Will the credit crunch end the BPL Golden Period?

[Ah Guan]

The financial meltdown could put our favourite past time at risk. The valuation of players has always been a big accounting issue... especially since billionaires owners came to the clubs and started flinging money about.

The F1 has already seen big competitors threatening to pull out. What could happen to our beloved BPL?


Liverpool owners Hicks and Gillett suffer £42m loss due to loans

• Accountants warn of threat to holding company's future
• Americans seeking refinancing and said to be relaxed
Andy Hunter
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 4 June 2009 22.41 BST

Liverpool's accounts reveal that the holding company of George Gillett, left, and Tom Hicks, the co-owners, lost £42.6m last year. Photograph by PA
Tom Hicks and George Gillett have been warned their ownership of Liverpool will be in "significant doubt" should they fail to refinance their debts on the club next month, after it emerged their parent company, Kop Football (Holdings) Limited, suffered a £42.6m loss last year.
The grim forecast from the club's accountants, KPMG LLP, came despite Liverpool posting a record turnover of £159.1m for the year ending July 2008 and a profit of £10.2m, and relates to the co-owners' attempts to refinance a £350m debt before a 24 July deadline. The current uncertainty, claim KPMG, "may cast significant doubt on the group's and parent company's ability to continue as a going concern". A source close to Hicks, however, described the Texan as "very relaxed" about the accounts and "confident" with how talks on the latest refinancing package are proceeding.
Kop Football's losses are due mainly to the interest payments on the debt incurred to enable Hicks and Gillett to buy Liverpool in February 2007. Although the Americans are progressing with a refinancing deal – they recently met Royal Bank of Scotland officials to discuss an initial six-month extension to the July deadline – the annual accounts show how much money is draining out of the club to service the costs of the parent company's loans. Interest payments accounted for £36.5m of Kop's losses, with the company also spending millions on preparation work for a proposed new stadium that is yet to get off the ground.
In their notes in the accounts, KPMG state: "The group has credit facilities amounting to £350m which expire on 24 July 2009. The directors have initiated negotiations to secure the replacement finance required ... and these negotiations are ongoing. These conditions ... indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt on the group's and parent company's ability to continue as a going concern."
The warning is specific to the refinancing deal and does not reflect the viability of Liverpool as a business, with the record £159.1m turnover until July 2008 a significant increase on £133.9m the previous year. Nevertheless, the losses and interest payments will not sit comfortably with fans who are openly hostile to the American owners and this week saw long-time transfer target Gareth Barry elect to forgo Champions League football next season in favour of a move to Manchester City.
City paid the £12m transfer fee up front to Aston Villa, while Liverpool proposed spreading the payments over the course of a five-year contract. Barry also did not want a repeat of last summer's protracted transfer saga, when the failed sale of Xabi Alonso restricted the money Rafael Benítez had to spend on other players. A similar situation has developed this year.
Hicks and Gillett are believed to be close to finalising a refinancing deal with the RBS, but it is dependent on both increasing their personal guarantees on the debt. The pair are in the process of selling various assets in the United States with this aim in mind and believe the promise of significant extra revenue from the new stadium will reassure the banks. Extending the refinancing deal will also enable the pair to continue setting their valuation on Liverpool to any prospective investors.
Creditors of Hicks earlier this year declared his company, Hicks Sports Group, had defaulted on debts of $525m (£325m), money raised against his US sports franchises, the Dallas Stars ice hockey team and baseball's Texas Rangers. Hicks was served with a default notice after missing a $10m quarterly interest payment, but insisted the decision to miss the payment was a negotiating tactic with his bankers.

 

[Ah Guan]

Premier League clubs boast £3.1bn of debt
The 20 Premier League teams owe £3.1bn between them.
This club-by-club guide break down who owes what

David Conn
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 June 2009 00.10 BST

All details from most recently filed official information at Companies House.
Debts are borrowings from banks, financial institutions, owners or other sources.

