FA CUP final day was always special when you were a kid. Perched in front of the TV all day, absorbing everything from “How they got there” to “It’s Knockout”, by the time 5pm came around you were exhausted and only wanted to get outside and recreate the final with your best Frido ball. With […]
THE cowardly dead-of-night announcement about the European Super League, buried on a Sunday evening when people were heading for their beds, confirmed a number of things and demonstrated how fans have been hoodwinked for so long. The clubs they claim as their belongings are anything but, they are the property of business people who want […]
MANCHESTER UNITED and Arsenal made it through to the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League, very comfortably. This came just after Manchester City and Chelsea reached the last four of the UEFA Champions League. There is a reasonable chance that for the second time in three seasons, UEFA’s big two competitions will be all-English affairs. […]
US MAJOR League Soccer (MLS) gets underway with four clubs being widely tipped as possible champions: Los Angeles FC (LAFC), Columbus Crew, Toronto and Seattle Sounders. LAFC had a mediocre campaign in 2020, but they went close to winning the CONCACAF Champions League, losing to Mexico’s Tigres UANL in the final. LAFC had an impressive […]
FORBES has just issued its wealthiest football club list, a tale of higher valuations but falling revenues across the industry. It is quite astonishing that against a backdrop of financial crisis caused by the covid pandemic, football’s top clubs have seen their valuations rise by an average of 30% over a two year period. The […]
WHEN Bayern Munich won the UEFA Champions League in 2020, it was fairly clear they were the best team in Europe. After their defeat in the quarter-final to Paris Saint-Germain this year, it is reasonable to ask if the French champions are a better side than Bayern. They are not, but it could be that […]
CRYSTAL Palace have provided some insight into their 2019-20 financial results and they appear to be consistent with many of their peers, the pandemic making its mark on the club’s fiscal strength. Palace lost £ 58 million pre-tax, a shift of some £ 63 million from the previous season when they recorded a £ 5 […]
A FEW weeks ago, the La Liga race looked a foregone conclusion with Atlético Madrid 10 points clear and favourites to lift their first title since 2014. Real Madrid and Barcelona, were shot, fading forces with old players, financial pressure and internal politics. Diego Simeone’s team were in full flow, supposedly more adventurous than ever […]
SOUTHEND UNITED have rehired Phil Brown as their manager with six games to go this season, but whether he fancies a stint in the National League remains to be seen. Southend would appear to have one foot in the non-league structure. They have hordes of unhappy fans, an unpopular target of a chairman and they […]
IF ANY club among world football’s elite can withstand a substantial £ 125 million pre-tax loss it is surely Manchester City, who also remain on target for an unprecedented quadruple of major honours in 2021. City’s loss may have highlighted the impact of the pandemic on even the biggest football entities, but the club was […]
INTER MILAN may end the 2020-21 Italian football season as champions for the first time since 2010, but they will certainly enter the near-term future with a new look and feel. Against a backdrop of financial worries, caused by the troubles of their owner, Suning, not to mention a mountain of debt on the club’s […]
BURNLEY, so long paragons of common sense football management, broke even ahead of the club’s takeover by Alan Pace’s ALK Capital. Burnley’s turnover fell by 3% to £ 133.8 million and revealed that the covid-19 pandemic had cost them around £ 10.5 million. Although last season they made a profit of over £ 4 million, […]
FIVE bookings, a red card, another home defeat and tension in the 16th arondissement – Paris Saint-Germain may have mislaid their league title this season, despite the return of Neymar to their starting line-up. It’s not over yet by any stretch of the imagination, but PSG’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lille, giving the team […]
THE NAMES in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League may be familiar, but nobody can accuse the competition of lacking some variety. This season’s last eight showed a five team change on 2019-20’s last eight which continues the trend of a 50% churn on the previous campaign. Yes, they are all part of the […]
