Chris Weatherspoon
@cweatherspoon
Football Finance Writer at The Athletic UK | Will write about money for football | Views are not someone else's 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦/𝗧𝗜𝗣𝗦: 📧 cweatherspoon@theathletic.com
I simply cannot fathom why someone would vote for this www.nytimes.com/athletic/747...
World Cup will keep tide at bay for now but, as we edge inexorably deeper into transfer waters, a PSA: the transfer fees you see reported are almost always lower than how much a transfer actually costs a club - even before we get to wages In aggregate, reports are always lower
Figures I'm using are from audited accounts, i.e. actuals, with reported fees from 2025-26 onwards added, plus estimates of unreported fees Transfermarkt a great resource but, because it relies on reports which routinely undershoot, tends to be lower than actuals: www.nytimes.com/athletic/659...
Mentions of Calder Vale Holdings, the now-former Burnley FC parent company which never filed accounts before being voluntarily liquidated, are surrounded by redactions in Burnley v Everton written decision Current parent company now nearly 18 months overdue with its own accounts
Also, to say this news is enormous for Burnley's finances is an understatement. Everton's stated reasons for reluctance to pay any money pre-appeal outline as much:
The 2025-26 Champions League is over and we can now estimate what each club earned from it: • PSG top pile for second year running • Arsenal break English record • Premier League clubs dominate prize pot @theathleticfc.bsky.social 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 🔗 www.nytimes.com/athletic/731...
The overall uplift in distributions to clubs, driven by ever-growing overseas TV rights deals, meant almost all clubs improved their domestic league earnings on a year ago. We project 15 PL clubs earned more in 2025-26. Manchester United the best of the non-promotees.
Merit payments have been a staple of the Premier League since its 1992 inception, but they shot to new heights. Each spot up the table was worth an extra £3.76m to clubs, a 21% increase on the previous high (2022-23: £3.11m). Arsenal earned £75.2m in merit payments alone.
The 2025-26 Premier League wound up yesterday and, with its end, we're able to project how much each club earned. Based on multiple sources, we expect payouts to England's top 20 clubs exceeded £3bn for the first time. @theathleticfc.bsky.social FREE TO READ: www.nytimes.com/athletic/730...
Paris Saint-Germain just won their fifth consecutive Ligue 1 title and their 12th in 15 seasons under Qatari ownership I don't know how either
Almost a year out of date but indicative: the most recently available squad cost (transfer fees, agent fees, etc) figures for this season's EFL Championship clubs As every year, recently relegated clubs dominate - and will have seen notable reductions since, through player sales
And Boro are right to. The EFL rule is unequivocal. What use is a fine when the winners of the play-offs guarantee themselves a minimum in £200million revenue over the next three years?
Leeds United confirmed as safe today. Vital step on road to the £1billion valuation the club's owners are aiming for by 2030. Like many, survival also triggers chunk of new costs: up to £62m across fee add-ons and bonuses per '24-25 accounts, and could be more on post-June deals
We now have a full slate* of wage bills for last season's EFL Championship Top three all include promotion bonuses: £19m at Leeds, undisclosed at Burnley and Sunderland Average of non-promoted, non-parachute clubs: £30.8m wages v £28.4m revenue (wages/rev: 108%) *No Sheff Wed
Eight short years ago today "An international consortium of football investors"
During the Chelsea sale process, Joe Ravitch, the co-founder and partner of Raine Group, who managed the sale, reckoned each of the Premier League's biggest clubs would be worth over $10bn (£7.6bn) by 2027. How's that looking?
Very hard to determine (turns out the clue is in the name 😃) but yes, we do know plenty of public bodies have put into Clearlake too, such as these:
Full slate of Premier League player amortisation bills (i.e. annual cost of spreading transfer fees across player contracts) from 2024-25 here PL/UEFA rules limit amortisation to five years, so can be (and are) differences between accounts and submissions when contracts >5 years
For an idea of how much even FIFA know they're making hay while the sun shines/milking US-based tournaments for all they're worth, look no further than their 2027-30 budget Forecasting $938million (26%) drop in hospitality and ticketing revenue, mostly across CWC '29 and WC '30
Blackburn Rovers...no no no no this is not how things are supposed to look But a pretty good snapshot of the (structural) insanity of the EFL Championship
Leeds marched to promotion last season with record Championship revenues but also one of the most highly paid squads in second tier history. 49ers Enterprises have provided £255m funding in two seasons. 2024-25 accounts analysis @theathleticfc.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/athletic/716...
With two-thirds of last season's EFL Championship clubs reporting, division's collective loss (excluding owner loan write-offs and gifts) sits at £246million. Average of £15.4m per club is 16% worse than 2023-24 even with two promoted clubs (with promotion bonuses) yet to report
Sunderland's 2024-25 accounts show clear shift to player trading model: £55m player profit generated in last two years was more than previous eight seasons combined Profit on Clarke (c.£11m), Watson and Jobe offset record £47m operating loss (driven by promotion bonuses)
Sunderland have spent around £200million on new players this season...but it is worth remembering how much ground they had to make up. Even after that spend, the cost of assembling their squad remains one of the lowest, possibly the lowest, in the Premier League (wages unknown):