2019/2020 accounts analsyis - from STAR

[3points]

https://star-reading.org/news/rfc-accounts-in-detail

[Snowflake Royal]

Christ that is grim reading...

[3points]

How deep are Mr Dai’s pockets?

[Lower West]

No wonder football as a whole is in financial meltdown. Player salaries are out of line with commercial reality in the lower leagues.

[Snowflake Royal]

They're out of line with reality in the top leagues. Why do you think Real are so desperate for a Super League.

[Who Moved The Goalposts?]

They're out of line with reality in the top leagues. Why do you think Real are so desperate for a Super League.

But even that is so short sighted as we all know that additional income will result in even higher transfer fees and ultimately higher wages. I've been hoping that the bubble will burst, and the ESL fiasco has perhaps hinted it could be sooner rather than later.

[paultheroyal]

So, are we getting a points deduction or not?

[Green]

Not news by any means but yeh it's all a bit RIP not only the club but also the game I used to know and love.

Let these millionaire players and billionaire owners get on with it but it's of no interest to me.

[fartdad]

Not news by any means but yeh it's all a bit RIP not only the club but also the game I used to know and love.

Let these millionaire players and billionaire owners get on with it but it's of no interest to me.

you are always welcome down at scours lane to big up the town

[Green]

Not news by any means but yeh it's all a bit RIP not only the club but also the game I used to know and love.

Let these millionaire players and billionaire owners get on with it but it's of no interest to me.

you are always welcome down at scours lane to big up the town

I h8 to break it to you but I don't think they're still going.

[fartdad]

[Binfield Royal]

Just read the STAR report and thanks to those who took the time to analyse and explain.

Whilst I appreciate the FFP rules are in place and apologies if this is naïve but what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to pay off all the debt plus fund a promotion winning squad? (I appreciate there needs to be a desire on the part of the Dais to do this but if we can leave that to one side for a moment).

Presumably a substantial fine and points deduction? I wonder if there is a financial point where this is actually the most viable option when compared with years of scrimping and saving whilst trying to simply survive at the bottom of the Championship and still losing money?

[Wycombe Royal]

Just read the STAR report and thanks to those who took the time to analyse and explain.

Whilst I appreciate the FFP rules are in place and apologies if this is naïve but what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to pay off all the debt plus fund a promotion winning squad? (I appreciate there needs to be a desire on the part of the Dais to do this but if we can leave that to one side for a moment).

Presumably a substantial fine and points deduction? I wonder if there is a financial point where this is actually the most viable option when compared with years of scrimping and saving whilst trying to simply survive at the bottom of the Championship and still losing money?

Slight problem that we can't sign players without EFL approval.......

[Green]

Just read the STAR report and thanks to those who took the time to analyse and explain.

Whilst I appreciate the FFP rules are in place and apologies if this is naïve but what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to pay off all the debt plus fund a promotion winning squad? (I appreciate there needs to be a desire on the part of the Dais to do this but if we can leave that to one side for a moment).

Presumably a substantial fine and points deduction? I wonder if there is a financial point where this is actually the most viable option when compared with years of scrimping and saving whilst trying to simply survive at the bottom of the Championship and still losing money?

[Sutekh]

Just read the STAR report and thanks to those who took the time to analyse and explain.

Whilst I appreciate the FFP rules are in place and apologies if this is naïve but what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to pay off all the debt plus fund a promotion winning squad? (I appreciate there needs to be a desire on the part of the Dais to do this but if we can leave that to one side for a moment).

Presumably a substantial fine and points deduction? I wonder if there is a financial point where this is actually the most viable option when compared with years of scrimping and saving whilst trying to simply survive at the bottom of the Championship and still losing money?

Slight problem that we can't sign players without EFL approval.......

Does sound like an option once the FL approval on signings is lifted but the club would have to a) be sure of getting promotion and b) be able to sign the sort of player that should guarantee promotion (and how many of those would be willing to sign for a season in division 2)? If the attempt failed (and perhaps even if it was successful) the FL might be able to instantly/effectively demote the club for flagrant disregarding of the “rules”.