Arsenal
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008
Ownership Arsenal Holdings PLC major shareholders are:
Danny Fiszman (Swiss resident) 16%
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith 15.9%
Kroenke Sports Enterprises UK (owned by US resident Stan Kroenke): 28.3%
Red and White Holdings (owned by Russian resident Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri) 25%

Turnover £222.5m (Up from £200.1m: 11.4%)
Gate and match-day income £95m
TV and broadcasting £68m
Retail £13m
Commercial £31m
Property development £15m
Player trading £0.5m

Wage bill £101.3m (up from £89.7m: 12.9%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 45%

Profit before tax £36.7m
Debts £416m
Interest payable £26m
Highest paid director Keith Edelman: £1.056m (plus a £1.67m payoff when he resigned on 1 May 2008)

State they're in Arsenal's halo as the top club with the most enviable financial model has slipped due to the economic downturn and an unprecedented boardroom power battle. Sales of the swish apartments built on the old Highbury stadium were expected to provide Arsène Wenger with a windfall, but sales have stalled in the downturn, and Arsenal are having to extend a £133m bank loan on the development. The main £200m borrowed to build the Emirates Stadium, fixed at 5.6%, remains an excellent deal, but the finances are nevertheless a squeeze. With four directors having been ousted in two very un-Arsenal-like years of boardroom jockeying, the alliance of Danny Fiszman and Stan Kroenke maintains fragile control. However the tightness of money, coupled with a fourth place finish, leaves the board vulnerable to an apparent campaign by the Russian investor, Alisher Usmanov, to secure more control by arguing that major investment is needed.

Aston Villa
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008
Ownership Reform Acquisitions LLC, a US company, owned ultimately by Randy Lerner (resident New York)

Turnover £75.6m (up from £37m in 10 months to 31 May 2007: 105% increase)
Gate and match-day £18.5m
TV and broadcasting £46m
Commercial £11m

Wage bill £50.4m (Up from £22.5m: 124% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 66.7%

Loss before tax £7.6m
Debts £73m
Interest payable £5.8m
Highest paid director Unnamed but thought to be Richard Fitzgerald: £1.04m (including a £775,000 payoff in January 2008)

State they're in Martin O'Neill lamented at the end of the season that he did not have the "wherewithal" to compete with the big four clubs, after Villa's smaller squad petered out in the spring. That was despite meaty financial backing from their US owner Randy Lerner, who invested a further £48.5m, as loans, in Villa between May 2007 and 2008. The club currently owes Lerner £75.5m. Such is the cost of trying to fund a major club to finish sixth in the Premier League.

Blackburn Rovers
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008
Ownership The Trustees of the Jack Walker 1987 Settlement, a trust registered in Jersey (a tax haven)

Turnover £56.4m (up from £43.3m: a 30% increase)
Gate and match-day £6.2m
TV and broadcasting £41.2m
Commercial £9m

Wage bill £39.7m (up from £36.7m, an 8% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 70%

Profit before tax £3m
Debts £17m
Interest payable £1.5m
Highest paid director John Williams: £295,000

State they're in With Premier League survival secured, chairman John Williams will feel vindicated for having swiftly removed Paul Ince as the manager in December and appointing Sam Allardyce. Williams persuaded the club's owners, the trustees of Jack Walker's estate, to loan the club £3m last year, but they have wanted to sell for two years but no buyer has appeared. With gates and commercial income under pressure in the recession, Williams and Allardyce will have to husband resources shrewdly again next season.

Bolton Wanderers
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008
Ownership 95% owned by Edwin Davies, via Fildraw Private Trust, believed to be in the Isle of Man, a tax haven

Turnover £59.1m (up from £51m last year: 16% increase)
Gate and match-day £6.8m
Hotel £8.7m
TV and broadcasting £34.2m
Corporate hospitality £2.4m
Merchandising £1.2m
Sponsorship and advertising £3.5m
Other football income £2.3m

Wage bill £39m (up from 30.7m in 2007, a 27% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 66%

Loss before tax £8.4m
Debts £52m
Interest payable £3m
Highest paid director Allan Duckworth: £376,000

State they're in With gates 11.4% down despite season ticket price reductions, losses and debts up, and Bolton one of the clubs more vulnerable to the recession, Wanderers are struggling to keep up. The club's owner, the Isle of Man-based Edwin Davies, loaned a further £4.5m, apparently at annual interest of 10%, for which the club paid a £623,000 arrangement fee. Few doubted that the chairman Phil Gartside's idea for a "Premier League Second Division" springs in part from his own fear that Bolton, at some point, are likely to face the financial horror of relegation.

