Chinese Super League spending: Wayne Rooney could follow Ramires with Premier League stars targeted by football’s future superpower February 12, 2016 Jiangsu who? Following Chelsea’s Ramires £21m move to the Chinese city of Nanjing to play for the Super League club Jiangsu Suning, many football fans have been left to ask who and why? The Nanjing club is hardly the best known, nor the most successful, in China. Last season they could only finish ninth in [...]
Arsene Wenger claims Arsenal “don’t have a problem” with ticket prices and urges fans against walkout protest February 12, 2016 Arsene Wenger has claimed Arsenal do not have a problem with high ticket prices, despite the fact the club sells the most expensive tickets in the country. Premier League rivals Liverpool backed down over a planned increase in prices after fans walked out of Anfield in protest last week, yet the Arsenal manager urged fans [...]
Sunderland and England winger Adam Johnson sacked after admitting child sex charge February 11, 2016 England winger Adam Johnson was last night sacked by Sunderland after his plea of guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one charge of grooming. Blacks Cats boss Sam Allardyce had earlier confirmed that Johnson would not be involved in the club’s Premier League fixture against Manchester United at the Stadium [...]
Ed Woodward hints Manchester United will have money to spend this summer and confirms club is in market for “top players verging on world class” February 11, 2016 Manchester United still expect to become the first English club to break the £500m revenue barrier this season, despite their struggles in the Premier League and uncertainty over the future of manager Louis van Gaal. Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward delivered the upbeat forecast to investors on Thursday after announcing second-quarter results which included a [...]
Manchester United share price pops following £84.5m increase in cash balance and rise in revenue thanks to commercial strength February 11, 2016 Out of the Champions League and seemingly out of the Premier League title race, Manchester United at least finished their second quarter in the black with £18.6m profit, triggering a seven per cent share price pop in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The figures United's commercial strength helped the club record its highest [...]
Premier League tickets should be capped at £10 for away fans, says West Brom boss Tony Pulis, following Liverpool and Arsenal price hike climbdowns February 11, 2016 West Brom manager Tony Pulis has joined calls to reduce the cost of attending top-flight football, urging Premier League clubs to charge away supporters no more than £10 per ticket. Pulis said teams should stop “milking, milking, milking” fans and, drawing comparisons with the Bundesliga, argued that incentivising supporters to travel to games would generate [...]
Manchester United second quarter results: What’s behind the share price slump? A loss of faith in the Glazer model or Louis van Gaal’s team? February 11, 2016 Manchester United were recently tipped by Deloitte to reclaim their position as the world's richest football club, yet investors do not appear to be reciprocating the faith in football's premier commercial juggernaut. Over $800m (£345m) has been wiped off the club's market value and its share price has slumped by 22.5 per cent since first [...]
Why Manchester United investors may be losing faith in the Glazers’ ownership February 11, 2016 Manchester United’s share price has fallen by over 20 per cent since the start of the year, reflecting the team’s struggles on the pitch which have left them in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification. Yet the degree of decline in United’s share price and the extended period over which it has occurred [...]
Liverpool ticket price protest: Premier League clubs should not lower the cost of attendance February 10, 2016 The ticket price row at Liverpool is only the latest squabble about the cost of attending football matches. The new £5bn-plus TV deal guaranteeing Premier League teams huge increases in revenue offers an occasion for clubs to lower admission prices. Retired footballers, journalists, media commentators and MPs all seem to be convinced that that they [...]
West Ham United 2, Liverpool 1 (AET): FA Cup victory ranks as one of club’s best, says Bilic February 9, 2016 West Ham boss Slaven Bilic insists that his side’s extra-time victory over Liverpool in last night’s FA Cup fourth round replay deserves to be ranked amongst the finest moments in the club’s history. A last-gasp header from Italian centre-half Angelo Ogbonna catapulted the Hammers into round five after Michail Antonio and Philippe Coutinho had traded goalscoring blows [...]