term approach to compete with the Premier League, There are potential downsides with the locals who can get quite disgruntled - and we know our European cousins are quick to protest. - this one is particularly clever. French game brought forward for Chinese audiences - crowd take the opportunity to display a large Free Tibet TIFO display

https://twitter.com/DreyerChina/status/ ... 9003796485" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sun Sep 29, 2019 10:50 pm

following on from the last post another example of European fans taking matters into their own hand - this time Roda JC fans lay into the new owner of their club, kicking him out of the ground at half time for failing to pay his players and continuing to fail to meet his financial promises

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

this reddit thread highlights his misdemeanors

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comment ... ut_of_the/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Imagine that happening in this country

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:39 pm

Yeovil - It is hard to tell if this is the loan I reported last week (see post #2218 http://uptheclarets.com/messageboard/vi ... start=2217" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) or an additional loan taken out against the ground - again on the day they transitioned from fan-owned to a single majority shareholder - either way sends out a depressing message

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 7515762688" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 1:41 pm

As I thought he would today, with his beloved Arsenal at Old Trafford tonight - @SwissRamble does his thing with Manchester United's 2018/19 financial results

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 0523323392" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 5:09 pm

Cardiff get off lightly re Sala transfer fee - first instalment only

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49825166" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Edit - no they haven't, they have got to pay it all - complaint was about first instalment - Cardiff expected to go to CAS

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:11 pm

In a move that carries some echoes of ITV Digital - the Greek national broadcaster is trying to persuade it's League 2 clubs to take a substantial reduction in it's TV deal

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/gree ... eductions/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:18 pm

The Bundesliga sees a massive rise in rights value with a 6 year US deal

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/bund ... with-espn/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:09 pm

If I am understanding this correctly Birmingham City will face another points deduction this season - @KieranMaguire with a summary of the parent company's 2018/19 financial results

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1957473280" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 10:39 pm

Chester Perry wrote:If I am understanding this correctly Birmingham City will face another points deduction this season - @KieranMaguire with a summary of the parent company's 2018/19 financial results

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1957473280" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What a frightening set of figures and they deserve the punishment that's inevitably coming their way.

Clearly 2018 was the year they went for broke, a Wage to Turnover ratio of 202% and look at the increase in Wage bill from 2017. That said those improved contracts clearly continued to impact on the 2019 results and the gamble they took has failed miserably. Now they will pay the price with another points deduction, and justifiably so.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:20 pm

A report on what is happening at Roda JC

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

Stproc · Post by **Stproc** » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:46 pm

The madness of a 21 year old Chelsea loanee on £38k a week in the Dutch 2nd division.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 9:39 am

Stproc wrote:The madness of a 21 year old Chelsea loanee on £38k a week in the Dutch 2nd division.

That's agents for you - no real concept of what their demands do to all but the biggest of clubs and even then you can have an Ozil/Sanchez situation where you cannot offload because no one else can pay the wages

AshevilleNCClaret · Post by **AshevilleNCClaret** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 11:40 am

Chester Perry wrote:A report on what is happening at Roda JC

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

The article technically says 38k a month and not a week (which is still 10x more than what teammates are making).

I think the only solution is to form one super league of teams and then instituting a salary cap.
American sports is insane money but is has been kept in check partly by a salary cap.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:46 pm

It has taken an awful long time, and the choice is a little left field, but the Premier League has finally appointed a new Chief executive - he is currently in a similar position for the Guardian Newspaper group - David Pemsel

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49903442" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 9:36 pm

This will get Premier League Chairman salivating, not to mention everyone else that makes a living from the magic money tree - a new report claims that global football rights (all leagues/cups) will rise from US$12.8 billion to US$31.9 billion a year in the next 5 years thanks to the growth of streaming - not sure I can see it in that time frame

http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/stre ... ecast-2024" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:35 pm

found out why Manchester United's commercial revenue was down last season - one of their sponsors did not pay £4m of agreed payments - United now suing them for $11m in America

https://sbcnews.co.uk/europe/2019/09/26 ... ay-agents/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Same company did not pay Watford what they were contracted to either

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Oct 03, 2019 3:21 pm

Detailed piece in the Mail about Red Bull's move into football and it's long-term approach to club's and whether they will assimilate (chose that word with care) an English club

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

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Oct 03, 2019 6:34 pm

A bit of ego massaging - KPMG use their own valuations to give total squad values of each of the big 5 leagues - you should note the Bundesliga has 2 less teams than the rest - also the Premier League pay prices other leagues wouldn't

https://twitter.com/Football_BM/status/ ... 1560641539" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Oct 03, 2019 8:18 pm

