A blog by Martin Williams, external affairs spokesman of Graydon UK, focusing on business risks - from fraud to late payment. Martin has has spent the last 35 years in the credit information industry, and has been with Graydon UK, one of the top five commercial credit agencies in the UK, for the last 20. Apart from his PR duties, he teaches credit analysis to risk professionals and helps educate SMEs on the importance of maintaining a good credit rating. Martin is a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Management and is a sitting member of the Institute's Think Tank. He was also honoured by Credit Today, after being included on their Credit 100 list of people who have had the greatest impact in the credit industry during 2008, 2009 and 2010.
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27 Jan 2010
These are indeed troubling times for football fans. Diehards no longer have to fret about league results or the threat of relegation- they're more anxious nowadays about the financial situations of their beloved but debt laden clubs.
Yesterday came sad news for Crystal Palace fans. Eagles fans saw their club go into administration when cash strapped owners couldn't find the money to pay off the HMRC.
HMRC, the biggest petitioners for Winding ups in the courts due to unpaid tax bills, can do more damage to the reputation of the football league as they petition for the winding up of four further clubs- Notts County, Cardiff City, Portsmouth and Accrington Stanley.
Its a sad state of affairs when even the most famous clubs in the land like Manchester United and West Ham are up to their ears in debt, causing all kinds of sleepless nights for their supporters despite the fact that affairs on the pitch are far from a major concern.
I don't blame HMRC though- company directors that run football clubs should act the same as any other company director in the country no matter what line of business they're in - with responsibility and with an eye on the future. If football directors could achieve this- now that would be a result worth celebrating !
Visitor comments
Martin
A very interesting blog and one that fills me with great sadness - firstly as a football fan and secondly as a Palace fan. I have watched with some sceptisism over the the last few years as I have seen more and more football clubs get themselves into financial difficulties as they stretch themselves further and further with more and more complex financial arrangements. They seemed to have mimicked the banks in this way and have ended up in much the same place.
If you take Palace for example, the two are even more closely linked with PWC managing the freehold of the ground with Lloyds Bank. The ground was owned by HBOS and the Rock property company until the latter went into administration. The biggest creditor is a London based investment company. I wonder what Bill Shankley or other legends from bygome eras would make of the current state of footballs finances!!
Using your Graydon predictive risk score, I wonder if you could advise me of any football clubs that are financially sound before I consider changing allegiance!
Anyway, as a born optimist I have no doubt that Palace will return stronger for the experience and will rise to the top of the premiership in the next 5 years.
I for one will be at Selhurst Park on Saturday cheering the boys on.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeagles
Posted by: Simon Blackwell , 27 Jan 2010
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