Introduction Championship finances are the most mind numbing in any division in the professional game and Sheffield United have just produced their accounts for 2017/18. Having to compete against clubs with the benefit of parachute payments as well as some with rich benefactors means that wages are high, and losses are common. Relative to other clubs in the division was always a tough task but a seaason of consolidation in 2017/18 has been the platform for potential promotion in the current season. I must confess to always liking Sheffield United as when I was a kid their Admiral kit was the one in the catalogue that looked cooler than a…

Liverpool 2018: The Killing Moon Introduction: Jurgen Klopp has many reasons to smile at present with his team competing for the Premier League title and in the knock out stage of the Champions League. Under Klopp’s management, combined with what seems to be astute operational management by the club’s commercial and marketing department, the club has also announced a world record pre-tax profit of £125 million for 2017/18. Reds’ fans won’t give a hoot about the profits as they look forwards with anticipation and trepidation to the remainder of the season, but there is a link between good financial and footballing management depending upon the business model employed by different…

Introduction Stan Kroenke, Arsenal’s invisible owner, saw goodbye to three big players in the club during 2018 as the club went trophy less but perhaps more importantly for the moneymen failed to qualify for the Champions League for the second season in a row. The power struggle with Ukrainian Alisher Usmanov ended with Stan as the final man standing as he bought out his rival, allowing the American to also take Arsenal from the AIM Stock Exchange to the less scrutinized private company. Arsene Wenger’s dignified reign as manager came to an end with perhaps sighs of relief from both the Frenchman and his many vocal and at times very…