Posted before about the possibility of Crystal Palace being up for sale - well apparently they now are - with the asking price valuing the club at £210m - that seams reasonable but they have a significant amount of debt (which they say will be cleared - not sure how?) with the prospect of a large bill for the new stand they have planning permission for

https://www.cityam.com/crystal-palace-h ... 210m-deal/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 8:17 am

Both Man City and Liverpool wanted it kept quiet - the £1m compensation was agreed between them - but now the FA have asked Man City for information about the hack - from the Times

FA ramps up pressure over ‘spygate’ row between Liverpool and Manchester City
City asked for information on hack claims

Matt Dickinson, Chief Sports Writer | Martyn Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter - October 4 2019, 12:01am,

The Football Association has asked Manchester City for information on the hacking dispute with Liverpool in a significant escalation of the controversy.
The involvement of the governing body, which wants to examine any evidence gathered by City to see if there is a case to pursue, will increase pressure on the Premier League to launch its own investigations into how Liverpool came to pay City £1 million after a complaint from the Manchester club that their scouting system had been hacked.

The league has so far declined to become involved, despite a rule stating that “each club shall behave towards each other club and the League with the utmost good faith”, but that could change after the FA’s written request to see evidence.

The FA’s move is not being termed an investigation but the fact the governing body has become involved is potentially significant. The FA’s rules include a clause on misconduct which states that: “A participant should at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute.” The rules also define a participant as including any “affiliated competition, club, club official” as well as players.

The confidential seven-figure settlement took place in September 2013 after City had employed computer-espionage experts to see if the system had been spied on. They were worried that all their information on transfer targets and scouting reports had been compromised.

As revealed by The Times, the settlement came a year after three former City scouts moved to Liverpool. Two of them were alleged by City to have been involved in accessing their database on the Scout7 system on hundreds of occasions. Michael Edwards, now Liverpool’s sporting director, was also named in the settlement.

The scandal would appear to be the worst case of alleged misbehaviour by one top-flight club to another in the Premier League’s history
The two scouts alleged to have been involved in accessing City’s Scout7 system were Dave Fallows, now Liverpool’s head of recruitment, and Julian Ward, who was Liverpool’s European scouting manager for Spain and Portugal and is now the loan pathways and football partnerships manager.

Among the allegations is that the login of Rob Newman, a Manchester City scout, may have been used illicitly by senior Liverpool staff over an eight-month period from June 2012 to February 2013.

The £1 million settlement was made without Liverpool or the accused individuals accepting any liability or wrongdoing. After the revelations, a Liverpool spokesperson said: “Liverpool FC does not provide any comment on any allegations relating to legal agreements it may or may not have entered into with any other club, organisation or individual.”

Ian Ayre was Liverpool’s managing director at the time and is understood to have been involved in handling the complaint by City. He left the club in 2017 and there is no suggestion that he had any knowledge of any attempts to access City’s scouting database.

Manchester City have declined to comment.

After suspicions were raised, City appointed a forensic computer expert able to carry out an investigation that tracked suspicious logins and IP addresses. Evidence requested by the FA is expected to include any reports produced by the expert, including pages of detail on how City’s Scout7 database was accessed, and from where.

A source close to the Premier League said they were unaware of the settlement at the time. The league, which on Wednesday appointed David Pemsel, the Guardian Media Group’s chief executive to succeed Richard Scudamore in the same role, may be unable to ignore the case if the FA hands over evidence showing a breach of rules.

It is understood that the Premier League has yet to receive a complaint. Its usual approach has been to not intervene if a dispute between two clubs has been resolved between them.

The revelation of the scandal comes with Liverpool and City fighting it out, once more, to be champions of England. Pep Guardiola’s team won the title by a single point last season but Liverpool are ahead by five points after seven games.

After The Times broke the news of the scandal, Damian Collins, MP, the chairman of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, said the Premier League should look into the affair.

Collins, whose committee has covered issues of data breaches, said: “I do believe the Premier League should try to establish exactly what happened in this case and how the clubs came to a settlement.

“It is an important issue if confidential player data was being accessed. There could even be grounds for this being investigated by the Information Commissioner’s Office.”

Reports that Manchester City believed their scouting database may have been hacked first emerged in June 2013, and it was suggested that City had sped up the deals to sign the Brazil midfielder Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk and the Spanish winger Jesús Navas from Seville after discovering evidence of possible breaches of security.

