Macclesfield Town wound up with debts of £500k. How many more clubs are we prepared to see go to the wall before we start to demand some serious reform of the Football League? Southend up in court today too and still a long way from being out of the woods (having lost 4-0 with a team with an average age of about 22 at the weekend).
Covid hasn’t helped clubs but as with other parts of society, all it is doing is widening cracks that were already there.
It’s time for a huge change in the way clubs are run and how they are governed.
Absolutely and its been discussed at length by fans alike on many football forums but as yet nothing concrete from the authorities in charge of the game as regarding real change. See how you dodged copyright infringement claims there from Queen by subtle changes to the title of your topic.
I think fans have to accept some blame for the problems too, with all our endless demands of “showing some ambition” (translation: spend more money), thinking that we need to “invest in January” (translation: spend more money) or “be competitive” (translation: spend more money). It can’t keep going on like that. We need more solidarity between fans of rival clubs, for the good of the whole division, rather than just hoping that the axe will continue to fall elsewhere.
What have the fans for to do with it, you wouldn’t have anyone tell you how to run a business unless you were a shareholder.Be happy we have a club for now and let’s hope swanny keeps pumping the money in, I do commend those who have bought season tickets with no sight of being allowed in,well done everyone of you.
There are lower league club in hock to 20 or more times that amount
Which just reiterates the point Ferrite is making, for my own part I believe the further up the football structure you go in this country, the more the bigger clubs want us lower league fry gone. There is no other country with a major professional football set up that has 92 clubs in its ranks, the big boys want us gone, they want everything football to be centred around them and their moneymen. I can see this season being the last professional one for a lot of league clubs in this country.
Think your about right Ironawe many clubs may go, Southend given another 6 wks to pay their debt of £500k no money coming in they cant even get there hands on the season ticket money, cardnet are holding on to it at least that way the fans will get refunded if they go under.
Southend are currently looking to redevelop Roots Hall for 500 new homes and move into a 14,000 stadium which They have the catchment area fill; Something tells me a solution will be found.
Ferrite is bang on the money with fans expectations being a contributory factor- you Even see it from our supporters on a regular basis these days.
Great shame to Lose another club, but they won’t be the last.
This issue as supposedly been kicked about for over four months now, and it has still not helped the lower leaguenteams one little bit, it is their pure greed that is seeing league one & two clubs go bust. The same situation occurred with the Premier League players that were requested to drop their wages by 10% in order to support lower league players,the greedy sods came back wirh no help what so eer, players on wages up to £300,000 per week could not take a cut and live on £270,000 per week!!!!, whilst league two players could not even get their £1,000 salary. The EFL are useless, the Premier clubs and players are selfish greedy indivduals.
Macclesfield’s plight began long before The Covid pandemic. Additionally, The Blame for The financial mess some of the lower league teams find themselves in doesn’t belong to the premier league.
It’s not Tottenham’s or Liverpool’s obligation to ensure Macclesfield pay their tax bill; live within your means and budget accordingly.
We have spent well over 100% of our turnover on wages for years now, that is unsustainable and no-one else’s responsibility but our own.
Fair points Cliff but the lower leagues main revenue for most clubs is the gate money and as the bigger clubs have deals in place from sugar daddys like Sky which help them considerably more then the other 72 clubs. I agree broadly with the points you make but what about the ” big football family ” that gets touted about our league structure, one big football family etc etc? The bigger clubs could do more if they got together and approached the FA with some ideas, should they?, will they? We all probably know the answer, the little guys will fold, so get your nostalgia stories ready in a few months time.
Exactly Iron-awe, what Cliff Burne is actually saying is why should anyone that is well shod and loaded give any contributions to less off persons that have nothing, and no money from anywhere, being a very similar situation…
At least its nice to see ex man utd players putting something back into the game and investing in clubs though i would rather Beckham invested in the english league rather than american but at least he is.
Fair points Cliff but the lower leagues main revenue for most clubs is the gate money and as the bigger clubs have deals in place from sugar daddys like Sky which help them considerably more then the other 72 clubs. I agree broadly with the points you make but what about the ” big football family ” that gets touted about our league structure, one big football family etc etc? The bigger clubs could do more if they got together and approached the FA with some ideas, should they?, will they? We all probably know the answer, the little guys will fold, so get your nostalgia stories ready in a few months time.
