It is extraordinary that City’s encounter with Chelsea on Thursday is likely to be the last before the fall of the Roman empire.
The arrival in West London of Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich in June 2003 began the transformation of the Premier League into a rich men’s playground. English football has always been split into the haves and have-nots, but the then Governor of the Russian region of Chukotka ushered in the era of the have-yachts.
I had a close-up view of the advent of Abramovich. I think I might well have had a couple of brushes with his armed bodyguards. I certainly gained insights into the seismic shift he led in our game.
Now the founder member of English football’s billionaire cadre is dashing off in haste, leaving Chelsea to contemplate a future suddenly made unsure. Yet, sadly, the uncompetitive competition he leaves behind remains irrevocably wedded to wealth.
I find myself, like all Norwich fans, full of dread and despair watching my club being battered game after game by clubs whose owners have much, much deeper pockets than ours. It is utterly crushing being a City supporter right now. But waving goodbye to the Russian instigator provides a moment to take stock.
Ken Bates, the irascible, difficult, old whatsit who sold Chelsea became an unlikely ally to me a year before he struck the deal with Abramovich.
When I was an executive on the (London) Evening Standard, barely a week went by without him sending me a letter threatening legal action about something we’d published. Eventually I sent him a reply which said, merely: “Ken, stop being such a curmudgeon”. Apparently, he went around Stamford Bridge showing everyone my missive and laughing.
When I left the Standard, not entirely of my own volition, his secretary called me at my home, where I was sulking and worrying. “I’ve got the chairman for you,” she said, and so I waited to hear him gloating about my diminished circumstances. Instead, he said: “You’re going to find out who your friends are.”
I said: “I didn’t think we were friends, Ken.”
“That’s what I mean,” he said. “You’re about to find out.”
And in the months that followed he kept inviting me to events, keeping me visible and “in the loop” as I began what was to become 20 good years of freelance writing and broadcasting.
So I saw, first hand, how building the swanky new West Stand at the Bridge pushed Chelsea close to the financial abyss. I saw the increasing desperation with which Bates looked around for ways of keeping the Blues out of the red.
That is the first important thing to understand about the Abramovich era as it ends: he bought Chelsea because they were financially distressed. He got a bargain because they weren’t really able to bargain.
The man who conducted the sale was Chelsea’s then chief executive Trevor Birch. He told me: “He won’t stop, you know. Abramovich won’t stop until he has made Chelsea the biggest club in the world.”
Birch was one of the first casualties of that quest. He went on to work with Bates at Leeds, then became the country’s foremost expert on saving clubs in administration. Now he’s chief executive of the Football League – where he must cope, daily, with the implications of the Premier League’s profound wealth.
Chelsea first won the title in their second season under Abramovich. They clinched the crown with a home win against Charlton, whose manager, Alan Curbishley told me that evening: “If I buy a player for a million pounds, and he flops, I lose my job. Chelsea can buy a £10m player, and if he doesn’t work out, they’re not bothered. That’s how they’ve changed things.”
In fact, they led a price inflation so that £10m became considered a pittance. And they stockpiled players, parking dozens at a time on loan around Europe (and, more recently, in our under-performing midfield).
For us, £10m remains a significant commitment. Yet it is not sufficient to buy a cert. The excitement about the crop of summer signings has wilted because only two them – Milot Raschica (who cost £9.4m) and Mathias Normann (who arrived on loan but won’t stay if we’re relegated) – look like the finished product in the world’s richest league.
It is so deflating and depressing watching the rest giving only glimpses of potential. And the abandonment of Farkeball only emphasises how our dreams have been dashed since the sublime summer of 2019. Promotion that May seamed a vindication of doing things properly: recruiting cleverly, keeping the books balanced, brilliant coaching, fabulous football.
But it was Daniel Farke himself who, this season, abandoned what Luddites called ‘the tippy-tappy stuff.’ Tim Krul had started hoofing the ball (usually straight out of play) before Dean Smith arrived. And defenders had begun thumping the ball forward in the forlorn hope of releasing Rashica. Instead, they mostly gift the ball to the opposition.
For the record, I understand why it had become necessary to attempt a complete reboot in November. But I shall always be glad that my wife and I were among those at Brentford who celebrated the season’s first Norwich win in the Premier League by feting Daniel at the final whistle – not know we were waving goodbye.
