Football's Magic Money Tree

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Mar 27, 2019 5:21 pm

Over the weekend I made a couple of posts (681 & 682) with regards to "sport washing" and the use of football for "soft" power plays and a few weeks earlier I linked a Guardian article on the same subject. The whole thing is such a minefield and has become a real geo-political tool that it is has become a significant component of "football's magic money tree", and will possibly become it's most significant. Consequently I have been looking to understand a bit more, though remain wary of being trapped by conspiracy theory. Read on if you too are curious

TIFO #football did this little piece on Saudi Arabia back in December - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnU8OF9 ... e=youtu.be" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another Professor Simon Chadwick piece on how China has used sport especially football to find influence - this time in Africa

https://www.policyforum.net/china-fuell ... p-nations/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

on twitter today he is speculating that the new stadium in Milan will be built/financed by Chinese businesses as part of the New Silk Road initiative mentioned in post #682

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:05 am

It seems like an age since thee was any update on the Premier League TV deals - but it appears that the big 6 are going to be happy as the overseas rights look to be well over £4bn meaning the spread of tv earnings between top and bottom (merit payments) is likely to grow to around £75m. This can only damage competition within the league.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... -overseas/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:22 am

Huddersfield have posted their financial results for their 1st season in the Premier League

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/docu ... 2a20e22045" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The price of football's @kieranMaguirre gives his perspective

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 8017659904" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:28 am

There may be more serious problems at Oldham than those encountered by Paul Scholes - The club have registered a change of year end with companies house of just one day - which although it doesn't seem much means they can delay reporting financial results for 3 months - just what are they hiding?

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4008154112" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Goddy · Post by **Goddy** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 11:54 am

I've just logged in to say 'thanks' to you, Chester, for all these postings. At times it must seem like you're talking to yourself but I, for one, find all this fascinating (and glad you have the time/persistence to keep finding/posting stuff here).

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:00 pm

Goddy - I know people read and very few comment - but as I have said before - I don't mind because it keeps content focused - just look at what happened to the Bournemouth Finance thread.

Happy to hear that you appreciate it, I just hope it provides a rounded view of everything that influences the game we love

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:31 pm

Post # 714.

Good effort throughout the accounts by Huddersfield, for their first season back in the big league.

Many other clubs could do far worse than follow their financial example.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:36 pm

I thought so Roy - not too unlike us really - though spent more on players (proportionately) than either of our first 2 promotions to the PL - even managed to reduce debt a little - though that might not appease all fans - from the looks of it they will try and be sensible next season too - which may pay dividends given many in that league will have to tighten their belts no they know the threat of points deductions are real

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:43 pm

Indeed......and of course they navigate next season in the Championship with the small matter of a £45m parachute payment to boost their Turnover.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:45 pm

I think that may help them keep most of the players they want too - have got a good Striker now to, who should develop well in that league

dsr · Post by **dsr** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:45 pm

£58m is a lot to spend on players - have they kept their value?

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:48 pm

DSR - a lot of those were the ones that got them promoted as loans - Mooy and Mounier etc - so were already embedded - which helped them with their rapid start last year - Mooy is the one they need to keep hold of - he will be a key differentiator in the Championship - they have badly missed him this season

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:06 pm

Speaking with an employee at Huddersfield recently and there's a sense of inevitability that they will lose Aarron Mooy this summer.

However, and to answer dsr directly as to value, there will without doubt be a significant profit on sale of asset.

What a perfect addition Mooy would be to our squad.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:12 pm

I have highlighted the fact that all the senior administration jobs in English Football are currently available with no one seemingly wanting to take them on - Peter Taylor's slow walk and blockading of an internal promotion makes it 4 jobs that can have a real impact on the games future in this country - yet there appears to be a general apathy in the public sphere - FourFourTwo rightly asks - Why aren’t people talking about English football’s management crisis?

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/en ... UE0milh.99" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 1:33 pm

I have been saving this for a quiet news day - but that has not happened and time is moving on

a fair number of posts in this thread have been about the farming of players as academies effectively become revenue generating business entities, this article underlines that thought and highlights that young players who manage to get through the system are referred to as graduates with their "school" having an impact on their perceived worth

https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/prem ... undesliga/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- how long before we have football's Ivy league or Oxbridge equivalents
- it doesn't seem that long since the economic argument for an Academy was to save transfer funds and perhaps retain a player for longer because they were part of the club's fabric

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:55 pm

Seems like changing your reporting date (see post #715) is becoming the thing - Mike Ashley has now done it at Newcastle

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 7487043585" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Andy Holt has done it at Accrington -though he has given a reasoned explanation for it

