Football's Magic Money Tree

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:31 pm

Here's an interesting turn of events - Martin Glenn the former head of the FA who tried to sell Wembley (supposedly to fund grass roots football) is now to head the Football Foundation

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 5016801280

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:54 pm

Are Birmingham City about to get another points deduction for more FFP failures - from the Telegraph

Exclusive: Birmingham City under threat of second points deduction for breaching EFL financial regulations
By John Percy 6 January 2020 • 10:30pm

Birmingham City are facing the prospect of another points deduction after being charged for breaching the English Football League’s financial regulations.

The Championship club may have to deal with the punishment for the second successive season for failing to adhere to the business plan imposed by the EFL last March, when they were docked nine points.

Birmingham were hit with a points deduction last season for breaking the profitability and sustainability rules, becoming the first club to be sanctioned under the new regulations.

And the West Midlands club have now been charged over alleged failures to lower their cost control, as part of the plan agreed with the EFL to “ensure future spending is within acceptable limits”.

The plan was imposed at the start of last season, and has remained in place since the points deduction, and ensures that Birmingham have to disclose all financial dealings with the EFL.

Che Adams was sold to Southampton for an initial £15 million fee in July but Birmingham are still believed to have failed to comply with certain guidelines.

Birmingham did spend a reported £6.3million to sign Croatian midfielder Ivan Sunjic from Dinamo Zagreb in July, though it is unclear at this stage whether that deal has breached restrictions set out in the plan.

If they are found guilty by a disciplinary commission, the club could be docked points for the second season in a row.

The EFL declined to comment but a Birmingham City club statement stated on Monday night: "The Club confirms that it has been charged with a breach of EFL Regulations in relation to a business plan imposed upon us in the 2018/19 season. The club denies the charge and we await the outcome of ongoing disciplinary proceedings. We shall be making no further comment at this time."

Birmingham City are owned by a Hong Kong sports holding company called Trillion Trophy Asia. The club are due to publish their financial results for the 2018/19 season later this week. A filing posted to Companies House on Monday said accounts covering the 12-month period ended 30 June 2019 are "being processed and will be available in five days."

Birmingham are currently 18th in the Championship and their home defeat to Wigan on New Year’s Day was the fifth loss in six games for Pep Clotet, the manager.

Clotet is under increasing pressure after an alarming run of form and the club are only six points clear of the relegation zone.
Birmingham’s points deduction last season ultimately ended former manager Garry Monk’s hopes of securing a play-off place, and punishment in this campaign could be even more severe.

Sheffield Wednesday are another club facing potential sanctions after they were charged with breaching financial rules in November.
Wednesday were charged with misconduct after selling their Hillsborough stadium to owner Dejphon Chansiri for £60million, but say they will “vigorously defend” the charges.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:06 am

This has been simmering for a while - Sunderland fans have effectively forced the owner to put the club up for sale

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51019630

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:09 am

@KieranMaguire provides some analysis of Birmingham City's 2018/19 financial results - which may or may not lead to a further points deduction - see above

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 0556683264

ooh look another sale of club property to another company controlled by the club's owners and with an IOU rather than cash to boot

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:14 am

a breakdown of how Liverpool expect their Nike kit deal to be better than the New Balance one from @KieranMaguire

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4776887296

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:16 am

@SwissRamble's European tour takes him to Madrid where he looks at Athletico's 2018/19 financial results

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 6900267008

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:19 am

some detail emerging from those headline 2018/19 Chelsea financials from last week

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 6459330561

just look how much Roman Abramovich has spent on sacking managers now - I keep going on about this madness

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 8480764928

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 12:19 pm

The madness continues with regards to "bubble" matches - absolutely no consideration for personal circumstances - the cost of getting to this Game for this fan who is being asked to travel 200 miles when there is no public transport for the first part for a game at a ground he lives a mile away from

https://twitter.com/timlewis01/status/1 ... 3870448643

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:17 pm

Southend become the latest club to fail to pay it's players on time -

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

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 2:02 pm

Another animated graphic - this time the commercial income from the Big 5 during the premier leagues lifetime - why only the big 6 - the others would barely register on the graph in the last 15 years

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1197626/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:56 pm

@KieranMaguire likes his new toy - another animated graphic - this time average weekly wage since the beginning of the Premier League

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1199598/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:14 am

Seems like the FA have not been true to their word on stopping all business connections with the betting industry - from the Telegraph

FA poised for backlash after Cup games broadcast on 'bet to view' basis despite pledge to end gambling partnerships
by Tom Morgan, Sports News Correspondent - 7 January 2020 • 11:44pm

allowing a betting company to broadcast FA Cup matches more than two years after promising it would end partnerships with gambling firms.
Bet365 – which allows football fans to watch action if they place a bet via their app – has been showing matches since the start of last season, it has emerged.