And, also for the record, if we again wave goodbye to the Premier League, nobody can say it is anything other than rotten failure.
So, of course, fans want to blame someone. That is the nature of being a football supporter. After every defeat at every club, you’ll find fans blaming a particular player, or the ref, or the playing formation … anything and anyone, but definitely someone. Because if you can convince yourself there’s an obvious, simple failing it must follow that there’s a simple solution.
Currently, the glib plan gaining traction with many (most?) fans is for Delia Smith and Michael Wynn-Jones to sell the club.
The question, “To whom?” is not being asked. Just tell them to sell! The self-funding model has failed, so, you know, get someone richer in.
But let’s look at Chelsea again. The best analysis I’ve read was in The Athletic, where a clutch of good journalists with good knowledge of Chelsea and the wider picture concluded that whoever buys the London club will have to be much less spendthrift than Abramovich.
Nobody is likely to come in and say: “Putting in about £1.7billion in less than 20 years? Yeah, that’s fine. Carry on.” There is likely to be a clear-out of players this summer as a new regime tries to bring costs under control.
Meanwhile, though, UEFA is predicting a 40 per cent increase in TV and commercial rights when the next round of deals is signed in 2024. That will mean big increased payments to the top clubs in our Premier League (who can already bank more than £100m in prize money alone from the Champions League).
There will be a growing disparity within the Premier League between those playing in Europe and those making up the EPL numbers.
For clubs like, say, Crystal Palace the most that they can realistically hope for is to stay in the area between 17 and eight or nine in the EPL. They have American investors and a substantially well-off chairman, but they must keep treading water in the middle to lower reaches of the division.
Or, consider Everton. Bill Kenwright listened to fed-up fans calling for a really rich owner and sold a controlling interest to Farhad Moshiri. He is definitely really rich: a bonafide billionaire. But it’s their turn to fight against relegation this season.
Or there’s Fulham. They have an American billionaire owner. They are currently romping to the Championship title. So they will yo-yo up again – but, as they have shown twice before, are no better at staying up than we are.
Or West Brom. Their billionaire owner is Chinese. They’ve also had a couple of recent yo-yo seasons. They’ll be lucky to finish in the top half of the Championship this season.
Or Stoke. Their owners, the Coates family, are blooming rolling in it … in the Championship.
Or Derby. Their owner, Mel Morris, is only half a billionaire, admittedly. But you can’t fault his ambition for the club. Unfortunately, you can fault his compliance with Football League rules. Derby County were docked points and have been in administration for five months.
Of course, there are clubs who, you could argue, have done well after, and because of, being sold to one or more wealthy “investors”. But define success. Is treading water like Palace success? And, if so, how certain are we that it won’t be Palace’s turn to go down in a few years’ time?
I haven’t even addressed the fact that there has not been a single credible approach for the club since Peter Cullum made an ill-thought-through bid in 2007. Not one. Despite our employing first Deloitte and then deal-broker Keith Harris to seek out potential purchasers.
Part of the issue is that when we owed £23m we weren’t a good buy. But since we cleared that debt, we haven’t been “distressed” … so now we’re a different type of bad buy.
I don’t know what the way ahead should be. Sorry.
I expect us to go down. I expect that it will be tough in the Championship next season. Stuart Webber has built three promotion-winning squads (the first was at Huddersfield) but the odds and history suggest a third quick promotion would be extremely unlikely.
But is the Norwich model really broken? Isn’t it football that is broken? And doesn’t that mean that “Delia out” is just noise?
Still, remember that song Chelsea fans sang about her? They can’t sing the first line now.
Sorry Mick
Turkey and Thanksgiving comes to mind.
You say that no creditable offers have been forth coming yet the AGM says that creditable offers have been passed on to the owners yet taken no further was even the other share holders consulted have you been involved or seen any of these offers or are you in the dark like the rest 9f us?? and we all speculate that just life of a supporter.
You say that the Delia out is just noise what happens when that noise gets so Lound it’s deafening defending friends is admirable and we all do it to a less or greater extent.
You also say that top brokers have retried to sell the club but how do you sell a club when you insist it’s not for sale, or investment not needed as we are a self financing aren’t these sending out confusing messages.
Why hasn’t the naming rights been sold for extra money.
Sadly like many others I will not be sad when she leaves the club over 25years in my opinion the club has stagnated but this time there is no Geoffrey Watling to save up.
