Football's Magic Money Tree

[Chester Perry]

German Football fans continued their protests against the Bundesliga restart yesterday in social distanced and respectful manner

https://twitter.com/matt_4d/status/1261635142231240704

I cannot imagine any Premier League club allowing fans into the ground to but up such banners, can you?

[Chester Perry]

I understand the simple logic of wanting to finish the season and establish a "true" set of results - and that would be fine if everyone waited for the crowds to return safely, but they are not. Both FIFA and UEFA are planning for their International and club competitions to be played behind closed doors. this forces top tier domestic leagues to resolve their competitions as that is where qualifiers come from. The Premier League is contractually bound to relegate 3 teams and accept 3 promoted from the EFL, forcing the Championship to resolve it's competition in the same short time frame. This then cascades all the way down. the problem is not resolving the leagues, the problem is the time frame in which that is being forced through by the games highest powers because they want to maintain their income streams.

more evidence of this today - The financial losses across Europe are potentially huge, but it looks like UEFA are going to press on with their club competitions even though they know many of the clubs from smaller leagues cannot afford to take part. to my mind that is playing right into the hands of Agnelli and the ECA

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52680124

They cannot state it more clearly than this - UEFA are forcing the timetable that is leading to the fractious discussion everywhere and we are seeing clearly in the EFL and National League

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -by-august

[Chester Perry]

Jonathan Liew plays with loose and free with facts as he argues "It's offensive for big clubs to suggest they're at financial risk"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... ncial-risk

truly sloppy in places from a man who is often one of the best sports writers around, so many writers seem to have lost their sea legs at the moment.

I struggle to forgive this calibre of writer when he makes arguments about the wealth of the Premier League based on the balance at the last accounts - which are made up just after the TV companies have paid their first payments for the coming season (and which fund large parts of the summer transfer window) which he knows but chooses not to mention. He would be better campaigning for a tightening up of the financial regulations to stop the billionaires digging into their pockets, let those clubs struggle a bit while others, better prepared and without access to such funds find themselves structurally stronger for a brief period.

[Royboyclaret]

Jonathan Liew plays with loose and free with facts as he argues "It's offensive for big clubs to suggest they're at financial risk"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/bl ... ncial-risk

truly sloppy in places from a man who is often one of the best sports writers around, so many writers seem to have lost their sea legs at the moment.

I struggle to forgive this calibre of writer when he makes arguments about the wealth of the Premier League based on the balance at the last accounts - which are made up just after the TV companies have paid their first payments for the coming season (and which fund large parts of the summer transfer window) which he knows but chooses not to mention. He would be better campaigning for a tightening up of the financial regulations to stop the billionaires digging into their pockets, let those clubs struggle a bit while others, better prepared and without access to such funds find themselves structurally stronger for a brief period.

Sloppy indeed....even his total cash balances for all PL clubs based on the their latest accounts is wildly exaggerated at £1.5bn. The actual figure was £1.085bn, just a mere £415m less than the figure in the article. Interestingly £730m of that overall total was shared amongst just four clubs (Tottenham, Man City, Arsenal & Man Utd), with the remaining £355m over the other 16 clubs (Burnley's figure was £42m).

Of course all those figures are now some 11 months out of date, and not easy to predict how the equivalent figures will currently be looking. We do know that at some point £340m will be reclaimed in rebate by the domestic Broadcasters in respect of the current season (£17m from each PL club).

[Chester Perry]

Sloppy indeed....even his total cash balances for all PL clubs based on the their latest accounts is wildly exaggerated at £1.5bn. The actual figure was £1.085bn, just a mere £415m less than the figure in the article. Interestingly £730m of that overall total was shared amongst just four clubs (Tottenham, Man City, Arsenal & Man Utd), with the remaining £355m over the other 16 clubs (Burnley's figure was £42m).

Of course all those figures are now some 11 months out of date, and not easy to predict how the equivalent figures will currently be looking. We do know that at some point £340m will be reclaimed in rebate by the domestic Broadcasters in respect of the current season (£17m from each PL club).

