euro??

Wednesday, 08 October 08, 03:56 AM · Comments(0)

The current worldwide financial crisis has sparked off a number of stories regarding the stability and long term state of football clubs. Radio 5 live (last night's podcast) broadcast two opposing views with Lord Triesman stating his fears about the current level of debt within the Premier League and Richard Scudamore (PL chief spin doctor it seems) saying debt is good (in a Gordon Ghekko manner) whilst having a go at Platini and the French in general! Of course, our old friend Blatter has been having a go at Foreign Owners in Europe. Yesterday also saw the announcement that West Ham have no money for January due to the collapse of an Icelandic bank....

So what does all of this mean to football as a whole. Obviously the game won't just collapse overnight but when you consider how many banks and other financial institutions have suddenly collapsed or been seen to be on the brink of collapse, there must be some worries. Debt isn't an issue provided you have appropriate income and so clubs with wealthy owners are fine so long as the owners stay and their wealth is easily accesible and not at risk from the current crisis.

However, how long will it be before clubs start saying to players and agents we can't afford new bigger contracts and no, we won't pay exorbitant wages in the current climate. Suddenly players will all be looking for the Man Citys of this world where the financial mess means nothing if you have billions at your disposal.

Of course, the Premier League is primarily funded by Sky TV and if (and it's a big "if" as fans see losing football coverage as a last resort) they lose subscribers in large numbers then maybe they couldn't afford the size of the TV deals now. With West Ham already suffering from loss of sponsor and new owner's losing money, Liverpool postponing the Stadium building and Man Utd having problems with their sponsor, we are seeing the effects already.

Can anyone spare a dime/pound/euro??

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