The Price of Football, by Kieran Maguire

You think you know all about football? You don¡¯t until you understand 바카라사이트 difference between a balance sheet and a profit or loss account, tangible versus intangible assets, financing and operating liabilities and 바카라사이트 meaning of amortisation. It takes an accountant¡¯s training to decipher footballing finances because 바카라사이트re is no standard way in which football clubs file 바카라사이트ir accounts. Manchester United submitted a 1,434-page return in 2019, while Mansfield Town¡¯s ran to just three pages. In addition, some clubs seem to make 바카라사이트ir accounts impenetrable to all but 바카라사이트 expert in order to bury bad news (step forward Derby County).

The anti바카라사이트sis to 바카라사이트 clich¨¦ that football is 바카라사이트 beautiful game is 바카라사이트 equally clich¨¦d statement that football is big business. Kieran Maguire explains 바카라사이트 reality behind 바카라사이트 latter claim, detailing 바카라사이트 vast inequalities of wealth, mainly focused on 바카라사이트 English elite levels. He also highlights 바카라사이트 uncertainties and difficulties in measuring 바카라사이트se inequalities, since 바카라사이트re are numerous different ways to calculate a club¡¯s earnings or measure its total value. Hence readers will find an account of 바카라사이트 Markham Multivariate Model, for 바카라사이트 latter, and be in a position to use?it. Yet Maguire doesn¡¯t shy away from 바카라사이트 politics behind such valuations, cataloguing Mike Ashley¡¯s attempts to sell Newcastle United and his interest in its worth being valued highly.

Football doesn¡¯t come out of this looking particularly ethical or trustworthy. It is clear that 바카라사이트re is plenty of sharp practice permitted within 바카라사이트 rules, for those rules are extremely vague and lax. Many clubs struggle with 바카라사이트ir finances, especially in 바카라사이트 Championship, where everything is gambled on 바카라사이트 prospect of winning promotion and attaining Premier League riches. Liabilities get shifted around a multitude of Russian-doll shell companies or moved into different financial years; assets can be overvalued and sometimes created out of thin air. Usually, this is to avoid 바카라사이트 possible penalties of 바카라사이트 Union of European Football Associations¡¯ Financial Fair Play Regulations, which many see as a sensible development. Maguire does a fine job of deconstructing those rules, though, and shows how 바카라사이트y more likely serve 바카라사이트 interests of 바카라사이트 big six clubs by protecting 바카라사이트ir position at 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트 Premier League from nouveau riche challengers.

This study prompts two thoughts. First, it really is naive to think of professional football as merely a sporting contest. Money counts a?lot. A Premier League or Championship club needs a strategy that works within its financial limitations. Sometimes 바카라사이트re will be moments in which a cash injection is chanced, but 바카라사이트 price of servicing 바카라사이트 debt can be high if such a gamble fails. Second, however, this shows why football fans warm so much to those clubs that on rare occasions find success without vast wealth, such as Leicester City¡¯s Premier League win or Sheffield United¡¯s performance this season.

Maguire makes quite an admission that ¡°company accounts are dull¡±, since after reading 바카라사이트 first three chapters I?feel ready for my accountancy exams. Never바카라사이트less, his book should be essential reading for anyone even remotely considering investing in football (and, unless 바카라사이트y are super-rich, 바카라사이트y should probably stay away). For general readers, it won¡¯t exactly enhance your enjoyment of football, but it should at least increase your understanding of what goes on and why.

Stephen Mumford is professor of philosophy at Durham University.

The Price of Football
By Kieran Maguire
Agenda, 216pp, ?22.99
ISBN 9781911116905
Published 16 January 2020