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/11 ... 6334522368" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 3:59 pm

@KieranMaguire pointing just why the big six need that extra income from the overseas rights I was talking about in post #713

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3929506816" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 4:19 pm

An interesting and challenging (if you are not fully au fait with finance/economics) read about why the authorities in European football are not using the correct model of profit and loss for FFP.

https://vysyble.com/blog-13th-march-2019" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I suspect this is more of an approach used in our on boardroom

they have conveniently put together a 5 year table for the current PL to illustrate how clubs would stand - remember our figures include 2 loss making promotions out of the Championship

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1111295652628172801" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and the largest "Economic" losses since 2009 in the Premier League

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1105233921963368450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

anyone spot a trend

I should point out that many in the finance Industry to don subscribe to this measure and regards it as stuff and nonsense including "The Price of Football's" @'KieranMaguirre

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 4:51 pm

Chester Perry wrote:An interesting and challenging (if you are not fully au fait with finance/economics) read about why the authorities in European football are not using the correct model of profit and loss for FFP.

https://vysyble.com/blog-13th-march-2019" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I suspect this is more of an approach used in our on boardroom

they have conveniently put together a 5 year table for the current PL to illustrate how clubs would stand - remember our figures include 2 loss making promotions out of the Championship

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1111295652628172801" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and the largest "Economic" losses since 2009 in the Premier League

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1105233921963368450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

anyone spot a trend

I should point out that many in the finance Industry to don subscribe to this measure and regards it as stuff and nonsense including "The Price of Football's" @'KieranMaguirre

And a 3rd loss making season in the Championship year to Jun'13.

Nevertheless, still struggling to make sense of the figure quoted for Burnley.

'13......(7.8m)
'14......(7.6m)
'15......32.1m
'16......(4.8m)
'17......27.3m...........5 year total before tax of 39.2m.

Even after tax the figure is incorrect.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Mar 28, 2019 5:09 pm

As I understand it Roy they will have a different figure from the published ones to reflect Economic profit/Loss - not sure how that is calculated though at this time

so for the 216/17 season they have us at an Economic profit of £20.57m

https://vysyble.com/football-profitability-index" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

edit - found this which may help

https://vysyble.com/economic-profit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:39 am

@KieranMaguire looks at the sorry tale of Charlton's finances

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9884635136" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The club would be dead without the owner and is dying with him as the fans remain at war - when the loans are significantly greater than the value of the club - who is going to takeover without a significant write off and even then (as Bolton have learned) which incoming owner is willing to face the wrath of the fans in cutting cloth accordingly immediately too become sustainable again

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:45 am

@KieranMaguirre has been a busy boy - Fulham's results last year show just how much promotion via the play-offs for immediate relegation can cost - or the joys of having a billionaire owner who knows nothing about your sport

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4482701313" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

where he has got his figures from I don't know as they are not available at companies house

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

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:36 am

When you have a big squad this is inevitable - When you are the owner of a club and effectively have to write a cheque every month for £2m+ to cover losses whilst your team seemingly bottles promotion every season from strong positions it must hurt

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/ ... ng-2696412" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 11:47 am

going back to yesterday and the posts on Economic Profit - Vysable have produced this table with regards to best performance of a newly promoted team in the PL - I think they rate us

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1111365086642343936" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:07 pm

Following Fulham's financial results posting the losses in the Championship last season total £420 with 6 clubs still to report - ouch

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2997880835" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

there are 3 tables for you to click through

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:26 pm

@AndyHolt (Accy Chairman) has effectively confirmed that the reduced Domestic PL TV deal and the restructuring of the way Overseas rights are distributed has resulted in the "solidarity Payments" (sic) to the EFL will be reduced next season (you will not I suggested this would have a similar effect on Parachute Payments in post #673

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/11 ... 5019081728" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/11 ... 9774845952" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:56 pm

Chester Perry wrote:An interesting and challenging (if you are not fully au fait with finance/economics) read about why the authorities in European football are not using the correct model of profit and loss for FFP.

https://vysyble.com/blog-13th-march-2019" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I suspect this is more of an approach used in our on boardroom

they have conveniently put together a 5 year table for the current PL to illustrate how clubs would stand - remember our figures include 2 loss making promotions out of the Championship

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1111295652628172801" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and the largest "Economic" losses since 2009 in the Premier League

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1105233921963368450" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

anyone spot a trend

I should point out that many in the finance Industry to don subscribe to this measure and regards it as stuff and nonsense including "The Price of Football's" @'KieranMaguirre

I'm on the stuff and nonsense side.

This was touched on somewhere else (the Bournemouth Finance thread I think) the other day when I was pointing out that having some debt isn't necessarily viewed as a bad thing in business.