Roy, Jonathan Liew was referring to the Premier Leagues own accounts - not the members (though I am surprised he hasn't added them to the total the way he was going on)

The Premier League's accounts can be found here

https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history

[Chester Perry]

@SwissRamble looks at the 2018/19 financial results of Reading - a place of fond memories for clarets and Martin Paterson - also the official home of the EFL's most bonkers wages at close to 200% of revenue (though that may be because we do not get those details in Salford's accounts)

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 7878915072

and having sold the ground and training ground in consecutive seasons they officially do not have a pot to p*** in

[tiger76]

@SwissRamble looks at the 2018/19 financial results of Reading - a place of fond memories for clarets and Martin Paterson - also the official home of the EFL's most bonkers wages at close to 200% of revenue (though that may be because we do not get those details in Salford's accounts)

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 7878915072

and having sold the ground and training ground in consecutive seasons they officially do not have a pot to p*** in

Reading are treading a slippery slope,and for all their expenditure they're hardly pulling up trees in the Champ,firmly mid-table and likely to stay mid-table,that wage to turnover ratio is and surely can't be sustained long-term.

[Chester Perry]

It is a subject that keeps rearing it's head, when financial strife in the lower leagues hits the headlines - why not regionalise the divisions - the fans though are not happy and are clear they do not want it.

https://twitter.com/AgainstLeague3/stat ... 5272750081

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1262068943407194114

and here Tom Reed (A Northampton Town fan) writes for Football365.com

https://www.football365.com/news/region ... uth-divide

[Chester Perry]

Meanwhile on the same site John Nicholson argues that Ghost games are going to go one of 3 ways

https://www.football365.com/news/ghost- ... -nicholson

[Royboyclaret]

@SwissRamble looks at the 2018/19 financial results of Reading - a place of fond memories for clarets and Martin Paterson - also the official home of the EFL's most bonkers wages at close to 200% of revenue (though that may be because we do not get those details in Salford's accounts)

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 7878915072

and having sold the ground and training ground in consecutive seasons they officially do not have a pot to p*** in

What an horrendous set of accounts and a classic example of the reckless and irresponsible ownership to which I referred recently on this thread. And yet the likes of Reading will be shouting loudest for an additional bail-out from the Premier League when their priority ought to be getting their own house in order.

Everywhere you look are examples of poor policy and leadership with the Wage/Turnover ratio of 194% being top of the list. It makes the equivalent figure at Blackburn Rovers of 134% look positively healthy!...Gross debt stands at £68m (Blackburn, of course, top of that particular pile at £142m).

To add insult to injury Director's remuneration weighed in at £1.5m, easily the highest in the Championship and way ahead of the £953k at West Brom in second place. Very little left to dispose of with both the ground and training facilities being sold off in the last couple of years. We are all aware of the lure of the PL and the promised land but these financial accounts are the perfect example of how Burnley's approach when attempting to gain promotion is the formula to follow. Reading are only heading in one direction at that is definitely not to the Premier League.

[Chester Perry]

We know how increasingly important in the modern game (however disappointed older readers may feel about the terminology) Branding for clubs and players is a key feature to commercial growth and revenue diversity. Here one of the key players in this area within sport, Ehsen Shah, talks to @FootballLaw about how he started and what he does. It is one of the real fast growth area's in sport.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppk0CVYtRUc

Shah's business partner in B-Engaged is Hector Bellerin, probably one of the most accomplished of the new generation of brand-builders. Here Forbes.com talk to Bellerin about what drives him.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertkidd ... -in-a-box/

[Chester Perry]

The fight to block the Saudi backed takeover of Newcastle goes on - yesterday Hatice Cengiz, who is the fiancee of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi wrote a direct letter to Newcastle fans

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52651771 - the letter in full https://twitter.com/MsiDouglas/status/1 ... 2189711362

today a conservative MP has called on the DCMS to fully investigate the bid

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52635008

today Hatice Cengiz was given column space in the Guardian to make her case against the Saudi backed Newcastle takeover

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... bin-salman

[Chester Perry]

In a move that shows how quickly the world is changing. and how some organisations are consolidating and while others expanding and grasping at new opportunities, It has been announced that Watford will replace Adidas with Chinese brand Kelme for it's kit in a new 4 year deal worth £10m, more than tripling the value of it's outgoing one.

https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/wat ... eal-adidas

Another new player in the shirt deal market, and this one is British (Liverpool based) - Rangers sign a £25m deal with Castore, that looks like it will be for club wide apparel - press release only talks about it being a multi year deal rather than a defined term - Steven Gerard was instrumental in the deal (which sounds a little strange to me). This is a big step for such a young company, especially with all the other deals they are currently talking about

https://castore.com/uk/castore-x-rangers-partnership/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... deals.html