Sad news on sky this minute Frank O Farrell ex Leicester and Manchester United manager has passed away aged 94 my condolences to his family and friends.
I’m afraid the reason the current self funding model needs changing is because fans after two seasons in the premiership have had enough of seeing their club humiliated.
This season the football produced at Carrow Road has been so dire fans are now wondering if it’s worth renewing season tickets.
I’ve supported City for nearly sixty years and I’m finding it difficult to motivate myself to attend matches knowing future humiliations lie ahead.
Football may be broken but not as badly as the self funding model which is basically gambling our future on finding a Maddison every year.
You are correct in your assumption that the championship will be difficult next year because it’s full of billionaires and we’ll be priced out of competing with them.
It is frightening to see how much we need from player trading just to remain competitive in the Championship. It is a miracle that we are able to compete but I can’t see the players at present. Two of our young hopefuls are long term injury absences and of the new buys only Rashica is likely to have increased in value
“The question, “To whom?” is not being asked. Just tell them to sell! The self-funding model has failed, so, you know, get someone richer in.”
It’s asked all the time. Don’t set up strawmen Mick.
“For the record, I understand why it had become necessary to attempt a complete reboot in November. But I shall always be glad that my wife and I were among those at Brentford who celebrated the season’s first Norwich win in the Premier League by feting Daniel at the final whistle – not know we were waving goodbye.”
Did you think about this as you wrote it? You’re questioning why people suggest getting new owners, at the same time as writing about our first win, in NOVEMBER.
Also Mick, why do you never speak up when we report a 38M overspend while in The Championship. One that cripples our PL chances. But do speak up when someone suggest we may need, oh I don’t know, more money? Perhaps because it doesn’t fit the picture of Delia’s magnificent ‘balanced book’ approach to running our club (aka boom and bust).
You make a very good point regarding the £38 million overspend Dave.
But sorry Dave I for one do NOT want Delia and Michael to sell to just any old Herbert.
That could be a complete and utter disaster.
For instance one Mike Ashley is looking for a club 😱😱😱
I agree that I wouldn’t want Mike Ashley either. BUT, I quickly googled “why do Newcastle fans hate Mike Ashley”. Many of the reasons would accurately describe Delia.
1) Doesn’t invest money
2) Multiple relegations
3) Lack of competitiveness at the top of of the PL (previously almost won it)
4) No European football (previously had European football)
5) No cups (previously won the League Cup)
6) Self promotion around the club
I liked this summary quote…
“The club needs an owner who cares, who has ambition, who can spend money on players and much needed upgrades of infrastructure such as the academy and the training ground. Mike Ashley has proved many times he is not that person.”
Which could just as easily read…
“The club needs an owner who cares, who has ambition, who can spend money on players and much needed upgrades of infrastructure such as the academy and training ground. Delia Smith has proved many times she is not that person.”
People forget that Ashley paid off Newcastle’s debts (but possibly because he didn’t ‘due diligence’ when he bought the club and hadn’t realised how much they owed). Not that I want Ashley here.
Dave, hi.
The £38m “overspend” was in the 18-19 promotion season. It included the promotion bonuses, and a substantial spend on the academy. It was our first season without parachute payments, but we spent money to win the Championship. Some supporters call that approach showing ambition.
I commented at length on the accounts when they were published. I noted that, having secured promotion, the punt on spending had paid off.
I asked Ben Dack about the breakdown of the loss from that year and he gave a good answer. The loss after taking out the wages on unused players (Naismith et al), plus the impact of promotion brought that loss down to £16m which was roughly the profit from the previous year where we sold Murphy and Maddison. That is fine but it also shows the issues that we face. A further year would have required a player trading profit of £16m or a reduction in costs of £16m, which would have been wages. This would put us from being a top 8 club to being a bottom 8 club and that has to be the concern. This is part of the “broken football” narrative but we are having to live within this. We have not solved the issue any more than McNally and Lambert solved it. We are living within the issue.
Amazing response and good research.
Five years ago I wrote this piece and predicted a 37M shortfall (two years before it happened) and settled on a 22M shortfall on future years….
https://norwichcity.myfootballwriter.com/2017/12/14/guest-blog-in-transition-patience-the-key-or-is-the-simple-truth-were-out-of-money-and-out-of-time/
Not perfect, but not far off 16M either. It’s clear we need PL money to survive. There will be no balanced books if we don’t keep bouncing back.
