The message this morning from the top of the football tree was simple and stark: 'We're alright, Jack…'
But as the credit cruch starts to bite ever harder and the global banking community pulls every trick it can to avoid going into full melt-down, the picture one division below the gilded corridors of the Premiership might be slightly less rosy.
The picture two divisions below is even more fraught with a record three sides starting the new campaign with a minus figure to their name as Bournemouth, Rotherham United and Luton Town all pay a points penalty for falling into administration.
Indeed, according to Canary chief executive Neil Doncaster, the impact of the current downturn on the 72 Football League clubs is “massively” different. For one simple reason – they don't have ?2.7 billion worth of TV money sparing them from some very rainy days.
“Because the Football League clubs see a far higher proportion of their revenue coming through the gates and through corporate sponsorships than the Premier League clubs, the effect of the credit crunch is likely to be massively more severe on them than it is on Premier League clubs,” said Doncaster.
“And it's all down to the TV money. It's so huge in the Premier League that it dwarfs any other revenue stream and helps insulate them against any downturn in the economy.”
Writing in The Guardian today, the paper's football finance writer David Conn painted a picture of the game in rude, financial health – certainly robust enough to survive anything the current downturn can bring.
After all, the top clubs play to full houses nigh-on every week; they have a money-spinning TV deal signed through to 2010 and have, of course, some of the world's wealthiest men at their beck and call – ready to pump their own billions into the world's favourite football league.
As the new man at Manchester City, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, explained in an open letter to City supporters following the official completition of the takeover by the Abu Dhabi royal family.
'The letter did not offer just warm words,' Conn reported. '”In cold business terms,” it said, “Premiership football is one of the best entertainment products in the world and we see this as a sound business investment.”
'That could hardly be clearer: Sheikh Mansour, of the Abu Dhabi royal family and chairman of the emirate's International Petroleum Investment Company, does not see the Premier League as a bubble about to burst any time soon.'
Conn also quoted analyst Dan Jones of the sports business group at Deloitte.
Fans' enduring loyalty and the fact that a lot of the clubs' revenue streams are already secured leaves them well-placed to ride out the storm.
'The record ?2.7bn TV deal runs till 2010 and the clubs are confident that Sky's competitors, for Sheikh Mansour's coveted “entertainment product”, will trump that figure next time,” the Guardian reported.
'”Season tickets are paid up until May, sponsorship deals are fairly long-term,” Jones points out, “so football clubs are actually more protected than other businesses who look at the current economic climate and wonder how they will be doing next month.”'
The Canaries are due to release their latest set of accounts next week ahead of their annual general meeting later next month. In common with nigh-on every Championship club, they will be seen to be living beyond their means; cut your cloth accordingly and you'll end up paying your players League One wages.
Recruit enough League One players and sure enough, you'll end up in League One. That's the dilemma fcing every Championship club and owner – just how far can we afford to push the boat out in the hope of winning that golden ticket to the top flight.
And whilst City may have to publically wrestle with the ?1.5 million hole in their 2008-2009 finances left by the Turners' departure, you don't have to look too far around the Championship to find clubs where the onset of the credit crunch could not have come at a worse time.
Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe was muttering darkly about not being out of the woods yet. The Saints cause is not being helped by the ever-dwindling crowds at St Mary's – down to just over 14,000 for the recent mid-week visit of Ipswich Town.
Closer to home and, as the Eastern Daily Press reported on Monday, prudence is already having to take an axe to the players' wage bill – down from ?10 million to ?8.5 million. The downward pressure on that will only intensify in the current climate – particularly whilst Delia Smith's quest to find a new onvestor remains on-going.
“The harsh reality of life in the Championship is that you cannot break even without either cutting the wage bill to the point where you are not going to compete, or without support from directors,” Doncaster told Sunday night's NCISA annual meeting.
“There are things that can happen, but broadly it is about being supported by directors.”
Individuals dipping deep into their own pockets to keep Football League clubs on – vaguely – the straight and narrow. One league above, however, and thanks to Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB, the world is a completely different place. Credit crunch, what credit crunch?
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