Is the shirt deal market due for a shake up? not seen this many new entrants since the late 1980's early 1990's

[Chester Perry]

today Hatice Cengiz was given column space in the Guardian to make her case against the Saudi backed Newcastle takeover

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... bin-salman

I still have my doubts about whether this takeover is really wanted by the Saudi's - there is so much financial madness going on in that country - Sovereign Debt has risen exponentially

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200 ... mans-rule/

yet they continue to spend

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ebook-citi

while at home they have massive cutbacks

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 0365775872

and of course their investment record is mixed

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 4647725058

Having recently been linked with Marseille they are now being linked with Roma

https://twitter.com/DM_Harding/status/1 ... 0802961411

[Chester Perry]

Meanwhile Newcastle fans continue to seek an upside in the deal

https://www.themag.co.uk/2020/05/this-i ... s-blocked/

even if their argument is somewhat undermined by failing to know the difference between the states of Abu Dhabi (Man City's owners) and Qatar (owners of PSG).

[Chester Perry]

Meanwhile Simon Chadwick has been looking at the events of the last few weeks in relation to Saudi investment activities and trying to put them into a wider context

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 7540748288

as he shapes up for this webinar on Friday afternoon - Football & Gulf region - https://em-lyon.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... NcyF7TCpTg

[Chester Perry]

In a move that we could yet see replicated in the English pyramid, Hearts take an understandable business decision, to pursue legal action against relegation, because it is cheaper than relegation - sport (especially football) has stopped being about sport - in case you haven't realised

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52710194

[Chester Perry]

It appears that Serie A is looking beyond the short term as it enters exclusive talks with CVC

https://twitter.com/muradahmed/status/1 ... 2563836928

more detail emerging on what is on offer from CVC to Serie A

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/cvcs ... nvestment/

Stadium investment is a highly topical issue in Italy as many clubs (having witnessed the growth in revenues at Juventus) want to move away from Stadiums owned by the local authorities to ones they own and can make money from year round.

[Chester Perry]

as football looks for ways to defend it's revenue streams during the pandemic induced "ghost game" period, finding itself without matchday revenues and depressed retail activity, combined with right's holders seeking discounts on current deals (let alone future ones) it will be deflated by a new report that suggests sports sponsorship is likely to drop by 37% globally this year.

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/two- ... d-in-2020/

[Chester Perry]

Of course that doesn't mean that someone isn't seeking to prosper from the "ghost game" scenario - there are plenty of technology companies out there who believe they can add value to the "product" to enrich the viewing experience - The Magic Money Tree always creates opportunities for new entrants.

https://www.sportbusiness.com/2020/05/g ... d-19%20era

[Chester Perry]

Barney Ronay in the Guardian on the Premier League's - Project: No Refund

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... n-frontier

[Chester Perry]

The Football Today podcast looks at why France has only one coach in Europe's top 4 leagues

turns out that a network of coaches players and perhaps most importantly Agents within a country is key to an international presence for coaches

https://www.footballtodaypodcast.com/po ... anagers-go

[Chester Perry]

Who would want an owner who as a manager regular persuaded his clubs to spend twice their revenues on player salaries and left a couple (thinking Portsmouth and Birmingham City) in seriously damaging financial positions. Apparently there are quite a few clubs who want Harry Redknapp to take them over - perhaps it is just "please just take it off my hands" but I don't think anyone who has his record should be allowed anywhere near the owning of one.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... -club.html

[clansman]

Re Rangers and Castore
Castore only just incorporated as a company with a 1 pound capital! Yet suddenly have posh website and win the Rangers contract. Both owners from Liverpool as is Rangers manager. Hmmm.....
As for Newcastle with the saudis in deep doo doo financially how in gods name can they justify this purchase!!

[Chester Perry]

Re Rangers and Castore
Castore only just incorporated as a company with a 1 pound capital! Yet suddenly have posh website and win the Rangers contract. Both owners from Liverpool as is Rangers manager. Hmmm.....
As for Newcastle with the saudis in deep doo doo financially how in gods name can they justify this purchase!!