The issue is obviously that equity investment in football clubs isn't always on a commercial basis. There are clubs like Burnley where no dividends are paid, Man City where it appears to be a big PR exercise, Bolton/Blackburn in the past where the investment was made due to love of the club, etc.

That makes it very difficult to come up with a sensible cost of equity and makes it all a bit subjective. You'd expect the Glaziers to be different to Garlick for instance but by how much.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 3:13 pm

Aggi imagine the angst if you could register your local team as a community asset in the same way some fans have managed to do with their teams grounds. We know sports teams have an emotional pull like no other business (music apart) and that is why loans (in my view) make it risky for the future health of a club like ours where income can collapse pretty damn rapidly

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:38 pm

With Burnley posting record profits and turnover it is nice to know that one club earns more from it's Nike kit deal in a season than our revenue last season

https://offthepitch.com/a/manchester-un ... hirt-sales" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:59 pm

we have posted a bit about Port Vale in recent weeks - they also have posted their accounts today - a bit different from "norm"an to say the least

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 9244514306" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 9:35 pm

It had been a day for clubs posting accounts - Port Vales were a little strange - but Bradford City may have taken the biscuit in the department of How to win friends and …..

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/docu ... 9f6cd8bdd1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4093558785" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

contrast those with Wrexham

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 1923261440" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.wst.org.uk/www3/files/Wrexha ... embers.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.wst.org.uk/www3/files/WST%20 ... embers.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:33 pm

Today we have seen that Fulham can lose £1.14m a week in the Championship then spend £118m on players on promotion but can't pay Hartlepool for a youth player they said wasn't good enough for them in January

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47748281" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Apr 01, 2019 5:35 pm

It is the single biggest (monetary) prize in sport and a one off game to boot - you would think that you would want to make it as risk free as possible from an officiating stand - point - not if you are the EFL - the play-off final will not use VAR even though Wembley is equipped.

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

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 12:00 am

Following last weeks gathering of the European Clubs Association in Amsterdam - this week sees the different Leagues get together in Lisbon - a hot topic appears to be those dastardly big clubs wanting to cream everything off for themselves and the rest be damned - rather surprised that our press have not picked up on it, the Americans have though - this from the New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/spor ... eague.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 12:21 am

Wage growth in the Premier league has been phenomenal since it's inception and now people talk of wages in the 100's of thousands of pounds without the slightest trace of a wince, it has become such a norm - the only surprise comes when clubs don't have any players on those kinds of salaries (I am truly grateful that we are one of the few - though for how long if we continue to stay in this league). Many hoped wages would come under control when the last TV deal came in at the same time as new FFP legislation supposedly restricting wage growth, it seems those hopes were misplaced however, as clubs in the Premier League are once again letting salaries climb to over 70% of revenue (we are currently at 59% but it is difficult to assess how much of our £20m wage growth last season was bonus related)

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1112736794154549248" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The ongoing impact of this is that clubs are starting to record losses again (all within FFP guidelines in the PL but the challenge in the Championship is even greater) not sure why we are not included on the graph as the data was available to @KieranMaguirre

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4582545408" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- FYI - you can click through to the Championship picture

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 12:31 am

Apparently West Brom have posted their Financial results from last season - though they are not mentioned on the clubs website or available at companies house. We can add them to the list of teams whose wages were over 70% of revenue (74% to be precise) - they claim not to have any financial worries
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/fo ... 5m-losses/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

though are hoping their 10 year+ commitment to the youth Academy is beginning to pay off

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47766043" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 10:22 am

Chester Perry wrote:Wage growth in the Premier league has been phenomenal since it's inception and now people talk of wages in the 100's of thousands of pounds without the slightest trace of a wince, it has become such a norm - the only surprise comes when clubs don't have any players on those kinds of salaries (I am truly grateful that we are one of the few - though for how long if we continue to stay in this league). Many hoped wages would come under control when the last TV deal came in at the same time as new FFP legislation supposedly restricting wage growth, it seems those hopes were misplaced however, as clubs in the Premier League are once again letting salaries climb to over 70% of revenue (we are currently at 59% but it is difficult to assess how much of our £20m wage growth last season was bonus related)

https://twitter.com/vysyble/status/1112736794154549248" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The ongoing impact of this is that clubs are starting to record losses again (all within FFP guidelines in the PL but the challenge in the Championship is even greater) not sure why we are not included on the graph as the data was available to @KieranMaguirre

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4582545408" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- FYI - you can click through to the Championship picture

It's not so much "difficult to assess how much of our £20m wage growth was bonus related" - as completely impossible. All we really know is that over just a two year period our Total Wage bill has doubled from £39m to £81m. - A frightening stat and one that I'm first to admit has taken me completely by surprise.

