THIS could finally be the season when the stranglehold starts to loosen across European football and some of the top leagues finally celebrate a new champion. According to CIES Football Observatory, trophies in Portugal, Spain, Italy and France will be changing hands, while Manchester City will regain the Premier League they last won in 2019. Bayern […]
IN the past few years, some big clubs have suffered relegation from the Bundesliga: Hamburg, Köln, VFB Stuttgart and Fortuna Düsseldorf to name but four. The list could see Schalke 04 from Gelsenkirchen added this season if the current form of the royal blues continues over the coming weeks. It has been a grim 12 […]
BAYERN Munich recently revealed a drop of around € 50 million in revenues in 2019-20 due to the covid-19 pandemic, but the Bavarians’ financial statements make reasonable reading at this stage of the crisis. Bayern made a net profit of € 9.6 million versus € 52.5 million in 2018-19. While matchday income would have been decimated […]
IF, like me, you grew up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, you will be aware of how our access to the global game has changed so dramatically for the better. Recall those midweeks when British teams played in Europe and, occasionally, photographs would appear in the daily newspapers implying the Fairs’ Cup tie […]
STADIUM sponsorship is an area of the football market that has yet to fulfil its full potential. While some clubs, such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus have stadiums that bear the name of a sponsor, some countries have been reluctant to embark on a relationship that, while lucrative, could tamper with the […]
BEFORE anyone had time to wonder if Bayern Munich could continue their unprecedented run of success, the Bavarians answered in style, scoring eight goals (again!) without reply against a very poor Schalke 04 team in their opening fixture of the 2020-21 season. It took the European champions just four minutes to open the scoring, effectively […]
UNSURPRISINGLY, the coronavirus pandemic has hit some of Europe’s top clubs where it really hurts. Borussia Dortmund, one of the first to reveal their 2019-20 financials, made a € 44 million loss, largely due to reduced matchday income, lower levels of profitability around transfers and higher wages. BVB, whose share price has fallen by more […]
IT MAY be a clash of the titans, but Paris Saint-Germain go into their first UEFA Champions League final on August 23 as the underdogs, a role they are relatively unaccustomed to, such has been their dominance of French football. Bayern Munich, meanwhile, judging by their form in the competition and in post-lockdown Germany, are […]
PRIOR TO this disrupted and somewhat confusing campaign, the past two seasons saw the same league champions across the “big five” leagues in Europe – domination by the rich and advantaged, namely Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Barcelona. It was seen as affirmation the game had become predictable, stale and lacking in […]
