Bristol Rovers

Reported in papers today that Rovers posted a loss of £3.4m last year and had a debt of £24m. They have a kind chairman who is owed £16m of this.  Wonder why Ollie did not get involved??? Perhaps Fentynomics might not be such a bad thing.

They were going to build a new stadium but the whole thing fell through. Wonder if that has a bearing on things.

Just goes to show that throwing money at a club even in the lower leagues isn't always the answer. They haven't kicked on from getting promoted despite the money.

Dark times for the gas.

I've been quoted elsewhere that I dislike Fenty's attitude to supporters, his 'my way or the highway' view of running the club and his communication (formal and informal) is a case study in how not to do it. But, I also believe that without him we may not have had a club to support.

If you net out Rover's situation they are £11.4m in the red - that is a massive debt to service for a small club that has little or no income at the moment.

Mark Palios (Tranmere owner and former head of the FA (was it the FA?)) said this morning (on Radio 4) that he believes that more than 10 clubs are close to going under in the current situation.

Quoted from norfuk mariner

  Wonder why Ollie did not get involved?.

Probably because he wasn't asked, they appointed someone else (I forget who) despite Holloway publically voicing his interest

Bristol Rovers owner is a billionaire so not much of a concern at the immediate time but if he gets bored and walks away then that will change dramatically and they could possibly go like Bury

Hmm, he should be able to service the debt then!

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

Hmm, he should be able to service the debt then!

If he wants to.

Just watched video by Paul Barber, CEO at Brighton, on talksport page discussing their financial position and fact they are sharing this with the players etc. In this he states that Brighton have made a loss in two of their last 3 seasons in the Prem and were scheduled to make losses this year.

After also watching the Sunderland TIL I Die documentaries on Netflix it just emphasises the problem that exists in the country with the business model for running clubs. It has to be unsustainable for clubs to continue running at a loss because the football wheel of fortune will mean you will suffer at some stage and a day of reckoning finally arrives. The Prem & EFL has to stop this ridiculous situation, the minimum income for the side coming bottom is £100M so surely they can budget accordingly and have the balls to tell players you will be paid what the club can afford?

I have also read that over £1.6 billion is owed in football transfers with the majority of this, circa £600m owed by Premiership clubs in the UK who basically fund some of the “lesser” European  leagues with our willingness to pay excessively high transfer fees. With dwindling financial reserves in all clubs, signs that allowing large crowds maybe 12 months away and these transfer fees still due then surely the bottom has to fall out the market and maybe some of the bigger clubs will fall rather than leagues 1&2 clubs.

Interesting times ahead in all walks of life and the only certainty is uncertainty.

Just a really interesting little snippet that supports the above:

BT Sport have done a really good documentary on Channel 4's coverage of Italian football in the 80's. Channel 4 approached the Italian national broadcaster to buy all the Lazio games (because of Gascoigne) and were told no but you can have the live Sunday game and highlights for the whole season for £650k. Which they went for.

Based on the last Sky deal, £650k will get you 4.5 minutes of a Premier League game.

Article also confirms that PFA & EFL have agreed to players taking 25% pay cut in April in League one and Two, and Club Captains to agree May's plan for reduction.

Signs that football is trying to come to terms with excess players pay packages and one proposal being considered is having a wages budget cap of £195k for League 2.