Post by QPR Report on Mar 24, 2009 15:02:26 GMT
Guess this was in The Mirror today
From the cleverly-named Yeovil Independent site "Ciderspace"
Football League Chief Gives Economic Warning
Football League Chairman Lord Mawhinney believes the league's members must have 'realistic business plans' set out in stone to enable them to get through the current economic recession in one piece. Speaking to The Mirror Mawhinney warns that clubs have so far been protected by their annual schemes such as Season Ticket packages and sponsorship deals, but says that those who have not planned ahead will be badly placed for the future.
Mawhinney believed that because those packages had been sold to supporters and sponsors around 12 months ago, that many football clubs had this season's income protected by the early take-up. But he considered that those clubs that had not planned for change could be in for a nasty shock that could last up to three years:
"I'm not sure everybody really has a sense of how bad things are and how hard they're going to get. I've said to all the owners and shareholders that they've been protected from the worst of what's going on. They sold this season's tickets and executive boxes in the commercial market 12 months ago. But the world has changed hugely since then and it's over the next three months they will discover how much it's changed. What has happened so far is only the tip of the iceberg. I have told the clubs that I believe life will be extremely tough through to the end of the 2011-2012 season."
The League Chairman admitted that he had informally discussed the issue of wage capping, but had got a mixed response from the league members. He also added that any club that was not preparing themselves for financial change was living in denial, and said that they must get a grip on their outgoing costs:
"That's a scary prospect for all businesses - and clubs have to understand they are not protected from the real world. What I would say to every club is simple. If your attitude is that it can't happen to you, then you do not have a realistic business plan. This is the time to batten down the hatches. Directors must have realistic business plans. They have to control all their costs and of course wages are the single biggest outlay for most clubs. I've been exploring with owners and shareholders if they'd like to put in place some sort of limit on wages but different clubs take a different attitude. It's a dog eat dog world."
The report names seven clubs that The Mirror believes are currently living on the edge financially, with few surprises in the list. Relegation threatened Championship duo Southampton and Charlton Athletic have both been in problems since they dropped out of the Premier League, whilst Stockport County and Cheltenham Town in League One have been regularly covered on these pages this season. Meanwhile in League Two, Darlington have recently suffered a 10 point deduction after falling into administration, whilst Bournemouth have lurched from crisis to crisis over the last few years. Finally relegation-threatened Chester City are named on their list, but have recently gone through a takeover to save them from extinction.
On the plus side, all clubs will benefit from a new BBC and Sky television broadcast deal that will start next season and see £88 million come into the league per season for transmission rights involving Football League, Carling Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy matches.
This will see member clubs gain by the sum of £2.9 million for the Championship division, £440,000 for those sides in League One, whilst those in League Two will get £300,000. This means that in television rights alone, Yeovil Town's League One status is worth £140,000 although a couple of League One Chairmen have recently priced the cost of relegation at around £300,000.
www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/news/news.asp?NewsItemId=9008
From the cleverly-named Yeovil Independent site "Ciderspace"
Football League Chief Gives Economic Warning
Football League Chairman Lord Mawhinney believes the league's members must have 'realistic business plans' set out in stone to enable them to get through the current economic recession in one piece. Speaking to The Mirror Mawhinney warns that clubs have so far been protected by their annual schemes such as Season Ticket packages and sponsorship deals, but says that those who have not planned ahead will be badly placed for the future.
Mawhinney believed that because those packages had been sold to supporters and sponsors around 12 months ago, that many football clubs had this season's income protected by the early take-up. But he considered that those clubs that had not planned for change could be in for a nasty shock that could last up to three years:
"I'm not sure everybody really has a sense of how bad things are and how hard they're going to get. I've said to all the owners and shareholders that they've been protected from the worst of what's going on. They sold this season's tickets and executive boxes in the commercial market 12 months ago. But the world has changed hugely since then and it's over the next three months they will discover how much it's changed. What has happened so far is only the tip of the iceberg. I have told the clubs that I believe life will be extremely tough through to the end of the 2011-2012 season."
The League Chairman admitted that he had informally discussed the issue of wage capping, but had got a mixed response from the league members. He also added that any club that was not preparing themselves for financial change was living in denial, and said that they must get a grip on their outgoing costs:
"That's a scary prospect for all businesses - and clubs have to understand they are not protected from the real world. What I would say to every club is simple. If your attitude is that it can't happen to you, then you do not have a realistic business plan. This is the time to batten down the hatches. Directors must have realistic business plans. They have to control all their costs and of course wages are the single biggest outlay for most clubs. I've been exploring with owners and shareholders if they'd like to put in place some sort of limit on wages but different clubs take a different attitude. It's a dog eat dog world."
The report names seven clubs that The Mirror believes are currently living on the edge financially, with few surprises in the list. Relegation threatened Championship duo Southampton and Charlton Athletic have both been in problems since they dropped out of the Premier League, whilst Stockport County and Cheltenham Town in League One have been regularly covered on these pages this season. Meanwhile in League Two, Darlington have recently suffered a 10 point deduction after falling into administration, whilst Bournemouth have lurched from crisis to crisis over the last few years. Finally relegation-threatened Chester City are named on their list, but have recently gone through a takeover to save them from extinction.
On the plus side, all clubs will benefit from a new BBC and Sky television broadcast deal that will start next season and see £88 million come into the league per season for transmission rights involving Football League, Carling Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy matches.
This will see member clubs gain by the sum of £2.9 million for the Championship division, £440,000 for those sides in League One, whilst those in League Two will get £300,000. This means that in television rights alone, Yeovil Town's League One status is worth £140,000 although a couple of League One Chairmen have recently priced the cost of relegation at around £300,000.
www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/news/news.asp?NewsItemId=9008