I can think of at least two members of our BoD who will be very uncomfortable with a Wage bill of £81m at Burnley Football Club.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:14 pm

one thing for sure Roy - if it is similar in the next accounts it will be almost certain that our wages will be over 70% of turnover

randomclaret2 · Post by **randomclaret2** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:25 pm

Salford City lost £1.8million in the Conference North in 17/18

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:40 pm

randomclaret2 wrote:Salford City lost £1.8million in the Conference North in 17/18

Shocking Accy Stanley were Champions of League 2 last season on a £2.6m revenue

http://priceoffootball.com/tag/accrington-stanley/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:46 pm

More on that Salford story from @Kieran Maguirre

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3252383744" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:29 pm

Derby have taken an old fashioned rout to avoiding FFP (or at least raising funds that are not classed as loans for clubs that are in financial difficulty) they have "sold" Pride Park to another of the Chairman's companies - and this has led them to posting a £14.6m profit on their latest set of accounts. We know from our own experience that this kind of thing only creates dread in the fanbase.

Pride Park had a book value in the Accounts of £41m and Independent Market Valuation was £80m so Mel paid that giving them £39m profit on the deal

https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/ ... it-2711655" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47789258" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sheffield Wednesday (also under the threat of FFP) fans think it's a great idea and are urging their owner to do the same.

We await the accounts with interest - all discussed on Radio Derby here from 8:50 in - includes @KieranMaguirre reminding us they did something clever last season by transferring 100 staff to a different company,

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p072zj4z" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 11:10 am

Posted on Tuesday that West Brom had announced their financial results from the relegation season but no real detail could be found anywhere - now we have it - such a fine line within that group of 14 if it goes wrong even though you have invested. Also with a bit of analysis

@KieranMaguirre doing his thing

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 6665878529" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

full accounts

https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/docu ... 97d101d130" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EDIT - This is a good overview of their figures

https://twitter.com/OffThePitch_com/sta ... 6081599489" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 12:05 pm

I note that Newcastle have still not filed their accounts. It seems they were overdue the past couple of years so this isn't too surprising. It will be interesting to see what their wage bill was last year, I suspect it will be substantial.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 12:18 pm

aggi wrote:I note that Newcastle have still not filed their accounts. It seems they were overdue the past couple of years so this isn't too surprising. It will be interesting to see what their wage bill was last year, I suspect it will be substantial.

posted last week that they changed year end by a day so that they can post results upp to 3 months later - will be interesting to see if wages match ours when Benitez said we paid more

given the massive spend of Sports direct on the British high street in the last 18 months I suspect there has been little room for extra monies to NUFC - even with the purchase of Almiron

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 3:09 pm

An argument that there is no Big Six in England just a big five with Spurs looking longingly through the looking glass - not sure I accept it though whatever finances say - very few amongst us these days that can remember when Spurs were not classed as a big club by fans

https://ftballdna.com/2019/04/02/totten ... their-own/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 3:37 pm

Chester Perry wrote:posted last week that they changed year end by a day so that they can post results upp to 3 months later - will be interesting to see if wages match ours when Benitez said we paid more

given the massive spend of Sports direct on the British high street in the last 18 months I suspect there has been little room for extra monies to NUFC - even with the purchase of Almiron

I'd missed that as it's only the Parent that has changed its year-end date, NEWCASTLE UNITED LIMITED still has the old filing date but I imagine that's being delayed as that is actually group accounts including the holding company.

I suspect their wages will be in the region of £100m at least. We shall see (but not for a few months).

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 3:52 pm

One thing for sure Aggi is Mike Ashley would not like this to happen given he already has doubts about the age of Rondon in relation to the value of any deal

https://offthepitch.com/a/permanent-ron ... -if-wba-go" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 4:07 pm

Posted Monday night (post #745} about the European Leagues gathering in Lisbon following the ECA get together in Amsterdam - they are definitely worried and angry - here the head of La Liga gives both Barrels to ECA and UEFA

https://offthepitch.com/a/eca-there-no- ... ed-cooking" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the piece ends with a nonsensical bit of football politics/diplomacy praising FIFA of all organisations

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Wed Apr 03, 2019 4:08 pm

Chester Perry wrote:An argument that there is no Big Six in England just a big five with Spurs looking longingly through the looking glass - not sure I accept it though whatever finances say - very few amongst us these days that can remember when Spurs were not classed as a big club by fans

https://ftballdna.com/2019/04/02/totten ... their-own/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Big 6 is big 7 - you got to include Wolves now given the finances they have at their disposal