We definitely need some form of PL income. I sense that cashflow is a bigger issue than profitability, this comes from comments about timing of TV money payments and also guesswork based on timing of transfers. Some of the research came from the mouths of the club officials. I attended a couple of sessions with Steve Stone and he was quite open about the issues faced (he also suggested that cashflow was the biggest issue), I also managed to speak to Ben Dack when he was in that role as I was interested to see how large the gap would be in a typical EFL year. Again he was reasonably open but by then we had secured promotion so the problem had faded slightly. I think we can just about self fund a lower Championship playing budget as our gate/commercial income is relatively high but we would see facilities decline at Colney etc
I agree Mick that was ambitious, just so pleased it paid off. And to be honest I didn’t know it included the promotion bonuses, and probably Steven Naismith’s big pay day🤬
I have been a bit worried though about the ratio of our income to wages over the last few seasons, surely that kind of expenditure cannot go on forever ? Especially if the parachute payments dry up.
Mick is incorrect, mostly. There were bonuses (I think Naismith got 1M out of the 38M quid). but they did not cause such a massive losss.
At the AGM that year the club announced they would go from 10M in profit in July, to being in debt by Christmas. That had ZERO to do with any bonuses, since we hadn’t been promoted yet.
Back of the napkin numbers show we overspend by approximately 1.5M to 2M a month when in The Championship (without parachute payments).
Hate to break it to you Mick’s numbers (which amazingly he actually doesn’t supply any because they don’t exist) are a fairy tale.
And, it’s not a one off, it happens every single time we go to The Championship and lack parachute payments (and sometimes even when we have them!)
Delia can not afford this club if it remained in The Championship and I’d challenge anyone to prove with actual numbers how that statement’s wrong. I’ll wait…
I’ve said many times in broadcasts and written pieces over the last 20 years that any club — not just us — who fall from the Prem suffer a cataclysmic fall in income and once parachute payments finish, there is a risk of insolvency. It is far less likely for Norwich now that everyone has relegation clauses in their contracts.
The 18-19 accounts included all the promotion bonuses (yes, with £1m for Naismith) and buying up contracts of others signed in the previous regime..
There’s no mystery or obfuscation.
You’ve lost me.
YOU know that Norwich live in a world where we swing wildly between being in debt that could risk our club’s financial future, to clearing said debts by crippling our footballing future.
YOU know that we have an owner that provides zero tangible benefit to the club, adamantly refusing to put in money or seek buyers. Yet you also know that when in The Championship our costs regularly exceed our income by 10M’s of quid. Resulting in us pillaging our squad.
YOU know that in 25 years under Delia our club has declined in footballing stature in comparison to the 25 years prior (almost constant top-tier football, European football, and a cup win).
YOU know that other clubs need wealthy owners just to survive, but suggest having a poor one is somehow better.
YOU have seen nearly every team in the top two tiers change hands in the past 25 years, yet state we are both undesirable to purchase when either in or out of debt.
YOU know what it’s like for this club to have seen success, yet YOU call fans ‘glib’ for suggesting a change may help improve our fortunes.
YOU know better, but the trouble is, YOU know Delia.
Thanks for coming on here Mick and putting across your point of view.
It must be very hard for you as you have such a very good relationship with Delia and Michael. I must admit it would be very hard for me to criticize the clubs if my mate Norwich City mad Marty was the owner. Basically I wouldn’t .
As I have said on here many times Delia and Michael have done very well for the club and only today I said under her stewardship it has been exciting one way or another over the last 20 years.
But it is your very argument Mick regarding Roman Abramovich that the ownership of our club needs to change if ever there is a reasonable offer on the table.
I think after the last relegation from the EPL and this one, unless there is a miracle, have been soul destroying especially for those brilliant fans who travel to all the away games.
What is it now ? 54 EPL games away where we have gone 1-0 down which has resulted in 1 draw and 53 losses ? That is a disgrace.
Sadly we need a change of ownership to compete in this league. This has been proven twice now.
I come to this reluctantly because like you Mick I do worry about the long term stability of the club for years to come and sell to the wrong people and if you think this is bad just ask Portsmouth, Sunderland, Charlton, Coventry etc supporters what it could be like.