Chelsea
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008

Ownership Wholly owned by Roman Abramovich

Turnover £213.6m (up from £190.5m the previous year, a 12% increase)
Football Activities £189.8m
Hotel/Catering £8.9m
Merchandising £9.6m
Other commercial £5.3

Wage bill £149m (up from £133m in 2007, a 12% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 68%

Loss before tax £84.5m
Debts £701m owed to Roman Abramovich
Interest payable Nil
Highest paid director Peter Kenyon: £2m

State they're in Football's most famous interest-free loan, the funding of Chelsea by the oligarch Roman Abramovich since 2003, reached a vast £701m by June 2008. In January Chelsea said the total had been reduced to £339.8m, with the rest converted into shares. The chief executive Peter Kenyon's plan for Chelsea to be self-reliant by 2010 has been dented by £30m payouts to departing managers Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and Luiz Felipe Scolari, and Chelsea's thumping loss was up. Chelsea's squad is ageing, and, with Abramovich's continuing subsidy, Carlo Ancelotti will need to satisfy the oligarch's hunger for success while trying to renew the squad.

Everton
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008

Ownership Shares in the Everton Football Club Company Limited are owned by:
Bill Kenwright 25%
Jon Woods 19%
Robert Earl (resident of Florida) 23%

Turnover £76m (up from £51m the previous year, an increase of 50.1%)
Gate and match-day £20.5m
TV and broadcasting £46.6m
Other commercial activities £8.9m

Wage bill £44.5m (up from £38.4m the previous year, an increase of 16%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 59%

Profit before tax £26,000
Debts £39m
Interest payable £3.9m
Highest paid director Keith Wyness: £470,000

State they're in Two remarkable seasons for David Moyes' team, finishing fifth twice in succession, and a significantly improved financial picture, put fresh doubt on the need for Everton to move to the new stadium being controversially planned at Kirkby. The club ensured that players' wages did not gobble up the booming increase in TV money, and Everton turned over £76m, a £25m increase. Kirkby, which many fans oppose, is projected optimistically to be worth only another £6m annually, and even within the club, some may be quietly relieved if the government ultimately refuses permission for the scheme.

 

[Ah Guan]

Fulham
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008

Ownership Mafco Holdings Limited, a Bermuda (tax haven) company, which is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed and his family

Turnover £53.7m (up from £39.7m last year, a 35.2% increase)
Gate and match-day £9.6m
TV and broadcasting £34m
Commercial activities £4.9m
Sponsorship £3.6m
Other operating income £1.6m

Wage bill £39.3m (up from £35.2m the previous year, an 11.6% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 73%

Profit before tax £3.2m
Debts £197m, included £174m owed to Al Fayed
Interest payable £1.8m
Highest paid director Unnamed: £228,083

State they're in Mohamed Al Fayed continued his extravagant funding of Fulham, increasing the loans from his companies to £174m, the second highest subsidy of any club by an owner behind Chelsea's Roman Abramovich. The loans are all interest free and during the year £9.5m was written off completely. Al Fayed, resident in Monaco, has had the reward this season of Fulham's highest ever finish, and he vehemently insists he has no intention of selling.

Hull City
Accounts for the year to 31 July 2007 (accounts for 2007-08 are now overdue)

Ownership Isis Nominees, a company registered in Jersey, a tax haven

Turnover (In the Championship) £9m (down from £9.5m the previous year, a drop of 5.6%)

Wage bill £6.9m (up from £5.2m the previous year, a 33% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 77%

Loss before tax £2m
Debts £1m
Interest payable £52,000

State they're in These figures predate Hull's 2007-08 promotion season; the latest accounts are now overdue. The chairman, Paul Duffen, said the major shareholder, property investor Russell Bartlett, invested £6m to finance the promotion push, and Hull appear to have come up with almost no debt. The manager Phil Brown's impromptu karaoke after City scraped Premier League survival, which means around £25m extra in TV money alone next season, will have been accompanied by sighs of relief from Bartlett.

Liverpool
Accounts for the year to 31 July 2007 (accounts for 2007-08 are now overdue)

Ownership Ultimately owned (via the tax haven of Grand Cayman) by Kop Investment LLC, registered in Delaware, a low tax US state. Tom Hicks and George Gillett are equal owners of Kop Investment LLC

Turnover £159m (up from £134m the previous year, an increase of 18.6%)
Gate and Matchday n\a
TV and Broadcasting n\a
Commercial activities n\a
Visitors' Centre and Official Supporters Club n\a

Wage bill n\a

Profit before tax n\a
Debts £280m
Interest payable £21m (estimated)

State they're in Tom Hicks and George Gillett swore they were not "doing a Glazers" when they took over Liverpool in 2007 but, as it turned out, they were. Liverpool, with Anfield full and Rafael Benítez's team improving, are a major, commercially successful club but the financial position is still dominated by the loans the pair have taken out, including £185m to finance their takeover. Hicks and Gillett are understood to have put £33m in themselves to finance player signings because, after paying the interest, the club no longer generates enough money. The club was sold to the pair solely so that they would finance the new stadium, but there is no sign of that at all yet.