The FA faced blistering criticism this week, however, after viewers noticed the deal was allowed to continue on the symbolic weekend that all matches were delayed by a minute to promote Prince William's mental health charity.

The guardians of the game had announced in July 2017 that they would no longer have a betting partner, having terminated a contract with Ladbrokes worth around £4 million a year following a string of high-profile gambling controversies in the sport.

An FA source said on Tuesday night that the governing body would now review the arrangements of its deal with IMG, the third party that sold the rights to Bet365, when the contract expires after the end of next season.

Last weekend’s third-round matches all kicked off all marked the Heads Up campaign, a joint initiative between the FA and the charity Heads Together, spearheaded by the Duke of Cambridge.

All fixtures other than the 10 that kicked off at 3.01pm on Saturday were screened live by Bet365, including Liverpool's derby against Everton and Arsenal versus Leeds.

The scheme came to the attention of campaigners after Bet365 heavily promoted the matches on social media, offering tips on potential "cupsets".
Claire Murdoch, national mental health director for the NHS, said it was "another own-goal from the gambling industry". "Bet to view is simply wrong and needs to stop," she told the Daily Mail. "It is no wonder that – with tactics like these – more people are seeking help for gambling problems on the NHS."

The Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, said the deal was "extraordinary" and that football bosses were allowing "bookies to carry out this wholesale 'gamblification' of our national sport". "Football bosses will have to explain themselves, not least to parents and young people," he said.

Chairman Greg Clarke had ordered a three-month review into football’s relationship with betting companies in 2017, while Martin Glenn, the former chief executive, told Telegraph Sport in 2018 that the game must do more to tackle its links with gambling.

The FA, however, says the media rights deal which allows bookmakers to show highlights of the FA Cup was done before the decision to stop partnering with betting companies, which was estimated to have cost the governing body around £4m a year in sponsorship revenue.

An FA statement said: “The FA agreed a media rights deal with IMG in early 2017, part of which permits them to sell the right to show live footage or clips of FA Cup matches to bookmakers. Bet365 acquired these rights from IMG to use from the start of the 2018-19 season.

“This deal was agreed before we made a clear decision on the FA’s relationship with gambling companies in June 2017 when we ended our partnership with Ladbrokes.

“We will review this element of the media rights sales process ahead of tendering rights to the new cycle from the 2024-25 season onwards. Leagues and clubs continue to govern their own relationships with gambling companies.”

Bet365 is yet to comment.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:40 am

@AndyhHolt summarises the problems faced by Rick Parry and Dave Baldwin at the EFL in the wake of the self created cesspool it has become -not sure why Dave has taken this job on there is a massive change in mindset (and probably personnel) required, we have to at least hope that he and Rick Parry see eye to eye

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 1831558144

What you also see here is evidence of the growing groundswell against parachute payments - it featured in the Parliamentary enquiry too - you have to expect that at some point in the near future that system is going to change and a club like ours - has prudent as it has been - could get caught in the transition. What would that mean to the Premier League - just even more league security to the big boys and a continuing move to a less competitive league - there would still be those that gamble in the way Fulham and Villa have, but the security of additional funding on relegation would make the price of failure very high.

not that Holt himself has any faith that such change will happen

https://twitter.com/AndyhHolt/status/12 ... 5495694337

ewanrob · Post by **ewanrob** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:53 am

Chester Perry wrote: ↑
Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:56 pm
@KieranMaguire likes his new toy - another animated graphic - this time average weekly wage since the beginning of the Premier League

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1199598/

Interesting, wonder how close that is to reality...pretty much equates to 55 million a year for a squad of 30

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:00 pm

ewanrob - based on published accounts - so last numbers are for the year ending 2017/18

ewanrob · Post by **ewanrob** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:30 pm

Is the 2017-18 season where it shows us around 80 million ?, if that's the case the bonuses must have been massive if the avg weekly wage is correct...although I realise there is all the other employees to take into consideration. And you can only guess at that, say a 150 people on avg £50k a year..£7.5 million. So your looking at potentially £17 million in bonuses !!!, crude maths I know, but something doesn't stack up in my " I don't quite get it head"

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:49 pm

Royboy has shown that is about what was paid out on a number of occasions - he believes it is behind what the board's perceived reluctance to spend - the player and coaching staff contracts effectively give them all the additional TV money earned above 18th place as a performance bonus - that combined with our underlying £10 - £15m operating profit before player sales is why we don't have much money.

