Football regulator may have popular support but many will be disappointed January 22, 2026 The Independent Football Regulator will not be the panacea for all of the English game’s ills that some are hoping for, says Ed Warner. To a stimulating conference titled “The Independent Football Regulator: challenge or opportunity?” There I found myself a minority voice in an echo chamber of regulatory advocates. An opening poll of the [...]
Real Madrid top Deloitte Football Money League as Champions League revamp boosts Premier League’s rivals January 22, 2026 An expanded and more lucrative Champions League has helped Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain all earn more than any Premier League club last season, according to the latest Deloitte Football Money League. Real Madrid stayed top of the annual rich list with record-breaking revenue of €1.2bn (£975m), ahead of LaLiga rivals Barcelona [...]
England cricket chiefs refusing to let counties blow Hundred cash on wages January 21, 2026 The England and Wales Cricket Board is at loggerheads with a number of counties who are growing increasingly frustrated at delays in accessing the proceeds from the £520m sale of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises last year. While the ECB have already distributed tens of millions of pounds from the sale to counties with [...]
Premier League boom ‘masking’ English football’s financial woes, says BDO January 21, 2026 The Premier League’s record revenues and transfer spending are masking deepening financial worries lower down the English football pyramid, according to a new report from BDO. The business advisory firm’s annual survey of finance directors at clubs in the top four divisions found that 90 per cent expected to report pre-tax trading losses for 2025. [...]
Boycott 2026 World Cup over Greenland, European countries told January 20, 2026 European countries should consider a boycott of the 2026 World Cup over US president Donald Trump’s attempts to seize Greenland, say senior football figures in Germany and France. The US is set to stage the lion’s share of this summer’s tournament, which it is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico, including all knockout games from the [...]
Saipan film review: this football World Cup movie is ‘unmissable’ January 20, 2026 Saipan follows the story of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy and his very public fallout with captain Roy Keane in the weeks and months heading towards the 2002 World Cup. It arrives in UK cinemas this weekend. Film review and star rating: ★★★★ Even by football fan standards, the feud between former Republic of Ireland manager [...]
Independent Football Regulator will use statutory powers to open club books January 20, 2026 The Independent Football Regulator says it will use statutory powers to open the books and assess the balance sheets of clubs across the English pyramid. The government quango, which has been up and running in its own right since November, has today published the proposed scope of its first in-depth analysis of men’s professional football [...]
Richest women’s football teams 2026: Arsenal pip Chelsea and Barcelona January 19, 2026 Arsenal have overtaken Barcelona Femeni to become the richest women’s football team in Europe, according to Deloitte’s latest annual rankings. Last season’s Champions League winners topped the list of women’s football clubs ranked by revenue for the first time, with Arsenal earning €25.6m (£21.5m) in 2024-25. Women’s Super League holders Chelsea are a close second [...]
Regional stadiums: the infrastructure solution for WSL and women’s football? January 18, 2026 Women’s football is one of the fastest growing sports and investment opportunities in the UK right now – think Michelle Kang’s cash injection at London City Lionesses or Alexis Ohanian’s £20m investment in Chelsea Women. In the 2023/24 season Deloitte reported that the 12 Women’s Super League (WSL) football clubs generated an aggregate revenue of £65m [...]
UK ready to mirror US with female athletes becoming investors January 17, 2026 For three consecutive years, not a single female athlete has appeared among the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. The bar keeps rising. In 2025, the threshold jumped to $53.6m, up 19 per cent year on year. Coco Gauff, the highest-earning female athlete in the world, made $34.4m and still fell nearly $20m short. Meanwhile the global [...]