Wendies

[whitestomper45]

Seems a long while ago now since we were in meltdown.
They look in an even worse scenario. As one of the clubs that voted with Leeds against our 15 point deduction, hope they can find a better owner

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Big big club with lots of history and much prefer them to the Blunts.

Sad when clubs get bought by owners that run them into the ground - we had Cot Birdseye and then GFH!!!!

I suspect within 5 years the PL will be ring fenced with no relegation or promotion so as to protect the interests of the owners who are now largely based out of the UK

City
Liverpool
Newcastle
Chelsea
Forest
Spuds
Us
Villa
Bournemouth
Fulham
Everton
Man U

Etc

[spaldy]

Maybe they will just do what the "professional league" in the US does which is just play an exhibition league each year. No relegation or promotion. Just anoint who is allowed to be part of their "professional league". 200+ cities with big enough populations and facilities to host a professional team but only the chosen few may be part of it. It's a joke and it shows any time you decide to torture yourself and watch it. It sets American football back decades.

I do rather like the Wendies. Feel really bad for them that they are going through this. Their supporters deserve better.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

The UK sporting model has largely been based on leagues with promotion and relegation for decades.

Rugby hasn?t had promotion or relegation for 2 years now in the top league and rhe result is for the bottom teams the last few games become largely meaningless.

The EPL has become such a cash cow that those who feed from it and have huge turnovers are likely to move to that model.

The sums of money now involved in football are insane sometimes - the total wage bill for PL clubs in 24/25 was about ?2billion.

The Deloitte report (so pretty accurate) for the 23/24 season showed total turnover ?6.3 billion.

For the same period the EFL championship clubs turnover was ?958 million noting that there are 4?more teams in the championship. In addition, the top 5 clubs by turnover accounted red for ?458 million of that with us having ?128m

The drop off between the EPl and the championship is staggering which means the gap between the haves at the top and the have nots is so wide as to now almost be unbridgeable.

The various PSR and other rules simply entrench the dominance.

[whitestomper45]

The pending appointment of a first Football Regulator will hopefully improve vetting and controls of new owners. Lisa Nandy the Culture Secretary is a Wigan Ath supporter, so has seen the harm done by poor ownership...Morecombe also struggling at moment

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

More regulation of the game is not what it needs

[whitestomper45]

More regulation of the game is not what it needs

With regard better background checks on ownership is exactly what is needed

[spaldy]

Not much for regulation and restraint of trade but a transfer cap and salary cap might make sense in this case.

Over time the thing that madd the prem do great will also be its undoing

[Monaco_Totty]

More regulation of the game is not what it needs

Defo requirement of diligence on investors, sponsors & agents, as well as reporting suspicious activity to Financial Intelligence Service Units, for starters, too.

Blimey, some of the stuff my Mum translates for FSE on how some European football clubs are run is horrific.

Football Supporters Europe is the representative body for football supporters across Europe & advocates that fans voices are heard & included at every level at the game.

Everyone in football must meet certain legal requirements before they can register. These should always include the fundamental standards of quality & safety at every level, too.

So I am in favour of regulators within football, H, as some shenanigans within the game currently need stopping particularly Agents conduct & players contract detailing.

Oh, & multi-club ownership being one too ! 👍

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-la...t%20has%20said.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

There is more than enough regulation already and generic legislation which applies already it is just poorly enforced or enforced by those who are regulated.

Better regulation would be good but the new regulator is likely just to add more not better.

[whitestomper45]

You need to check up what new powers the regulator will have. It includes things to do with heritage such as team colors, fairer distribution of wealth, tighter rules to avoid rogue owners, many fans have been asking for this?

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

I have looked at the draft legislation and what it means - there is a little of the nanny state to some of it. A lot of it seems to be what Gary Neville was asking for and I tend to vehemently disagree with most of what he says.

The cost of compliance wi go up which is yet another expense for lower league clubs. Most of this will have no effect on the top leagues.

In the lower leagues if the fans are that bothered then they should group together and buy a stake in the club like they do in Germany.

Do you trust any government to run football properly?