An eclectic and eccentric view of football, business and management by media entrepreneur Chris Ingram.
*
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how vitally important the FA Cup is to smaller football clubs.
And blow me down, Crawley get drawn away to Man United in the 5th Round!
Just look at the economics:
Man United’s matchday revenue is £3.4m per game
In the FA Cup the home team has to share the revenue 50% = 1.7m
Crawley’s estimated annual turnover = 850k
So, this is going to deliver Crawley FC two year’s revenue from just one game at Old Trafford!
Rival clubs in the Conference Premier will see this as ironic: the new owners of Crawley have been accused of `splashing the cash’ in a dash for promotion. The cost of the assembled squad is at a level that most other clubs at this level can only dream of. However, such is the ability of football to scramble our brains, that most owners of clubs talk about the importance of balancing their books and running a club like a conventional business but if given a chance, would spend big money chasing the dream. Wage bill limits may be far from perfect but they are certainly a help in encouraging chairmen and directors to act sensibly (and I speak as one of the guilty parties!).
Even supposing my figures are not exactly right (and tell me if you know better), they’re broadly right and they need to be seen in the context of what’s happening at this level of football. One club handily-placed for promotion into our League may go out of business because they lost 3 games (and therefore all their revenue for a month) because of the snow. Windsor and Eton, 118 years old, went into administration last week. Kidderminster in the Conference Premier, are one point off the play-off places, but haven’t paid their players this year and the Inland Revenue are threatening to pull the plug on them because of money owed to them. Football clubs tend to be incredibly fragile businesses at this level.
Meantime, the biggest clubs are rumoured to be asking the FA to ban replays in the FA Cup, with everything decided on the one game. This is due to their worries about the wear and tear on their squad. With players at my club’s level earning up to £600 a week while Premier players earn up to £200,000 a week, the sympathy at grass roots level only goes so far.
There is a vital, symbiotic relationship between big clubs and small ones in this country.
We need help from the big clubs BUT each level of football relies on much of its talent being developed by the divisions below them. Eliminating replays in the FA Cup will without doubt, result in even more clubs folding at the grass roots level. The FA would be well advised to remind the top clubs of this.
*
Chris Ingram is as passionate about football as he is about business. Owner of Woking Football Club, and a majority shareholder in the fast growing sports media business Sports Revolution, Chris is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs.
Recently celebrating 50 years in the media industry and still actively involved with Woking, Chris is ideally placed to comment on the business side of football.
*