But then if FFP rules weren’t so utterly restrictive and loaded toward keeping the big clubs big and the little clubs in their place the question wouldn’t arise. If a club has cash rich owners who want to spend big then that should be allowed but with caveats attached to stop large debts/loans being run up, rather than the ridiculous however many million over some arbitrary figure over n seasons which just seems to create so much confusion and allow accountants to be creative.

And parachute payments should be totally scrapped as well!

[Fox Talbot]

QPR, Bmth, Villa, poss Wolves, all spent big and possibly got away with it. Fines apply when they come back to EFL but somehow get reduced.

Not advocating we do this because we’re SH it at transfers.

[Elm Park Kid]

Just read the STAR report and thanks to those who took the time to analyse and explain.

Whilst I appreciate the FFP rules are in place and apologies if this is naïve but what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to pay off all the debt plus fund a promotion winning squad? (I appreciate there needs to be a desire on the part of the Dais to do this but if we can leave that to one side for a moment).

Presumably a substantial fine and points deduction? I wonder if there is a financial point where this is actually the most viable option when compared with years of scrimping and saving whilst trying to simply survive at the bottom of the Championship and still losing money?

Slight problem that we can't sign players without EFL approval.......

Does sound like an option once the FL approval on signings is lifted but the club would have to a) be sure of getting promotion and b) be able to sign the sort of player that should guarantee promotion (and how many of those would be willing to sign for a season in division 2)? If the attempt failed (and perhaps even if it was successful) the FL might be able to instantly/effectively demote the club for flagrant disregarding of the “rules”.

But then if FFP rules weren’t so utterly restrictive and loaded toward keeping the big clubs big and the little clubs in their place the question wouldn’t arise. If a club has cash rich owners who want to spend big then that should be allowed but with caveats attached to stop large debts/loans being run up, rather than the ridiculous however many million over some arbitrary figure over n seasons which just seems to create so much confusion and allow accountants to be creative.

And parachute payments should be totally scrapped as well!

It's impossible to buy yourself a Promotion standard squad without creating an ongoing wage bill that would threaten the viability of the club if the owners withdraw financial backing.

And personally i'd rather that we stayed in the Championship than win promotion simply because we spent the most of our owners money.

[Dirk Gently]

... what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to .... fund a promotion winning squad?

To a certain extent, that's what they tried to do last year.

But if you're going to do that it's absolutely vital that it works and you do get promotion.

The consequences of if are - well, where we are now. The club gambled on promotion and lost the bet (not for the first time, either, but they've never done it to this extent before).

[Elm Park Kid]

... what would be the consequences if the owners decided to drive a coach and horses through the rules and do a "Man City" by ploughing enough money in to .... fund a promotion winning squad?

To a certain extent, that's what they tried to do last year.

But if you're going to do that it's absolutely vital that it works and you do get promotion.

The consequences of if are - well, where we are now. The club gambled on promotion and lost the bet (not for the first time, either, but they've never done it to this extent before).

Added to that - Don't forget that if all FFP rules were removed then that would leave our competitors in the league with the opportunity of doing the same. Who's to say that we would spend the most, or the most effectively? We might find ourselves in exactly the same position, just spending twice as much on salaries/liabilities.

There's a whole issue of parachute payments that really needs to be fundamentally solved. If you just end them then it will mean that either Championship clubs won't be able to hold on to, let alone sign players when they get promoted; or it will mean they face almost certain administration when relegated.

Unfortunately there's a lot of stuff in football finance that seems to the outsider to be 'obvious', but when you explore all the elements it's extremely complicated. It's what happens when you allow unrestricted free-market capitalism in a sport built on family and community.

[tidus_mi2]

I was thinking about this the other day but couldn't the FFP rules be more flexible? Say a club wants to buy a player and the overall cost of the player, transfer + value of the contract is £10m, why shouldn't the owner be able to just inject £10m directly into the club? If for whatever reason the owner decides to walk away, he has already personally financed the cost of the player and the contract so it's surely at no risk to the club from that perspective.