The Scout7 company was bought by the Perform Group in 2017. It is viewed as a world leader in providing a database of detailed player statistics and information. It also provides subscribers with video clips and footage of age-group tournaments that may not be available elsewhere. Users can compile reports on possible targets and share them with other people from their club who also use the system.

The database details where and when tournaments are being played, and has a list of players who are out of contract, which helps clubs looking to strengthen their squad via free transfers, or outside of the transfer window.

After the reports in June 2013 of the alleged access to City’s scouting system, Scout7 issued a statement saying the integrity of its system remained intact.

The statement read: “We understand that the incident is still being investigated but involves use of valid passwords obtained from the club concerned to gain illegal access to a private database. The security or technical integrity of Scout7 systems has not been undermined by this incident.

“Scout7 point out that the security and confidentiality of client’s databases has always been and remains of the utmost importance and protecting club’s private data continues to be an integral feature of our systems.”

Q&A: THE ‘SPYING’ ROW
Hacking into another club’s system, as Liverpool have been alleged to have done, is presumably contrary to Premier League rules?
It certainly appears to be clearly in breach of the Premier League rule that clubs must behave with “utmost good faith” towards each other. The EFL has a similar rule, and it used that to fine Leeds United £200,000 over its own “spygate” scandal last season when their promotion rivals Derby County complained about the Yorkshire club sending someone to watch them training.

In that case, why has the Premier League not already launched an investigation into the reports that Manchester City complained to Liverpool that their database had been hacked?
It is understood that no complaint was received by the Premier League, and its policy is that if any dispute between two clubs has been resolved between them it does not need to get involved. The fact the settlement was agreed in 2013 also means there is a feeling that a lot of time has already passed.

Is there any possible breach of FA rules?
The FA has a catch-all rule in its handbook about misconduct, which states that participants (which include clubs, county associations and officials, as well as players) must not do anything that brings the game into disrepute. It could certainly be argued that hacking into another club’s database is bringing the game into disrepute.

What is the next likely development in this saga?
If City provide full details of its case to the FA, the governing body may feel it has to contact Liverpool for their observations. After that, a decision would have to be taken by the FA as to whether any disciplinary proceedings should be opened.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 8:36 am

It has become a much more acceptable part of the game, following on from tragedy and near miss, with enormous media support (like the Independent's mental health in sport week, which was posted in full on this thread), new figures show more players than ever are accessing services to help them deal with mental issues. That can only be a good thing

https://apnews.com/8bb736bc440a40b296eca17157c6e8dd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 10:12 am

@AndyhHolt take on what the games authorities should be doing for Macclesfield now

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/11 ... 9384127488" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:44 pm

The kind of article I almost subscribed to the Athletic for (not read it but it looks ideal for this thread, given I have made a few posts on this subject)

https://theathletic.com/1264888/2019/10 ... or-brexit/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

anyone who has a subscription) - please consider transcribing

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:45 pm

This should be an interesting move - Price of Football/@KieranMaguire are to start a regular podcast as of Tuesday

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2116071424" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:30 am

Earlier in the week (see post #2254 towards the top of this page) KPMG's total squad valuations for the big 5 leagues - here is the next 6 (European)

https://twitter.com/Football_BM/status/ ... 1820681218" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:41 am

Club fines for various misdemeanours are a pretty standard affair, our club is famous for it's wheal of misfortune, but what kind of fines do the world's biggest club give it's players - Marca has gotten hold of Real Madrid's fine list

https://www.marca.com/en/football/real- ... b4581.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:00 am

AshevilleNCClaret wrote:The article technically says 38k a month and not a week (which is still 10x more than what teammates are making).

I think the only solution is to form one super league of teams and then instituting a salary cap.
American sports is insane money but is has been kept in check partly by a salary cap.

A question not a challenge.
Are any of them going bust?
On another point salary caps are illegal under EU rules but after brexit could it come in?

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:04 am

Tricky Trevor wrote:A question not a challenge.
Are any of them going bust?
On another point salary caps are illegal under EU rules but after brexit could it come in?

The biggest threat under Brexit is tax (which is why agents are now putting net salaries into contracts rather than gross - unitary approaches to a salary cap would go the same way as the transfer window - puts the Premier League at a massive disadvantage (could work down the pyramid)

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:21 am

A story is emerging of another failed bid for Newcastle over the summer (not the one from the middle east)

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/f ... m-17033572" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:24 am

From FC Business Magazine - the Growing Attendance Model for Leagues, Clubs and Countries

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/in-focus-g ... model-gam/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:26 am

which partners well with this article - The Economics of Fan Engagement: why fan engagement is important

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/economic ... %2Bg%3D%3D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;