I take your point about gate money during this time, perhaps there is more help that should be given from the top table.
However, my point around self governance remains the same. Bury knew roughly their yearly turnover, yet they rode along with a madman’s spending spree when Beckford and co rolled into town. In no other walk of life would you get away from running a business so recklessly
Wasn’t the old business mantra “speculate to accumulate”?
And “to be a success in business you have to be a risk-taker”?
Perhaps some businessmen owners took this too literally. Sure football clubs are businesses, but a special type of business that borders on being a social service.
Will be interesting to see what happens to Moss Rose and if Macc reform as a Phoenix club in the near future. Can’t see the residents of Treacletown rushing off to Crewe or Port Vale once fans are allowed to return.
Hereford, Chester, Bury, Accrington, Darlington, Aldershot, Maidstone, Wimbledon and Scarborough in recent times have made comebacks from the dead. Plus more have had to go backwards to move back forwards plus Wimbledon relocated yet then reformed themselves, I hope Macclesfield bounce back.
It’s not Tottenham’s or Liverpool’s obligation to ensure Macclesfield pay their tax bill; live within your means and budget accordingly.
Maybe not directly but it doesn’t help that the Premier League refuses to share TV money properly, or that rules are consistently changed to suit the big clubs, like the EPPP scheme which undermines the academies of small clubs or the introduction of B-teams into the Football League Trophy. The list is a long one.
But the Premier League isn’t solely to blame, if Football League clubs were more united and less willing to bend over for a few pennies from the Premier League table, we wouldn’t be quite so badly off now. But there is no solidarity between clubs, everyone is solely out for themselves.
However, my point around self governance remains the same. Bury knew roughly their yearly turnover, yet they rode along with a madman’s spending spree when Beckford and co rolled into town. In no other walk of life would you get away from running a business so recklessly
Very fair point, so why don’t we govern clubs more strictly? Why do we allow owners to run up such appalling debts? The league could and should impose much tougher rules to stop them doing that but refuse to do so. Make owners post a bond each year to cover costs if the club runs into financial problems. Keep a much closer eye on finances during the season and react quicker if problems are occuring. Stop any one owner having overall majority control. These things are all possible!
Which brings us full circle again Ferrite and the point that the authorities and the Premier clubs don’t give a toss about the future of the current league set up. They sit on their hands and pontificate with there “do nothing approach” regarding the points you make. The structure is in freefall, this time next year it will be gone without a major shift by the authorities, sad but true.
It’s not Tottenham’s or Liverpool’s obligation to ensure Macclesfield pay their tax bill; live within your means and budget accordingly.
Maybe not directly but it doesn’t help that the Premier League refuses to share TV money properly, or that rules are consistently changed to suit the big clubs, like the EPPP scheme which undermines the academies of small clubs or the introduction of B-teams into the Football League Trophy. The list is a long one.
But the Premier League isn’t solely to blame, if Football League clubs were more united and less willing to bend over for a few pennies from the Premier League table, we wouldn’t be quite so badly off now. But there is no solidarity between clubs, everyone is solely out for themselves.
However, my point around self governance remains the same. Bury knew roughly their yearly turnover, yet they rode along with a madman’s spending spree when Beckford and co rolled into town. In no other walk of life would you get away from running a business so recklessly
Very fair point, so why don’t we govern clubs more strictly? Why do we allow owners to run up such appalling debts? The league could and should impose much tougher rules to stop them doing that but refuse to do so. Make owners post a bond each year to cover costs if the club runs into financial problems. Keep a much closer eye on finances during the season and react quicker if problems are occuring. Stop any one owner having overall majority control. These things are all possible!
Unfortunately with the premier league we are probably now past the point of meaningful reform. A European Super league or a closed shop franchise Are always options on the table for the big boys.
In regards to the football league; a bond covering costs for the season and fan representation within boardrooms are great ideas. I’m sure some variation of the 50+1 rule can be implemented, especially for the smaller clubs.
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