What is a big football club?

Joe Cole's comment that Liverpool is the biggest club in the country provoked quite a debate.   There is no one criterion that determines whether a club is big or not.   Attendances and the size of the stadium are certainly part of the picture and honours are also a criterion.   But supposing most of them were won a long time ago?   Does the fact that Nottingham Forest won the European Cup twice make it a big club?   Is Liverpool's claim based largely on the fact that it has won the European competition five times and can claim its own replica trophy?

Simon Chadwick from Coventry University was interviewed about this topic on Radio 5 and he brought in the criterion of global recognition.   On that basis the two biggest clubs in England are Manchester United and Liverpool.   Arsenal and Chelsea are some way behind in the global recognition stakes.

Simon also introduced the notion of a club's catchment area, which is certainly relevant to its potential and whether it has competition from another club.  However, catchment areas are not a straightforward matter.   Aston Villa is much more of a regional Midlands club whereas Birmingham City draws more of its support from inside the conurbation.    That may help to explain why Villa can claim to be a bigger club.

He also introduced the notion of a 'sleeping giant' category, giving Cardiff City as an example, which I would certainly agree with.    There can even be sleeping giants in League 1: until recently Leeds United and now Southampton.

Simon Chadwick pointed to the example of Blackburn Rovers which won the Premiership once, but never went on to build on that potential.   However, that was only achieved by the injection of substantial amounts of money by Jack Walker.    Blackburn lacks the large and prosperous catchment area that would be needed to make a sustainable bid for the big time.

If one turned this argument round, one might think that a big city would produce a big club.  But Bristol has conspicuously failed to do so.    A devoted fan base can help a club to punch beyond its weight, Newcastle United being the clearest example.   Norwich City also qualify on a smaller scale, although they benefit from lack of competition in Norfolk.

In Scotland it's not so much a case of big clubs as two dominant clubs in the shape of Celtic and Rangers.   No other club comes within touching distance.

Bean counters would use turnover and cash flow as the main criteria and at least they produce relatively objective standards of judgement.    On that basis, the biggest club in England is undoubtedly Manchester United.    To challenge them, Liverpool need their new stadium.

But, of course, in many ways it's a matter of perception.   When they were down in the third division, Manchester City fans described themselves as a 'massive' club.   If nothing else, it boosted their morale.

The last month has seen an interesting development in sponsorship.  The Premier League has made games software provider Electronic Arts, best known for its Fifa Soccer game which has sold 100m copies worldwide, its first official sports technology partner.  It is the latest in a series of sponsorship deals with US groups.   Five clubs are owned or part-owned by US investors (Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester United, Sunderland).

EA Sports was already the Premier League's computer games licensee and its games license has been renewed for four years.   The combined value of the deals is thought to be worth between £10m and £15m.   Sponsorship deals make up about 5 per cent of the Premier League's £1bn annual turnover.

EA Sports will sponsor an enhanced player tracking performance index, giving fans data such as the distances playes run, the speed of shots and the height they jump.  It is hoped that this will help the sales of EA's football games in the US.   English fans are a little suspicious of statistics, as the slightly derogatory epithet  'statto' shows.  Americans, on the other hand, need to statistically analyse everything and find soccer too fluid (which for many fans is part of its attraction).

Manchester United has been described by one US marketing executive as the global sporting brand that the New York Yankees baseball team 'wish they were'.   However, for all their success in Asia, can United really be described as a global brand when there are limits to their penetration of the North American market?

Manchester United has been on a five-match tour to the States, Canada and Mexico, admittedly without their World Cup stars.   This is evidently designed to boost their presence in the American market.  However, while 40,000 fans turned out to watch a training session in Malaysia on last summer's pre-season tour, only a few hundred watched United train in Philadelphia.

Major League Soccer is making steady strides in the States, but there is still a long way to go before it can even match ice hockey for commercial appeal.   Teams like United visiting the States depend quite a lot on the expatriate market, ex Brits with their mid-Atlantic accents telling tales of better times in their new homes but with a sentimental tie to their home country which can find expression through football.

Like many fans, I have drawers stuffed full of old football shirts, home kits, away kits, third kits, often with quite odd designs and colours, bearing the names of former sponsors, some of them no longer trading.  No doubt if I hang on to them long enough they will become worth something.

But some fans are getting fed up with the frequency that Premier League clubs in particular change their shirts.   According to the Premier League charter, home shirts are supposed to change only once every two years.  However, last season all but two clubs (Arsenal and Liverpool) changed their shirts and this season all 20 will.

At £40 or £45 a shirt, the mark up is considerable.  Of course, fans could 'just say no' and refuse to buy them.  But somehow I think that is unlikely.

In some ways it’s been a quiet month on the football finance front.   Just two league clubs are in serious trouble: Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday are facing up winding up orders initiated by the taxman, but both clubs are confident that they can sort things out by the dates for the court hearings.   Revenue and Customs have also appealed against the company voluntary arrangement agreed at Portsmouth.  There is no doubt that the tax authorities have got less tolerant with clubs failing to meet their tax obligations and that may push some clubs over the edge in the coming season.

Wyn Grant is a regular contributor to Albion Road and also the publisher of footballeconomy.com, a website covering the business and economy of the game of football.