You do wonder what guarantees/assurances Rangers have sought/obtained for these monies - it looks a very risky deal from this particular perch (and the one in my next post)

[Chester Perry]

The Esk with part 1 of a series looking at the future of Premier League football finances - a lengthy but worthwhile read

https://theesk.org/2020/05/17/football-shorts-part-1/

[Royboyclaret]

The Esk with part 1 of a series looking at the future of Premier League football finances - a lengthy but worthwhile read

https://theesk.org/2020/05/17/football-shorts-part-1/

Chester, of all the hundreds of linked articles since you started this thread, this one by 'The Esk' is quite probably the most comprehensive and well-presented of them all.......Already looking forward to Part 2.

The chart that details the impact of games played without spectators for both the remainder of this season and potentially the whole of next season is particularly stark. It really hits home to the rank and file supporters of clubs the dire situation faced by even some Premier League clubs. Take Arsenal as an example, they would lose out on over £96m in matchday receipts plus any element that the Broadcasters apply for the full 20/21 season. This season the penalty appears to be 45% of the last installment of £762m, i.e. £340m split over 20 clubs so £17m per club.

Now, we at Burnley can cope with that, it will be painful, very painful but we can manage the hit plus the loss of some further £2m in loss of matchday and catering receipts. But (and it's a very big BUT), if the behind closed doors situation was to continue for the whole of next season and the Broadcasters applied similar penalties then Burnley as a club would face very severe consequences. The gravity of the potential situation cannot be over-emphasised. Put quite simply the cashflow situation around the start of the calendar year 2021 would reach almost impossible levels and circumstances with little Income whilst Wages and other costs still have to be met.

It's a horrible scenario to contemplate (and one which I never thought I'd have to highlight on here) but one which we all have to be ready for if the worst case scenario comes to fruition.

[Chester Perry]

Going back to the origins of this thread and as it moves rapidly towards it's 4000th post, Thursday sees the publication of Man United's 3rd Quarter results and an Analyst briefing call where they would be legally obliged to outline the financial impact of Football's pause. It will provide us with the clearest insight into the costs and revenue pressures particularly from broadcasting rights and commercial sponsors.

One thing for sure is that the media will be paying close attention and they are likely to sprouting some very loud headlines from it, especially if the news is particularly bad.

[Chester Perry]

The Premier League is expected to introduce pre-Academy regulation this summer

https://trainingground.guru/articles/pr ... re-academy

which I expect is being driven by clubs that run talent farms - which as @UglyGame points out is essentially exploitative

https://twitter.com/uglygame/status/1262675147003215872

In fact there is growing evidence that getting children to focus on a single sport at such an early age is detrimental to their development and that more world class athletes specialise later in their development.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3658407/

This has persuaded some clubs to cut-back on early stage teams

https://trainingground.guru/articles/ba ... -u10-teams

Our own club are quite ground-breaking in how we treat our young ones, and obviously appear to realise the benefits of a multi-sports development for youngsters, and have been doing so for some time

http://www.thefa.com/learning/coaching/ ... philosophy

[Chester Perry]

Chester, of all the hundreds of linked articles since you started this thread, this one by 'The Esk' is quite probably the most comprehensive and well-presented of them all.......Already looking forward to Part 2.

The chart that details the impact of games played without spectators for both the remainder of this season and potentially the whole of next season is particularly stark. It really hits home to the rank and file supporters of clubs the dire situation faced by even some Premier League clubs. Take Arsenal as an example, they would lose out on over £96m in matchday receipts plus any element that the Broadcasters apply for the full 20/21 season. This season the penalty appears to be 45% of the last installment of £762m, i.e. £340m split over 20 clubs so £17m per club.

Now, we at Burnley can cope with that, it will be painful, very painful but we can manage the hit plus the loss of some further £2m in loss of matchday and catering receipts. But (and it's a very big BUT), if the behind closed doors situation was to continue for the whole of next season and the Broadcasters applied similar penalties then Burnley as a club would face very severe consequences. The gravity of the potential situation cannot be over-emphasised. Put quite simply the cashflow situation around the start of the calendar year 2021 would reach almost impossible levels and circumstances with little Income whilst Wages and other costs still have to be met.

It's a horrible scenario to contemplate (and one which I never thought I'd have to highlight on here) but one which we all have to be ready for if the worst case scenario comes to fruition.

