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Uefa Talking Sense

Just read that Uefa are considering revolutionary changes to the way football clubs are run in Europe. Effectively, what they are saying is that clubs will in future have to live within their means and that expenditure on salaries, transfers and other operational costs should not exceed the income of the club. It looks like a real shot at the sugar daddy syndrome that is ruining the game, and would mean that City and Chelsea "projects" would come under threat.

It's a long way from talking about change to making it, but it's a sign of the mood in European football that Platini is taking Uefa in this direction. I believe that it could be a huge plus for a club like Everton and would, at last, relieve Blue Bill of his 24/7 search for a billionaire investor.
Gerry Grimes, Dublin Posted 27/05/2010 at 21:38:01

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Charlie Percival
1 Posted 27/05/2010 at 21:59:12

I don't understand this, if you own a company and it's doing crap or have overshot the wage bill... as long as you keep the banks sweet then what's the problem? I'm all for it but at the end of the day, if Citeh's owners want to blow money then that's their choice surely? IF they want to get a new player that the owner can afford but not the business, what's the income got to do with anything?

Ok, it's like gambling, but sometimes gambling pays off.

ps: I'm all for this scheme but think it has no chance of coming in to place.

Brian Waring
2 Posted 27/05/2010 at 22:21:34

Gerry, it won't happen mate. The top clubs around Europe are too powerful.

Jay Harris
3 Posted 27/05/2010 at 22:27:12

Money talks and always has.

Gavin Ramejkis
4 Posted 27/05/2010 at 23:00:31

Billionaires would simply buy the best legal people they could and blow it out of the water, never going to happen.

Aiden Doyle
5 Posted 27/05/2010 at 23:38:42

This blog on the BBC seems to make pretty good sense of it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/gordonfarquhar/2010/05/uefa_calls_clubs_to_account.html

I have to say that I’m in favour and (perhaps naively) optimistic that it’ll become reality.

Charlie Percival
6 Posted 28/05/2010 at 01:34:34

I actually think though that billionaire owners do us a favour in some ways, they give clubs stupid amounts of cash (us Lescott, Santa Cruz) etc when otherwise they would not receive it. And also when they throw their toys out of the pram and leave, we will be in a stronger position (Leeds, Newcastle — admittedly not bankrolled by oil but crooks) — I know we're bigger than them both put together but you get my drift.

Charlie Percival
7 Posted 28/05/2010 at 01:36:52

Look at Utd, Liverpool, were fortunate they got taken over because it is helping our cause in closing the gap (I meant).

Eric Myles
8 Posted 28/05/2010 at 02:18:18

It really won't make much of a difference, the clubs with the biggest incomes will have more to spend. So United, the RS, Arsenal and perhaps City and Spurs will always have more money than Bolton, Blackburn, Wigan and us.

Also it doesn't stop the billionaire owners from buying a new stadium, or a new training facility or spending money in other ways that free up income for the larger clubs to spend on players.
It's just a 'revolutionary' way to maintain the status quo and there are no automatic penalties applied.

Matt Traynor
9 Posted 28/05/2010 at 05:08:14

The only way this would benefit us is if it drove down players wages. Not going to happen. Chelsea and Man C have no real debt, as it was converted to equity. Man U and Liverpool would have ample time to restructure.

It might have an impact on transfer fees, but we depend on selling our players for inflated fees as much as the next team.

If anything, it'll reinforce the stranglehold of the bigger clubs.

Derek Thomas
10 Posted 28/05/2010 at 06:23:26

Always remember the Golden Rule...

Them what has the Gold makes the rules

James I'Anson
11 Posted 28/05/2010 at 17:00:02

City could generate more income simply by making a limited edition kit and selling them for £10m each. The Arab could buy 10 for himself and his mates. Turnover is up by £100m and City are no longer living beyond their means. Simples.

Jamie Rowland
12 Posted 28/05/2010 at 17:18:58

Gerry, that's not how i understood it...i.e. City and Chelsea.

They were saying that the club could only live within its means and not borrow to finance players and salaries. Therefore at City etc, nothing would change as they are not borrowing to create a false economy. Instead they are investing.

Liverpool, Fulham, Sunderland, us, Manure etc would fall foul of this though as they have borrowed to finance everything (as have we).

Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Newcastle would come up trumps.

I believe!

David Hallwood
13 Posted 28/05/2010 at 17:22:34

All very cynical, but alas probably correct. Nevertheless, something must be done about clubs being insolvent or on the verge of it. Always remember, Morgan Stanley, Enron et al were bigger and richer than any football club but it didn't stop them collapsing. Too big to fail? ... no such thing.

Ray Robinson
14 Posted 28/05/2010 at 17:38:07

Won't make a blind bit of difference to City or Chelsea, who do not currently operate according to traditional business rules... but will severely impact the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, United – so although it isn't the complete answer, it helps surely?

Ella Thornton
15 Posted 28/05/2010 at 18:25:11

David Conn in The Guardian explains it here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/may/26/michel-platini-uefa-club-finances

Steve Pugh
16 Posted 28/05/2010 at 23:18:05

City will simply introduce the "£1million seat" which the sheik will buy tickets for every match thus meaning they are always living within their means.

Aiden Doyle
17 Posted 28/05/2010 at 23:29:12

Thanks Ella - very informative link.

Garry Martin
18 Posted 29/05/2010 at 06:13:02

The way it has "panned" out in our league (from what I've seen), you basically have two types of investors in Premier League football: you have American investors who simply treat it as a business venture and burden the club with a massive debt ... i.e. Manure, Redshite & Villa; then you have the spender billionares ... ie Chelsea, Man City.

It appears very difficult to me to prevent either type of investor from entering clubs; money will always win over & nothing will change. Sounds basically to me like a hot-air comment meant to sound like the right thing to say.

Ciarán McGlone
19 Posted 29/05/2010 at 12:28:15

Sense?

I'm not so sure.

Does it include wages as well? What happens if you breach it? What's to stop Man city becoming a parent company for a oil company?

So many questions come from this proposal...it clearly won't create a level playing field...so, what's the point?

Sounds like a load f bollocks to me.

Eric Myles
20 Posted 30/05/2010 at 02:54:14

It also doesn't say that clubs cannot go into massive debt, the only requirement is that they are able to service the debt.

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