Arsenal most creditworthy club in Prem

[flyerhawk]

http://fourfourtwo.com/news/england/23106/default.aspx

An online credit information provider has claimed that half of Premier League clubs are technically insolvent.....

Even some of the most successful clubs need to take a look at how well they’re scoring off the pitch to make it through the recession, in particular keeping a close eye on cash flow management and ensuring that they don’t fall foul of bad debt themselves. Arsenal prove that good money management goes a long way in times like these.

There are some ways that being cautious certainly pays off.

[canadagooner]

No silverware for that accomplishment though I suppose:(

[TerpSoccerFan]

Goal.com had a similar report about La Liga:

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/88/spain/2009/01/07/1048169/new-report-reveals-massive-debts-in-la-liga

The thing is, no one is going to close these clubs down - and people keep lending to them because they have a ton of guaranteed revenue.

[crazy150]

http://fourfourtwo.com/news/england/23106/default.aspx



There are some ways that being cautious certainly pays off.

So, how exactly will this pay off? Is our plan to wait for the other clubs to go under? I'm getting sick of the financial side of footy--it's worse than baseball.

[thebigman]

yeah, although players are better now and its a great game to watch, money has somewhat tarnished the sport we love and there just doesnt seem to be any loyalty anymore

just mercenaries going from club to club for minimal fees after say 15 mill was spent on them

i see football as pure madness

[No1ArsenalFan]

This thread has finally swayed my view that football is a business. It seems that the club I support are more bothered about money than playing football.

[bigINTERNETTOUGHGUY]

This thread has finally swayed my view that football is a business. It seems that the club I support are more bothered about money than playing football.

Well Rich, since you deem creditworthiness to be inversely correlated with "playing football" when can we expect you to change your name to No1PompeyFan?

[Sean P.]

In case you all haven't noticed, we are only just finishing year 1 of the worst financial crisis our world has seen in 80 years. Given this, the below is the most important table in the BPL:


98 Arsenal
93 Man United
71 West Brom
65 Tottenham
43 Blackburn
40 Manchester City
37 Sunderland
37 West Ham
26 Liverpool
--------- CLUBS BELOW THIS LINE TECHNICALLY INSOLVENT
18 Everton
17 Stoke City
10 Chelsea
7 Middlesbrough
5 Newcastle
5 Bolton
2 Aston Villa
2 Wigan
2 Fulham
1 Hull
0 Portsmouth*
* No accounts filed for Portsmouth at Companies House


I, for one, am glad that Arsenal out of all clubs have most clearly seen football for what it really is and has been for years and years: big business. And I take heart in the fact that when my children are born, Arsenal will still exist for me to share it with them.

[No1ArsenalFan]

Well Rich, since you deem creditworthiness to be inversely correlated with "playing football" when can we expect you to change your name to No1PompeyFan?

Explain. I'm not as clever as you guys think :D.

[TerpSoccerFan]

I, for one, am glad that Arsenal out of all clubs have most clearly seen football for what it really is and has been for years and years: big business. And I take heart in the fact that when my children are born, Arsenal will still exist for me to share it with them.

It is a big business, but it is not like every other business.

These clubs aren't going to go under. Maybe one or two extreme examples will suffer some real hardship, but who is lining up to close these places down?

Football clubs all over the world pile on tens to hundreds of millions in debt - only in the occasional, extreme example does it ever become catastrophic for those clubs.

It is nice that Arsenal attempt to maintain some financial strength, but they are holding themselves to a standard that their entire industry ignores. It doesn't have much competitive value in that sense.

[bigINTERNETTOUGHGUY]

Not really sure of the methodology employed, but I'd rather be in Chelsea's shoes than West Ham's.

Don't really understand Spurs either. They're near top, yet they seem to spend an awful lot of cash. How do they do it?

[TerpSoccerFan]

Not really sure of the methodology employed, but I'd rather be in Chelsea's shoes than West Ham's.

Don't really understand Spurs either. They're near top, yet they seem to spend an awful lot of cash. How do they do it?

Spurs actually spent negative money this summer. They took in more than they spent. And they have rich ownership. Their payroll is also considerably less than ours.

[flyerhawk]

It is nice that Arsenal attempt to maintain some financial strength, but they are holding themselves to a standard that their entire industry ignores. It doesn't have much competitive value in that sense.

They have shareholders that they are responsible to. If we got bought by some billionaire who thought of this as a vanity then we could ignore financial discipline.

[TerpSoccerFan]

They have shareholders that they are responsible to. If we got bought by some billionaire who thought of this as a vanity then we could ignore financial discipline.

That is a fair point, though I would say the best way to create value for the shareholders is to increase the value of the club through winning.

[Darth Norteño]

Don't really understand Spurs either. They're near top, yet they seem to spend an awful lot of cash. How do they do it?

Secret owner...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/FRP/TonyMontana.jpg

[bigINTERNETTOUGHGUY]

Spurs actually spent negative money this summer. They took in more than they spent. And they have rich ownership. Their payroll is also considerably less than ours.

Over the last several years they haven't been shy about spending money. Is Sugar (I *think* he still owns the club) actually funneling cash in, a la Roman?

[bigINTERNETTOUGHGUY]

Secret owner...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p34/HBOS88/FRP/TonyMontana.jpg

Sweet! You know that that means....new transfer target -- Robbie Fowler!
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/01_01/CeleFowler_468x578.jpg

[DaPrince84]

Don't really understand Spurs either. They're near top, yet they seem to spend an awful lot of cash. How do they do it?
they have a very rich man on their board... one of the top 10 richest men in football

[frasermc]

they have a very rich man on their board... one of the top 10 richest men in football

and you have two do you not?

so it all comes down to how much money of their own personal fortune they are willing to plough in.

[Darth Norteño]

Sweet! You know that that means....new transfer target -- Robbie Fowler!
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/01_01/CeleFowler_468x578.jpg

Not to mention...

http://www.foxsports.com.au/common/imagedata/0,5001,5685465,00.jpg

and...

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39435000/jpg/_39435903_frankie203.jpg