As with most of what I post The Esk is not to everyone's taste, many find him too negative, but I have always felt that he had a great contribution to make to the discussion. He does this kind of corporate financial analysis for a living so has to look at the downsides - he may be more of a bear than a bull but there is nothing wrong with that in his profession.

I too am looking forward to Part 2, as it will be the first time anyone has seriously looked at Cashflow across the league, I have thought from the beginning and throughout this pandemic that it would be the key issue - I started to look at it myself and got lost in how to present it in a post.

As for ourselves, much will comedown to how much the rights holders and sponsors are prepared to pay for the "ghost season" - are existing contracts essentially null and void in that situation? - together with how the games authorities choose to enforce/toughen/relax financial regulation. We can maintain a holding pattern with what we have, without losing too much cashflow IF the distribution and commercial income holds, if not, like you say, things are going to get quite desperate and quickly.

I had done a bit of thinking about the implications of our bonus structure *and the benefits of not having to pay out this summer), particularly about it's wording, wondering that if the season did not complete would we be obliged to pay them as we would still be in the Premier League or if they were contingent on the season being completed. With that comes the notion that it is paid out pro-rata to appearances (so would it reduce if not all games are not played or is the clause worded as a % of games played). Then I realised that our club will more than likely honour the bonuses as it is the "honest" and "right" thing to do as Sean would say. A by-product of that Is that the Players will likely be more co-operative going forward should the need arise.

[Royboyclaret]

I suspect, as you say, that end of season bonuses will remain unaffected as being yet more evidence that we operate in a sensible and honest manner no matter what the circumstances. This is the bit that hits home hardest to me that arguably the best-run in the Premier League can potentially be brought to i'ts knees by a virus.

[Chester Perry]

Whatever you think of them you cannot play a league game of football without the match officials - as with all other aspects of the game the future is going to be different for them - this academic research paper examines how that may turn out - The future of officiating: analysing the impact of COVID-19 on referees in world football

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 20.1768634

[Chester Perry]

a fascinating and uplifting interview with Carol Shanahan Co-Chair and Co-Owner at Port Vale - who made the news last week when she voted for the health of her league rather than her clubs own interests. From the "When Sky invented football" podcast - SURVIVORS? PORT VALE AND THE ZERO INCOME GAME

https://www.buzzsprout.com/813047/38173 ... ?play=true

Owners like this really do give you hope for the future of the game and she hit's the nail on the head when she says that - clubs need to decide if they want to be 92 of 1 or 1 of 92

[Chester Perry]

I suspect, as you say, that end of season bonuses will remain unaffected as being yet more evidence that we operate in a sensible and honest manner no matter what the circumstances. This is the bit that hits home hardest to me that arguably the best-run in the Premier League can potentially be brought to i'ts knees by a virus.

And yet those that have driven the game to this threshold of financial collapse, via the self centred and entitled nature of their own actions, will just dig into their pockets with the self gratifying knowledge that they will come out of the other side in an even more dominant position than that in which they entered.

[Chester Perry]

As ever Simon Chadwick makes a connection that reflects clearly on what we are seeing from the sports/football authorities

“Policymakers seem to be making decisions quickly and without a clear or transparent procedure"

https://twitter.com/Prof_Chadwick/statu ... 4344272897

the linked article is well worth a read though it doesn't mention sport at all.

you only have to read something like this about Troy Deeney to see the point is well made

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52721397

or this - Premier League/EFL not consulting own medical staff

https://twitter.com/stevescott_itv/stat ... 9750973440

[Chester Perry]

as football looks for ways to defend it's revenue streams during the pandemic induced "ghost game" period, finding itself without matchday revenues and depressed retail activity, combined with right's holders seeking discounts on current deals (let alone future ones) it will be deflated by a new report that suggests sports sponsorship is likely to drop by 37% globally this year.

