Has Mike Ashley stumbled upon the way forward?
Posted on May 27th, 2010 | 82 Comments |
But through all that, has Mike Ashley stumbled upon something. Has be bumbled his way onto the right path to a secure a sustainable and, heaven forbid, prosperous future?
The guys and gals at UEFA are meeting today and tomorrow to put the final pieces of their ‘Financial Fair Play’ document together. The aim is to force clubs to be more sustainable and to live within their means, and to put an end to the year-on-year losses incurred by clubs. It also seeks to put an end to mega-rich benefactors pumping money into clubs in the shape of loans. Under the new rules, owners will be allowed to put money in, but only for long-term projects such as new stadiums or training grounds, and that money can’t be in the shape of a loan but must be made up of permanent shares instead. So has Mike Ashley stumbled upon the way forward at a time when other clubs are struggling financially?
Not all clubs are struggling financially, with Tottenham Hotspur perhaps being the best example of how to run a club. It is expected that three-quarters of Premier League clubs are going to have to cut their cloth to fit these new rules. Aston Villa made a loss of £46 million in their last set of accounts, Sunderland lost £26 million, Liverpool £55 million, whilst Manchester United only manage to make a profit by selling Cristiano Ronaldo.
That is not to say that losses still can’t be incurred, but certainly they wont be allowed at the levels we see above. From 2012/2013, losses must be limited to £38 million in any rolling three year period, failure to limit those losses will mean entry into European competition will be refused.
So could we have a head-start on the rest of the teams, and will we be in good stead in the future? I would say yes, on both accounts. Firstly we have a headstart on these new rules, albeit our head-start was brought about by having to cut our wages and outgoings due to relegation.
Then there is this ‘break even’ business that Mke Ashley has heaped on us, that will form the basis of the new rules and is someting we are doing right now, however annoying it my be.
Finally, forcing clubs to live within their means would be ideal for us in the future. Our income is far greater than a lot of Premier League clubs, and that will give us a head-start on all but about five clubs in England.
There is bound to be a way around these new rules though, the sceptic in me is wondering just why club owners and chairmen from around Europe have given this new initiative their unanimous backing. That is something we will only know when the rules come into play, or at least when the new rules are released.
One thing is certain in these rules though, and that is in years to come we could benefit greatly form this as teams are forced to cut their cloth accordingly at a time where we have already been forced to.
It’s just surviving next season that we need to worry about first.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Tin hats ready ;)