October 15 – The owner of Leeds United, one of the sleeping giants of English football, has revealed that Qatar Sports Investments, who own Paris Saint-Germain, are one of three parties interested in taking a major stake in the Championship club.
I have in the past been critical of the financial impact of the Champions League on European club football, and its role in reinforcing formation of a super-elite based partly on whether clubs happen to be located in one of the most lucrative European national TV markets or not.
October 3 – Three years after buying into Crystal Palace, US owners Joshua Harris and David Blitzer, look to have put their stake up for sale in a deal that would value the south London club at £210 million.
October 2 – PSG’s duo of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar are still the most valuable players in the world at €225 million and €196 million, but the record breaking summer transfer window has thrown some new names into the pot with Arsenal’s new winger Nicolas Pépé topping a ranking of players who have increased their market value.
October 2 – Dutch club Ajax often have the ‘giants’ epithet attached to them because of their deeds on the pitch. Now they are getting closer to justifying that term financially having reported a 2018/19 financial year that more than doubled turnover to €199.5 million.
October 1 – Cardiff City have been ordered by FIFA to pay the first instalment of €6 million to Nantes for £15 million striker Emiliano Sala who died in January when the light aircraft carrying him to Cardiff two days after he signed crashed into the sea before he could play a single game.
September 30 – Goals, the operator of small-sided football facilities in the UK that has expanded into the US, has had its share listing on AIM market in London suspended.
September 30 – Inter Milan have set club record revenues of about €415 million for the year to June 30, 2019.
By David Owen
September 24 – Manchester United have got the 2018-19 Premier League financial results season off to a restrained start, reporting a modest increase in annual profit for the year to end-June. The Old Trafford club, already struggling this season to find an on-pitch rhythm under former striker-turned-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, posted a pre-tax figure of £27.5 million for 2018-19, up from a restated £25.8 million the previous year.
September 24 – Hundreds of fans are awaiting news on whether packages for upcoming games will be valid following the collapse this week of the Thomas Cook travel company.
By David Owen
September 20 – Tottenham Hotspur, nowadays the top football club in North London, has closed its refinancing of the £637 million bank loan put in place to support the construction of its gleaming new stadium.
September 19 – The new Saudi owner of English Premier League club Sheffield United says he would happily do business with the family of Osama Bin Laden to bring fresh investment into the club.
Mr Justice Fancourt’s 138-page judgment in the recent High Court battle over Sheffield United offers a fascinating insight into the business affairs of a venerable but otherwise fairly ordinary English professional club over a six-year period in the early part of the 21st century. I would recommend any serious student of the football industry taking an hour or two to skim through it.
September 17 – Sheffield United, back in the English Premier League after 12 years, look set to be controversially taken over by the Saudi prince who already owns 50% of the club.
