Another FFP bullet dodged by selling the stadium...

This time at Stoke

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/stoke-city-financial-fair-play-6800769

 

It'll end in tears, the bookies are not in business to lose money, especially that one.

 

I give up.

 

"The bet365 Stadium, however, was bought by bet365 on May 28, 2021 for £70.25m."

football is ruined

 

Where’s my “pretends to be shocked” gif when I need it.

 

What's the betting(!) that it gets quietly sold back to Stoke's owners who lets them play there rent-free?

 

So someone else owns the stadium?

Stoke will be homeless like Coventry within 5 years.

 

The most surprising things to me are just how big the losses for Stoke and Reading continue to be given how bang average their squads are!

 

All that debt and they play sh@te football, really would feel cheated.

 

Might be worth checking what you've sent out on your work e-mails!!

 

Nah

The stadium in this case is owned by another company that the club owners also own. It’s more like a Derby situation than a Coventry. They won’t be ground sharing with anyone.

It’s legalised cheating. Stoke are being propped up by the profits of bet365 - it makes a mockery of ffp when all they do is write off loans as a share issue. They end up with more shares of a club they already fully owned. Absolutely ripping the piss out of the rest of the league and the efl will do **** all about it as they’re scared of the billionaire status and therefore legal prowess of the Coates family.

 

If a bookies loses too much money from a lucky punter they get banned forever. If a bookies loses too much money from owning a Football club they keep bankrolling it.

 

So aside from the stadium sale, basically the Stoke owners have used the tactic of turning debt into shares and thus writing off that debt before it can be counted in the FP rules? Sounds like an absolute scam and if true makes a mockery of the whole scheme. I'm shocked at the amount of money they have, making money from other people's misery and no doubt driving people to suicide, no better then the Saudi or Russian lot.

 

It's not often mentioned, but there is further scope of losses that can be converted into shares, or loans converted into equity. I think it might be an extra £5m per season on top of the £13m losses. And of course, you've the additional levels of loss allowed under the covid affected years (which the overspending clubs are all going to use, I'm sure).

But those losses are just staggering. And the overinflated fee for the ground is yet another dodge, just like the wendies.

But I don't know how you stop this. The EFL have got zero appetite, and for some reason that complete escapes me, there are still owners content to stack up vast debts in the hedonistic pursuit of championship mid table obscurity.

I'd almost be tempted to say, crack on. Bump up unlimited losses. whatever you want, and let's see where you are in another 5 years or so. I wouldn't be surprised if a legal challenge was mounted at some point that rules FFP unlawful.

 

The difference here is that the Coates family have the money. It won't make a dint in their wealth. They are totally committed. So no danger whatsoever to the club. I'd be glad if we had owners like that.

 

Conway constantly blathers on about others breaking FFP regulations but I can't help thinking that if the club owned Oakwell this is the sort of thing they might get up to. To what end, I don't know but if they could make money from it...

 

There's some reason why they've taken their bat and ball home over the sale of the ground!

 

I don't buy it.

A club paying Steven Fletcher £20,000 a week is cheating the financial fair play rules?

Next you'll be telling me to feel sorry for Wayne Rooney who has pulled £55,000 a week out of Derby throughout their administration period.

"He bought the academy players some cones and bibs out of his own wages, what a bloke."