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No. of Clubs
Posted on February 13, 2012
I’m sometimes asked for a magic number – the number of top clubs which have gone into Administration. It’s difficult give a simple answer because: Administration is a misleading basis for counting. Clubs can be wound up without ever going into Administration. A better measure is ‘insolvency event’, a term which can however be defined […]
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The Magic of Football – still there in the Cups?
Posted on January 27, 2012
It’s increasingly difficult to see any magic in the beautiful game other than black magic, especially when you look at it from a financial perspective. You only need to think of the narrow escapes at Plymouth and Wrexham recently, and both Portsmouth and Darlington are standing on the edge of the precipice. The Cups may […]
Posted in Community, Fans | Leave a Comment »
The ins and outs of the transfer window
Posted on September 3, 2011
So, the transfer window finally slammed shut, to use the mandatory cliché, amid the predictable hype. In one respect this was hardly surprising – of the 289 August deals reported by the BBC (1), no fewer than 93, or 32%, had taken place on the final day. In total 141 (49%) had taken place in […]
Posted in Costs, Globetrotterisation, Premier League, Transfers, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
The Big 1, 2, 3 or is it still 4? Or more?
Posted on June 9, 2011
Currently I’m working on a joint research project on various European football leagues with colleagues in Austria. One set of data which we have produced so far casts some light on this perenial debate. The latest version of the date centres of course on whether Liverpool ‘have fallen out of the Top 4′, and/or whether […]
Posted in Governance, History, Premier League, Pyramid movement | 3 Comments »
HMRC’s Christmas party
Posted on December 20, 2010
I’m guessing that there will be dancing in the corridors at HMRC’s office party this Christmas. They’ve had a good run in the courts over the last month against various football clubs. So far this run has not included a single outcome of the club going into Administration (the last case was Dundee in October; […]
Posted in Debts, HMRC, Insolvency, Stadium | 4 Comments »
The Portsmouth Soap: Episode 94
Posted on August 29, 2010
In what seems to be now a tradition, my being abroad for a week coincided with yet again a bizarre development at Fratton Park. On Tuesday The Sun revealed that “Lever’s Pomped up for buyout. PORTSMOUTH are wanted by whizkid tycoon Thomas Lever. The 21-year-old Lamborghini-driving son of a wealthy Manchester businessman and local councillor […]
Posted in Benefactors, Ethics, Fit and Proper Person tests, Football League, Governance, Insolvency, Ownership | 4 Comments »
Setting up own goals
Posted on August 17, 2010
I’m not one given to railing against foreign owners in principle, providing that is that they are not absentee owners. Lately though we seem to be finding foreign owners attracted to English clubs who just do not seem to have an appreciation of what is going on English football, and unaware of the obvious mistakes […]
Posted in Benefactors, Ethics, Fit and Proper Person tests, Ownership | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday in court…
Posted on February 11, 2010
Four clubs were facing winding-up petitions yesterday, and none were wound up or forced into Administration. In three cases the outcome was simply an adjournment. The media focus was on Portsmouth because of its Premier League status. The club tried to make a case that the debt was in part to other clubs rather than […]
Posted in Debts, HMRC, Insolvency | 8 Comments »
Double blow for Charlton
Posted on April 19, 2009
Charlton Athletic have been relegated (1). This further relegation for a club which was in the Premier League as recently as 2007 places then in the company of Barnsley, Bradford City, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon and Wimbledon. Southampton are currently candidates for inclusion on the […]
Posted in Assets, Governance | Leave a Comment »