Manchester City
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008

Ownership 90% owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family

Turnover £82.3m (up from £57m the previous year, an increase of 44%)
Gate and match-day £13.6m
TV and broadcasting £43.3m
Commercial activities £25.4m

Wage bill £54.2m (up from £36.4m the previous year, an increase of 49%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 66%

Loss before tax £32.6m
Debts £147m
Interest payable £10.7m
Highest paid director Alistair Mackintosh: £477,000

State they're in Looked to be heading over a cliff in August last year, with the owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, on the run from corruption charges in Thailand of which he was subsequently found guilty. Shinawatra's assets were frozen even before he took the club over, City's debts were mounting, the club borrowed a further £25m against the forthcoming season's TV money, then their worries were all wiped away with a wave of an oil sheikh's chequebook.

Manchester United
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008

Ownership Malcolm Glazer and his family via Red Football Limited Parnership and Red Football General Partner Inc, both registered in the low tax State of Nevada, USA

Turnover £256.2m (from 210.1m the previous year, an increase of 22%)
Gate and match-day £101.5m
TV and broadcasting £90.7m
Commercial activities £64m

Wage bill £121.1m (up from £92.3m the previous year, an increase of 31.2%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 47%

Loss before tax £44.8m
Debts £699m
Interest payable £69m
Highest paid director David Gill: £1.739m

State it's in The still-extraordinary spectacle of the "leveraged buyout". The Glazer family bought the world's richest club in 2005, then loaded it with the costs of their own takeover, and despite the glittering success over which they have since presided, the debts have continued to mount. By 2008, a staggering £263m in interest alone had become payable, yet the capital United owe had actually grown to £699m, because some of the interest, at high rates, accumulates. These massive debts are not threatening the club financially while it remains successful, but it is painful to think of the other uses to which United's vast earnings could have been put.

Middlesbrough
Accounts for the year to 31 December 2007

Ownership Steve Gibson via his company, Gibson O'Neill, of which he owns 75%

Turnover £48m (the same figure as the previous year)
Gate receipts £11.1m
Sponsorship and commercial £7.5m
TV & broadcasting £27m
Merchandising £2.4m

Wage bill £34.8m (the same as the previous year)
Wages as proportion of turnover 73%

Loss before tax £8.3m
Debts £93m
Interest payable £7.2m
Highest paid director Gibson is the sole director and does not take a salary from the football club

State they're in The debts of £93m, the result of Middlesbrough trying to punch above their weight for years, look alarming for a relegated club. Middlesbrough insiders, however, say the borrowings have been reduced since these accounts to below £30m. The owner-chairman Steve Gibson is expected to invest further, although the plan to balance the books next season by selling Stewart Downing has been ruptured by Downing's ankle injury in the penultimate game of the season.

Newcastle United
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008

Ownership Mike Ashley via his company, St James Holdings Limited

Turnover £100.8m (up from £87m the previous year, a 16% increase)
Gate and match-day £32.3m
TV and broadcasting £41.1m
Commercial activities £27.4m

Wage bill £74.6m (up from £56.7m the previous year, a 31.6% increase)
Wages as proportion of turnover 74%

Loss before tax £34m
Debts £106.2m (£100m is owed to Mike Ashley)
Interest payable £6.6m
Highest paid director Chris Mort, paid £1.357m via his law firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

State it's in A calamity. Mike Ashley could have been a hero. After buying the club for £134m in 2007, he repaid, with cash, around £94m of debts. Newcastle are almost debt-free, although Ashley paid the money off by lending £100m to the club himself, interest free, which has to be repaid if the ownership changes. Yet after appointments and decisions he admits himself have been awful and which led to relegation, he has not been thanked very fulsomely for his contribution. If he does not sell quickly, Ashley will need to stump up more if financial collapse is to be avoided next season.

Portsmouth
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008

Ownership Miland Development (2004) Limited, a British Virgin Islands company, which is controlled by Alexandre Gaydamak

Turnover £70.5m (up from £40.2m the previous year, an increase of 75%)
Gate and Matchday £12m
TV and Broadcasting £51.2m
Sponsorship £4m
Retail £3.3m

Wage bill £54.7m (up from £36.9m the previous year, an increase of 48.2%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 78%

Loss before tax £17m
Debts £57.7m
Interest payable £6.6m
Highest paid director Peter Storrie: £1.2m

State they're in Pompey illustrate why every middling football club is begging for a takeover. Having overstretched to furnish Harry Redknapp with the formidable squad that won the FA Cup last season, the owner, Alexandre Gaydamak, has been hit by the recession and can no longer fund the club. Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe had to be sold in January to reduce bank borrowings, debts grew to around £65m, and Portsmouth were preparing to tighten belts until the chief executive, Peter Storrie, shook hands with Sulaiman Al Fahim. Fratton Park now expects it to rain oil money.

