I’ve watched a lot of the documentaries on the recent economic problems and the comparisons with previous bad times. The one thing they all seem to have in common is an excess of leveraged debt. The “experts” spent most of the noughties telling us why we were immune to a repeat, the same “experts” are now telling us that football is immune to what has affected almost every other aspects of the economy.

Not so much a case of doomed to repeat histories mistakes as determined to repeat them.

Any thoughts on what happened in Argentinean domestic football and what happened with the TV rights over there? OF course, politically, that could never happen under the auspicious & impeccable guidance of the City of London, but it is interesting.

Brilliant analogy between the housing bubble and the football/TV rights bubble.

The test of a team of willingness to be sustainable is being offered vast amounts of money and actually investing it or saving it. It seems based on the article and the current footballing climate that model has escaped the teams for a number of reasons as Tony points out. Man IOU fall into the billionaire schemes while lower table teams just lack the vision of success. Even Arsenal to a degree have lost some focus in regards to true sustainibility.

So what’s the point? Well imagine if you were given 1mill sterling. What would you do with it? Would you save it and still live within your means? Would you save some, invest some, & live within your means? Or would you spend more than you make and take out loans to support more spending.

It is simple the EPL had a great opportunity for the league and the teams with the suprising in flow of vast sums of money. But, they lacked the integrity and knowledge of what to do with it….So it’s on them and on owners and on fans who lack understanding of basic budgeting. “Pay what is due”, and never take out loans because that means you can’t afford it. If you follow that you have know problems. And, as I see it even Arsenal have some problems if the TV money doesn’t come through.

To Arsene,

You have done a great job all things considered. Do we have enough money to deal with finances if TV revenues fail to be payed? If not you still have some work to do!

Caring Arsenal Fan

I have one question, if all clubs except Arsenal of course, go bust what will happen to the PL? Man Utd, Liverpool, Bolton, Hull and a lot others are facing debts and what about Chelsea? After turning those debts into bonds and selling it as shares, can this be repeated if they ever face this kind of situation again?

This never can be done by governement. They did for the banks but the banks are a vital part of the (global) economy of a country. A football club is not a vital part in the economy of a country.

The ones that are gambling on this scenario could have a hard awakening. I really hope so.

Bought a wonderful book in Cornwall before Christmas.
A gambler’s guide to the upcoming season (1956-1957).
Man. U. had a strong side then but, even so, there were any number of teams who were in with a chance of winning the League and Cup.
Newcastle, Villa, Burnley. Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Man. C., Man. U., Wolves, Bolton………..all had a chance.

In 2010 either Man. U. or Chelsea will win the league or, if you like, Chelsea or Man. U.

I see Spurs have been active in the transfer window. Harry rotating some of his old favourites between clubs. Main players in these deals Harry Redknapp & Peter (I don’t hold the purse strings) Storrie. Brown paper bag anyone?

nice article tony…now give some light on arsenal finances and the truth behind wenger’s quote “” our finances don’t depend upon CL”"…

And Tony, your silence on the Man Utd game is deafening.

Almost all billionaires, at one time or another, grouse about the paparazzi. But Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich doesn’t just grouse. His new super yacht, Bloomberg News is reporting, features an “anti-paparazzi laser shield that fires bolts of light at cameras to obliterate photographs.” Roman won’t be doing any firing until later this year when his new yacht, the 560-foot Eclipse, actually gets delivered. The Eclipse will sport a full-time crew 70 strong, two helicopter pads, and a mini-submarine. To keep Abramovich safe at sea, the Eclipse also boasts armor plating – and a missile defense system. The yacht has so far taken four years to build. The final bill? That may run $1.2 billion. Abramovich, incidentally, already owns three other super yachts . . .

(me again) If Abromovich can spend $1.2b (about 700m quid) on his 4th yacht, then there is no end to the money he can spend on Chelsea. And what are the implications of “no end”?

Nice analysis. I also find it possible because of the history of premier league clubs.

Just today I read that premier league was formed was due to TV viewership and not due to footballing reasons. The reason being people would love to see the top clubs play togethar and this might lead to a new super european league. I also read that UEFA want all the top leagues to reduce the number of teams from 20 to 18. So if it happens it can be another pain for smaller teams. It has already reduced from 22 to 20.

Well the teams are in deep s*** can be gauged from the fact that Fernandes got 7 offers from PL teams to buy them after he failed to buy West Ham. So we can safely say that a majority of PL teams are in deep danger and willing to sell themselves to anyone who has money like a **********(you guess it).

Looking at the evidence you provide, one conclusion I have is that the big, established clubs will try to break off and form a super league once they stop getting results.

I mean, if I were a director of Man U or Liverpool, and see signs that the day of reckoning will come, why wouldn’t I try to prevent that risk by breaking off to form a super league? Why rely on Champions League or Sky Sports revenue when my club (along with a few other mis-managed, big name clubs) would never have to worry about dropping out of the Champions League or Premier League again? Why worry about clubs nipping at your boots when you can just shut the door? It’s instant, guaranteed revenue. (This, I think, is Wenger’s point about the super league…though I can’t remember what his reasoning was.)

I think a forerunner to this would be clubs trying to form their own cable channels like Real Madrid has…