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Written by Wyn Grant
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Monday, 06 February 2012 20:52 |
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 The transfer window report from business advisory firm Deloitte calculates that Premier League clubs spent around £60m, a decline of 70 per cent on the record level of £225m in January 2011 (admittedly something of an aberration).
Dan Jones, a partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, saw Uefa's financial fair play rules as a factor in the comparative restraint of clubs and a more sober level of spending among Premier League clubs.
He noted, 'In the decade since the introduction of transfer windows, January has typically been a relatively quiet window with total spending driven by a few high value transfers, as certainly the case with the chain of events on last year's deadline day. The £60m spent in January 2012 is back to a similar level as the January windows in 2004 to 2007 and still ahead of the investment in players by top division clubs in other European leagues.'
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Written by Chris Perez
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Thursday, 02 February 2012 20:49 |
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 Chris Perez, our newest Albion Road correspondent, takes a look at English football just after the midpoint - revenge of the little guys, the contenders and pretenders, the latest news, and predictions for February. Think he's right or wrong? As always have your say in the comments.
Just like the cosmos the year 2011 died and in its place a supernova of excitement exploded onto the scene in the form of 2012, which in turn brought the infamous "January Transfer Window". The changing of the year also began the sorting of the clubs into either the contenders or pretenders piles. However, 2012 started with a big bang for the smaller stars in the galaxy that is the Barclay's Premier League with Sunderland handing the sparkling Manchester City their first blemish with a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light.
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Written by Jeremy Rueter
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Monday, 16 January 2012 14:06 |
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 The Home Internationals Soccer Tournament, 1946-84, A Complete Record by Gary Watton is a match-by-match record of this annual tournament, once played amongst the four national teams of the United Kingdom - England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Each match gets its own page and the details include lineup (interestingly including which club the player played for at the time, a great touch), scorers, and a brief summary to give it context.
At the end of the book you'll find complete head-to-head records, final tables of the tournament, and as a bonus the league champion in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland that year. Wales as you likely know would not be included in that because their top clubs played (and continue to play) in the English football system.
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Written by Michael Hund
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Tuesday, 10 January 2012 09:45 |
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 With the holiday season in our rearview mirrors, the MLS pre-season is about to kick into gear. Likewise, the USMNT returns to action with the annual January camp and friendlies. But we begin with the different roster trajectories of the two biggest names in American club soccer…
The Perils of Success
It seemed that the price of the Galaxy’s 2011 success would be an off-season dismantling, headlined by the long-rumored departure of David Beckham. But here we are, in the heart of the transfer season, and Beckham looks like he may extend his stay in LA. Likewise, many of the key cogs that looked to have attracted interest from other quarters were quietly signed to new contracts or departed on short-term loans.
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Written by Wyn Grant
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Tuesday, 03 January 2012 21:45 |
What can we expect in 2012 in terms of the business side of football? It's an almost unanswerable question because no one knows for sure what is going to happen to the world's main football economies, those of Europe. Asian countries are, of course, big and growing customers for televised games and the prospects there look reasonably good. In the States, against a background of slow economic recovery, the game will continue its steady progress.
No one is forecasting any significant recovery for European economies in 2012. The big question is whether they will enter another recession. That in turn depends on what happens in the eurozone crisis. Italy in particular has to finance a big tranche of debt in the first three months of the year. If Italy can't sell its debt, the whole eurozone is at risk. For what it's worth, my bet would be that although it is possible that Greece may exit, the eurozone as a whole will survive because Germany wants and needs it to succeed.
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