 

[Ah Guan]

Stoke City
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008

Ownership bet365 Group, the online gambling company which is owned by the chairman, Peter Coates, and his family

Turnover (2007-08, in the Championship) £11.2m (up from £7.9m the previous year, an increase of 41%)

Wage bill £11.9m (up from £7m the previous year, an increase of 70%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 106%

Loss before tax £5.6m
Debts £2.3m
Interest payable £49,000
Highest paid director No director was paid a salary in 2007-08

State they're in The financial picture of a club pushing for promotion from the Championship. Stoke are backed by Peter Coates and his family, who own the online gambling company, bet365. The Coates put £10m cash into the club, and supported it to make a loss and pay wages beyond the club's turnover. With the investment shrewdly managed by Tony Pulis, Stoke have the advantage of being debt-free next season when seeking to consolidate in the Premier League.

Sunderland
Accounts for the year to 31 July 2008

Ownership Announced last week that Ellis Short, who is based in Dallas, is to take over 100%

Turnover £63.6m (up from £26m the previous year, an increase of 144%)
Gate and match-day £13.6m
TV and broadcasting £35.6m
Sponsorship and royalties £8.3m
Commercial activities £6.1m

Wage bill £37.1m (up from £23.7m, an increase of 57%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 58%

Loss before tax £4.9m
Debts £69.2m
Interest payable £3.9m
Highest paid director Niall Quinn: £939,317

State they're in Apart from desperately seeking Premier League survival, the chairman Niall Quinn's consuming priority this year has been to secure the investment of the US businessman Ellis Short. The club is overspending, with £16.8m loaned from the Irish Drumaville consortium, and their fortunes have diminished in the downturn. Promotion to the Premier League brought the TV windfall, but Sunderland lost almost £5m and debts rose close to £70m. Sunderland's fanbase is also vulnerable to the recession, so Quinn was mightily pleased last week to announce that Short is to take 100% ownership and invest further.

Tottenham Hotspur
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008

Ownership 82% owned by Enic International Limited, registered in the Bahamas, a tax haven. Chairman Daniel Levy an d family own 29.41% of Enic. The controlling owner is Joe Lewis, resident in the Bahamas.

Turnover £114.7m (up from £103.1m the previous year, an increase of 11.34%)
Gate and match-day £28.6m
TV and broadcasting £40.3m
Sponsorship and corporate hospitality £27.8m
Merchandising £9.7m
Commercial activities £8.3m

Wage bill £52.9m (up from £43.8m in 2007, an increase of 20.8%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 46%

Profit before tax £3m
Debts £65m
Interest payable £3.95m
Highest paid director Daniel Levy: £1m

State they're in Fifth highest turnover in the Premier League, but Spurs have serially failed to convert that financial power into consistent performances on the field. They can be expected to keep traditionally high-spending manager, Harry Redknapp, happy by handing him funds again this summer. In a bid to propel the club towards the top four, Spurs plan to build a new White Hart Lane with 58,000 seats with a scheme including a supermarket, hotel, leisure, retail, and 450 apartments. They declared a dividend of 4p per share last year, which meant the club paid £2.5m to Enic, the holding company owned by Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis.

West Bromwich Albion
Accounts for the year to 30 June 2008

Ownership Over 50% owned by the chairman, Jeremy Peace

Turnover (2007-08, in the Championship): £27.2m (up from £24m the previous year, an increase of 13% mainly due to increased parachute payments)
Gate and matchiday £7m
Merchandising £2.2m
TV and broadcasting £14m
Other commercial income £4m

Wage bill £21.8m (up from £17.4m the previous year, an increase of 25%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 80%

Profit before tax £11.3m
Debts £8.9m
Interest payable £91,000
Highest paid director Jeremy Peace: £625,000

State they're in This is the portrait of a former Premier League club pushing for promotion in the Championship, with the benefit of parachute payments, which increased by £4.5m during the year. West Bromwich carry little debt, have reduced ticket prices, and under Jeremy Peace's chairmanship do not gamble when they are promoted. Can be expected to be strong in the Championship next season and to yo-yo back up while still under the Premier League's parachute canopy.