We are in desperate need of revenue growth outside of TV- the new shirt deals are useful, but in real terms are a single players basic wage - Season ticket revenue is flat (imagine the uproar if they went up) - which is also why Garlick talks about growing the corporate facilities rather than redeveloping the ground.

Other commercial opportunities need to be looked at, for example the club prides itself on keeping local business advertising boards up (also you do not want to alienate those you will need if you get relegated) but could probably make more if it ran another electric hoarding down the Bob Lord wall - the choices are difficult - how do you grow without alienating your core that has seen you through the very lean times and will probably have to be relied upon again in the future

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:02 pm

This is a little bit of a surprise - given the relative decline over the years - Sky have announced that this seasons viewing figures for the Premier League have risen over 20%

https://www.soccerex.com/insight/articl ... 21-in-2019

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:04 pm

Real Madrid have joined Barcelona in the overlaying of advertising for home matches

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/real-madri ... project11/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:09 pm

The costs into the fraud investigation into what happened to the money lent by Northampton Borough Council to the to the club continue to escalate with no conclusion in sight - let's hope for local council tax payers that these are recovered along with the original loan and it's accrued interest

https://twitter.com/mattcprecey/status/ ... 6880278528

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:11 pm

It is a sad sign of the modern game that this has to be funded in this way - Researchers at the @uniofeastanglia are crowd-funding a new £1 million project to test former professional football players for early signs of dementia:

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/project-la ... otballers/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:13 pm

You may have heard about this but you have to be pleased that both fans and tv are turning their back on the Spanish Super Cup being held in Saudi Arabia

http://www.insideworldfootball.com/2020 ... fs.twitter

and for those of you who nay be unaware - here is a Bloomberg article on why Saudi Arabia is embracing sports

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ing-sports

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:29 pm

A couple of good Academic research papers on the game we love - thee is free access to them online for the next month - this is Academia so may be too dry for some

first up - Creating and managing community in a community football club - specifically on FC United of Manchester

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 19.1684837

2nd - Football capital: what is it and why is it important? - looking at the role and importance to the lives of players of Sunday League football at a club in the North East

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10 ... 19.1644966

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:55 pm

@KieranMaguire with another animated graphic this time total player cost in the Premier League over it's lifetime (wages and Transfer fees combined)

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1206300/

stunning how much some clubs have spent in such a short time in this league or how comparatively little Everton (long perceived as the 7th big club) have spent relative to Chelsea the biggest spenders

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:23 am

With gambling and football back in the news - this is a timely article in the Guardian - How the betting industry has become inextricably linked to football

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/ ... o-football

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:49 am

UEFA continues it's open, transparent and fair election system for elections of a new UEFA council member and European member of the FIFA Council following the resignation of Reinhard Grindel from both positions - each position has 1 candidate

https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1 ... 1288030208

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 1:10 am

@RorySmith writes a long winded but interesting article in the Blizzard pining for a time when we didn't have the level of information about the game and it's players that we do now

https://www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/death-mystery-B5

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:51 pm

@SwissRamble with his usual excellent analysis - Chelsea's financial results 2018/19

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 3942437888

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 12:55 pm

Today's Price of Football Podcast - looks at UEFA prize money for clubs in it's competitions

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/p ... 1482886394

The other interesting element in this is the Watford financial situation

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:53 pm

Speculation that the next Premier League TV deal will be for a significantly longer time frame than the current 3 years

https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/prem ... pean-move/

Is this about the worry of falling content prices as football reaches saturation levels or just try to bump/firm the price by frightening broadcasters with not having the content for so long - for those who miss out/don't bid I an sure the Bundesliga/la liga will be eager to fill any void

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:37 am

Southend could do a Macclesfield and miss a game as a result of Strike action

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sport ... wages.html

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:36 am

Cypriot football (rather like It's legal system) is in a right mess, corruption and match fixing is believed to be rife, one club is trying to do something about it

https://www.financialmirror.com/2020/01 ... -football/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:43 am

nice graphic (not animated) from @KieranMaguire listing outstanding transfer payments for all Premier League clubs after the last full round of published accounts

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 4112102400

the problem for us is that we are now in our 4th transfer window since the 2017/18 year end - in that time we have signed Gibson, Vydra, Hart, Rodriguez and Pieters that have appeared for the 1st team and numerous others if we include the Academy - not forgetting sales and releases

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:48 am

on Tuesday Everton have their annual shareholders meeting, where their financial plight will be revealed in all it's PR wrapped glory - it is the first time they have done so without prior release of the results to the small shareholders - it could get interesting/heated though many are prepared for a confirmation of a loss of around £100m in 2018/19

