International Break November 17

Bread, Glazers and Samoa

Author

nick lochner
November 17, 2023

In Today’s CleanSheet:

  • PotLuck 🍗🥔🌽🍞🍰

  • Leftovers 🍗🥃

PotLuck 🍗🥔🌽🍞🍰

It’s international break. Premier League games will be back Saturday, November 25. As we head into Thanksgiving week in the United States food is on the mind. So, lets dive into a buffet of topics, and be prepared to loosen that belt a notch or two.

That’s A LOT of Bread. 🍞

Man City released their 2022/23 financials this week and the main topic seems to be Financial Fair Play.

  • Man City set a record for ~$900M in revenues and $100M in profit, edging out Man United’s previous record. BBC article here.

  • Man City also sit accused of more than 100 charges of financial rule breaking over 10 years.

  • Everton are waiting to see if a 12-point deduction is handed to them this year.

  • Chelsea has found itself in hot water - see below.

Lots of questions out there about how there has been no ruling on City’s FFP, and Everton and now Chelsea are being looked into.

Manchester United & The Glazers (Not the Donut) 🍩

Glazer Man United Ownership

Malcolm Glazer bought into MU in 2003 at 15%, to 30% in 2004 and then 57% and again to 75% in 2005. He too MU off the London Stock Exchange and his ownership to 98%. The final purchase price of the club totaled over $1B. Much of the money came from loans with an annual payment of over $75M per year. This level of debt did not sit well with the MU fanbase. A group of wealthy MU fans, “The Red Knights” put in a $1.2B offer for the club declined by Glazer. In 2012, Glazer IPOd the club on the NYSE at $14/share. Today it trades around $23/share. In 2021, Joel Glazer, Chairman, played a major role in the creation of a Super Leage. When the Super League fell apart, Glazer apologized to the fans and said, “he got it wrong”. There continues to be distrust from the fanbase on ownership. Lack of investment in Old Trafford, improving the squad and appointing a permanent manager all while the Glazers continue to attach debt to the club are listed as reasons for the discontent.

If you’d like a deeper dive, Here is a really good rundown of the Glazer’s ownership by skySPORT containing a chronological run down.

Fast forward to this international break…..

  • It was announced Thursday that Man United’s Chief Executive, Richard Arnold, would be leaving the club after 16 years of service. His departure comes as Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to buy a $1.5B minority ownership stake (25%) of the club. General Counsel Patrick Stewart will take over as CE on an interim basis.

  • In addition, Director of Football, John Murtough, is set to leave - and seems to be the one held accountable for United’s perceived poor recruitment recently.

  • It’s rumored Sir Alex Ferguson will be advising the club on a part time basis.

…..as a result - Erik ten Hag is the manager, Harry Maguire is still on the team and it looks like the Glazer’s are not going anywhere.

It’s Complicated 🍲

Chelsea was fined $10M in July by UEFA for incomplete financial information. Further investigation by The Guardian suggests prior owner Roman Abramovich, a Russian Oligarch, made payments to club stakeholders through offshore accounts. The question is - were these transactions on the books or under the table.

Regardless of the outcome of what really happened, my question is - How much should new ownership be responsible for old ownership issues. IF Abramovich had funky finances, and they were not revealed as part of the sale, should new ownership be punished?

Here’s a short article from TalkSPORT that suggests a point deduction may be in play. We will see where it goes, but I would suspect Boehly/Chelsea ownership would challenge any impact to the current teams standings.

  • For background on Abramovich and Boehly - see the Hot Topic 🔥🔥section of Match Week 6 Recap at the CleanSheet.

Next Goal Wins 🍊🍌🥬

In Theatres 11/17

Dutch-American coach Thomas Rongen lead the American Samoa National Football Team, considered one of the weakest in the world to qualification for the 2014 World Cup.

Based on a 2014 British documentary - Next Goal Wins.

Director Taika Waititi talks about the inspiration for the film (3min X).

Leftovers 🍗🥃

If you’re new to CleanSheet or missed any newsletters - check out this sampling of previous newsletters!

Let CS know your thoughts, Just Reply to this email!

Reply

or to participate.