West Ham United
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2007 (accounts for 2007-08 have been delayed)

Ownership Owned in Iceland, by the chairman, Bjorgulfur Gudmundsson, via two companies, Hansa ehf and Olafsfell ehf

Turnover £57m (down from £60.1m in 2006, a drop of 5.2%)
Gate and match-day £17m
TV and broadcasting £24m
Catering and corporate hospitality £5m
Commercial activities £9m
Retail and Merchandising £2m

Wage bill £44.2m (up from 31.2m in 2006, an increase of 41%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 76%

Loss before tax £22m
Debts £36m
Interest payable £2m
Highest paid director Paul Aldridge: £649,000 (Includes £521,000 for leaving West Ham on December 4 2006)

State they're in West Ham's owner, Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, is football ownership's highest profile genuine victim of the global economic crisis, his fortune gone the way of his country, Iceland's, economy – wiped out. The club is in the hands of his holding company's controlling banks, yet they have not put pressure on the club's finances or forced a sale because West Ham is the only valuable asset in the Gudmundsson portfolio. The banks, and the Icelandic courts, have allowed it protection, so that they can maintain a decent price when they finally sell it.

Wigan Athletic
Accounts for the year to 31 May 2008

Ownership Dave Whelan and family, via Whelco Holdings, registered in the UK

Turnover £43m (up from 27m the previous year, an increase of 59.2%)

Wage bill £38.4m (up from £27.5m the previous year, an increase of 39.6%)
Wages as proportion of turnover 89%

Loss before tax £11.2m
Debts £66.4m
Interest payable £1.7m
Highest paid director Brenda Spencer, amount not declared

State they're in Wigan Athletic are where they are, in the JJB Stadium and in the Premier League, solely due to the patronage of local market trader made good, Dave Whelan. Interest free loans from his holding company were increased to £35.6m, and Wigan were given another unsecured loan of £7.5m assumed to have come from Whelan. Barclays Bank maintained their funding at £23m because of Whelan's backing. The accounts make it clear that Wigan, who expect to continue to make losses, would not be solvent without Whelan's financial backing.

 

[khunking]

It's time to concentrate on academy development rather than taking on debts due to overinflated transfer fees and obscene wages.

 

[Ah Guan]

A youth program involves big set up costs over long period of time and the returns are not guaranteed

Due to costs, big clubs prefer to 'outsource' youth development to 2nd tier feeder clubs in poorer countries in Latin America or Africa

But I agree they should go back to growing young players. It is more interesting to watch young players like break thru the ranks.

 

[Ah Guan]

Latest bad news: Liverpool owners are in trouble over financing their loan interests. Auditors have issued warnings over the club's ability to continue as a "going concern" (viable business)...

 

[Ah Guan]

More news: After their owner was destroyed by credit crunch, West Ham United is now sold to asset management company, CB Holdings

 

[khunking]

When a club bloods a youth player, I dont think they are paying someone 100K pounds per week with an overinflated ego who does not care about team glory.

A youth program involves big set up costs over long period of time and the returns are not guaranteed

Due to costs, big clubs prefer to 'outsource' youth development to 2nd tier feeder clubs in poorer countries in Latin America or Africa

But I agree they should go back to growing young players. It is more interesting to watch young players like break thru the ranks.

 

[Ah Guan]

When a club bloods a youth player, I dont think they are paying someone 100K pounds per week with an overinflated ego who does not care about team glory.

Hard to say bro.... All overinflated egos start from somewhere. Loyalty is now dead in football and no one will say no to more money

 

[Ah Guan]

Just in: Newcastle United for sale for 100m pounds

 

[Ah Guan]

Hmmm.... which team should I support?

?

?

?

 

[khunking]

Man United had a bunch of old guards who served them well over the years. Great attitude.

Hard to say bro.... All overinflated egos start from somewhere. Loyalty is now dead in football and no one will say no to more money

 

[Ah Guan]

The Man U youth academy batch of Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Sharpe & Neville bros will have their place in club history. Unfortunately the current crop of Fletcher, O'shea & Rossi(?) have not proven themselves yet - they certainly have big shoes to fill.

Liverpool's last hero is Gerrard (he almost joined Chelsea in '05 after Rafa's neglect). Today, he is the heart and soul of the club.

My favourite youth academy has got to be West Ham United. They churned out the current crop of English players who are now playing at the highest level - Carrick, Lampard, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand etc.

 

[Ah Guan]

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