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/two- ... d-in-2020/

Another study on Sponsorship - this time in the US marketplace - an estimated 38% drop this year

https://sponsorship.com/IEG/files/8d/8d ... ace1b2.pdf

[Chester Perry]

Wow - it is going to happen before the season ends - CAS confirm the date for Man City's appeal against it's 2 year ban, 8th- 10th June

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... -june-8-10

[Chester Perry]

Sunderland blog - Wise Men Say - on the depressing news that broke this weekend - and puts it into the overall context of the Steward Donald takeover - it's like that documentary series "Sunderland till I die" didn't do enough damage to their credibility - "The truth will out"

http://wisemensay.co.uk/the-truth-will-out/

A follow up piece from Wise men Say - A Series of unfortunate events - on further revelations of the mess of finances and loans between Sunderland, the investment vehicle Madroc and Stuart Donald

http://wisemensay.co.uk/a-series-of-unf ... #more-3140

[Royboyclaret]

Wow - it is going to happen before the season ends - CAS confirm the date for Man City's appeal against it's 2 year ban, 8th- 10th June

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... -june-8-10

Is there even the remotest chance that this two year ban will not be overturned?

City are richer than UEFA and can afford to fight it all the way. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has said he is prepared to spend £30m on the 50 best lawyers in the world to sue UEFA for the next 10 years.

Incredible, and people still question the idea that a complete reset of our game might be the sensible way to go.

[Chester Perry]

As we have speculated before Roy - UEFA made the ban 2 years essentially knowing that City would appeal and CAS would reduce it, but hoping that 1 year would remain.

Perhaps more interesting now, CAS do maintain the ban, is what direction the Premier League will take with their own, currently paused, investigation. I wonder if there would be a public call for their titles to be expunged. That would be a real bun fight

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Head of the German FA(DFB) proposes a salary cap, to bring the game back to the people.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... s-pandemic

[Chester Perry]

Head of the German FA(DFB) proposes a salary cap, to bring the game back to the people.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... s-pandemic

This will play well to most German's and certainly the ultra groups that have been making their presence and thoughts felt in recent seasons. It also fits in with what we know of his background and personality

https://www.dw.com/en/fritz-keller-elec ... a-50607042

but it is unlikely to go down well in the boardrooms of the elite clubs across Europe where the power brokers of the ECA are not interested in fair competition, they want to break the will of any upstart by hoovering up all the money and talent for themselves rather than create a fairer competition - hence their desire to lock themselves into UEFA club competitions.

It is interesting that Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has reportedly joined the call, given past histories between the two - though you suspect he would drive a salary cap to being a % of income rather than a flat number you find in American sports. That would seal the enormous advantage Bayern already have at home while putting them in the very select band at the top of Europe's elite

https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2 ... unich-uefa

[Chester Perry]

It looks like we can add Swindon Town to the list of clubs clinging precariously to like while under the stewardship of a questionable owner even as they are about to have their promotion ratified

https://twitter.com/ChrisMaisey/status/ ... 9138004994

[Chester Perry]

This article in the Guardian is far from the benign picture that it's contents represents and misses out on a lot of the depth of feeling that many have in the lower leagues towards the concept of B Teams and close ties with Premier League clubs - the title relays more of the predatory nature in which it will be (and probably should be) taken -
"Why Premier League clubs see an opportunity in lower-league crisis"

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... gue-crisis

[huw.Y.WattfromWare]

Daily Telegraph reporting EFL want to set squad salary limits of £2.5m in L1 and £1.5m in L2.
With automatic points deduction for not paying players on time.

[Chester Perry]

A thoroughly informative (and at time dispiriting) thread on the English football's efforts at inclusion of minorities and it's flirtation with the "Rooney" rule

https://twitter.com/LyndonRoberts10/sta ... 2454816770

The correlation of clubs deeply engaged in their communities and good practice is incredibly stark.

[Chester Perry]

Daily Telegraph reporting EFL want to set squad salary limits of £2.5m in L1 and £1.5m in L2.
With automatic points deduction for not paying players on time.

the Independent too

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foo ... 21866.html

I see a number of significant obstacles - but will post my thoughts tomorrow

[Chester Perry]

The Guardian have been talking to Aleksander Ceferin - here is an edited transcript - is it me or does it seem a little disjointed and incoherent

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... -very-soon

[Chester Perry]

The in-fighting continues in the Championship - as clubs threatened with relegation demanded all outstanding FFP cases be resolved before the seasons end so any points deductions are accounted for this season

https://twitter.com/mjshrimper/status/1 ... 3760171008

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/f ... fp-2858749

- it could be one or 2 clubs may also be waiting for the official end before administration

[Chester Perry]

Oh dear the state of the EFL (and the game) anyone seriously interested in this new TV football extravaganza

https://twitter.com/AgainstLeague3/stat ... 7695013888