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 0486091777

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 1:02 am

Tranmere Chairman and former FA Chief Exec Mark Palios on Football relationship with betting and why he does not let his club have anything to do with it

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/f ... n=sharebar

if only ours would take the same stance as Tranmere and Luton

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 1:09 am

I found this article quite sickening - partly from Brian Marwood's obvious delight in his role and utter obliviousness to the source of their wealth, why their owners in the UAE, China and the US are involved in the game or what it says about the game and partly in the fact that the Guardian is being used as an unquestioning mouthpiece for it - City Football Group and their 8 clubs

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... SApp_Other

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 1:14 am

apparently Charlton's new owners are looking to stabilise the club for the long term rather than spend their way to success

http://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/financial- ... ers-plans/

- good for them and the news las week that circa £21m of debt is to be converted to equity will do much to help with the foundations of that plan

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 2846981121

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 1:21 am

Did anyone notice this over the weekend - Man Utd have a special kit for the Chinese New Year - don't think they are allowed to wear it in the Premier League so they wore it for the warm up

https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1 ... 3541786624

you can see why SD wouldn't sign Rashford - lose the snood!

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 1:31 am

I do wince when I come across an article with a title like this - Lille’s player-trading business model attracts hedge fund Elliott, Club’s record of selling players at a large profit showcases the appeal of French football to investors - it is from the FT and makes an interesting if depressing read

https://www.ft.com/content/0032f8a2-2b2 ... 756bd8f45e

and this is why I wince

https://twitter.com/tariqpanja/status/1 ... 0339198976

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:51 am

@SwissRamble with Birmingham City's 2018/19 financial results - that is a mighty drop off in losses aided by £17.2m profit from the stadium sale with no cash transaction - how long can this farce go on, then add in commercial income that is greater than ours, significantly much of it from the owners other companies

https://twitter.com/SwissRamble/status/ ... 1263852544

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 11:04 am

The Price of Football Monday Podcast - Questions on Chesterfield and Leeds amongst others

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t ... bef57b4675

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:31 pm

the last "charge" held over Burnley has been released as we never used the facility

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3242710017

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:45 pm

following his recent spate of animated graphics (there is another I will link shortly) @KieranMaguire has published a study on wages in the Premier League up to the last set of Financial results

https://www.whataretheodds.co.uk/premier-league-wages/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:45 pm

his latest animated graphic is on inflation adjusted transfer spend in the Premier League during it's lifetime

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/1226837/

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:57 pm

some interesting data emerging from Amazon's first foray into broadcasting of Premier League games - I am sure there is much more to come

https://www.soccerex.com/insight/articl ... 2m-viewers

is it a surprise that Amazon is crunching the data for itself before releasing it to those who have nominally paid for it via advertising fees

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:18 pm

Chester Perry wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:45 pm
following his recent spate of animated graphics (there is another I will link shortly) @KieranMaguire has published a study on wages in the Premier League up to the last set of Financial results

https://www.whataretheodds.co.uk/premier-league-wages/

Burnley at £258m ??

I have Burnley's cumulative PL Wage bill over that period as £194.6m, comprising £22.4m, £29.4m, £61.2m & £81.6m.

Unless they have guesstimated a figure for us for '18/'19, which wouldn't be very clever in such an analysis.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:29 pm

How can you make a financial return on an overseas player (we had a discussion about this on the board a couple of weeks back) - this article has some suggestions in relation to Liverpool's latest signing Takumi Minamino

http://www.sportspromedia.com/interview ... zw.twitter

I think the key is that they have to be the biggest star in their home country

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:31 pm

Chester Perry wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:48 am
on Tuesday Everton have their annual shareholders meeting, where their financial plight will be revealed in all it's PR wrapped glory - it is the first time they have done so without prior release of the results to the small shareholders - it could get interesting/heated though many are prepared for a confirmation of a loss of around £100m in 2018/19

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 0486091777

Likely to be a volatile AGM at Everton tomorrow as the financial results are revealed to Jun'19. At least they are afforded an AGM where difficult questions can be asked. However, if Usmanov joins Moshiri in the boardroom, as is being suggested, all their financial problems will disappear overnight.

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:32 pm

Chester Perry wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 13, 2020 7:31 pm
the last "charge" held over Burnley has been released as we never used the facility

https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/statu ... 3242710017

And not before time.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:33 pm

a short piece on those clubs who made the greatest net profit from Transfers in the last decade

https://www.21stclub.com/2020/01/09/the ... -business/