But on balance I do think Southampton, Leicester, Brighton, Palace, Wolves etc look to have good owners. So why with our potential attendances can’t we compete with these teams. Unless you are totally delusional the top 5-6 are not who I am talking about, but I am sure as we did two years ago I am sure we can at least give them a good game or two.
But all it took two years ago was the worst injury crisis in my 60 years of supporting this great club and this season a dreadful summer recruitment window to seal our fate.
I know Delia and Michael love this club and I would just like them to really consider what is in the best interests of Norwich City FC
I would love to go back to the Seventies and Eighties ( minus the hooligans, awful pitches and decrepit stadiums ) when all kind of teams from Forest to Derby or Aston Villa to Everton could win the league. But I think those days are gone. And sadly it is money.
I think it is only Blackburn and the miracle that was Leicester City are the teams who have broken the traditional top fiver sides from winning the EPL since its inception. And lets be honest Blackburn’s win was powered by Jack Walker’s millions.
But millions don’t cut it now it is billions. Pep has spent millions on reserve full backs.
Do not get me wrong he is an excellent coach but would he keep us up at this moment in time ? I certainly don’t think he would have a cat in hell’s chance.
But Delia has made some awful decisions as well, Gunny as a manager ? Twice !! This set us back years.
The truth is the best appointments have been by David McNally and Stuart Webber. In other words leaving it to the professionals. When Bryan was given the manager’s job after relegation to the third division my mate Marty was so incensed he had to go for a walk. Me I just sat there stunned. And we all know how that turned out.
But I too loved Farkeball and hated the sacking of Daniel Farke, especially the timing. Dreadful.
But it was probably the right call.
I just feel if we want, and it seems most fans agree with this, to be competitive in the EPL then our financial situation will have to change.
Another interesting side note to all of this is what happens in three years time if we are still stuck in The Championship, no Bright Young Things to sell and no parachute payments ? I have seen the financial report from the AGM and I am certainly no accountant but I think we could really struggle to keep in the club Championship.
You may well be right Mick in that there is no buyer out there. Like you I know very wealthy people were approached a few years ago to no avail.. And I think that may have hurt Delia, who would have been justified in thinking why are all these awfully run football clubs being bought but a very well run club like ours was being ignored. And I can understand that.
But it is time to move on from that. Two fantastic Championships under Daniel Farke “rewarded” us with two of our worst most forgettable seasons in my lifetime. It is time to realize self-funding will not cut it in the EPL.
I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a buyer out there. we tick a lot of boxes – debt free and massive potential support with a bigger ground given the growth of population and our hinterland – a relatively successful team could sell at least 35,000 tickets a game. Obviously this won’t happen with the Smiths who don’t have the money to finance it.
But I think Mick is right when he asks: ‘But is the Norwich model really broken? Isn’t it football that is broken?’ In an ideal world our model is the model to follow. But it isn’t ideal and I felt a sense of disiappointment and despondency following our loss to Brentford, asking myself what’s the point of us in the PL – there’s no enjoyment for us fans and only the memory of Farkeball at its height when we beat Man City 3-2. I have no answers and certainly don’t want to be a part of any sportswashing project.
I go to all away games. Even home games are a 230 miles round trip. Yes, it’s been awful.
Of course football is broken but its just more obvious now than before that money rules it always has but not to the current extent. When dare I say it “those down the road” were good they lost their better players as they doubled their wages at the “bigger clubs”. It is all well and good Norwich wanting to be different but the last 2 EPL seasons have shown where that leads – that said our recruitment this time was poor at best (no physical CDM for example). What happens now – why go up to endure what the last 2 seasons have given us – but don’t go up , sell the last of the silver to survive as a club and then what ? Something needs to happen to break the circle.
I hope Chelski become the rubbishy mid table club they used to be. I think it’s outrageous that Abramovich is being allowed to sell the club. The government should be freezing his assets; I wonder why!
Football finance is a mess. We should be the model for the 91 other clubs , but we’re never going to be. I want the club to have much more money but I don’t want it to come from Middle Eastern and Chinese human rights abusers, oligarchs or dodgy corporations. Therefore, I have no idea how we’ll ever be a competitive EPL club and I doubt that we’ll be a leading Championship team in a few years..
I have no answer other than going to as many games as I can.
There are clubs who spend no more than they bring in. I pointed out that Brentford are an example as they make large profits on player trading. I am aware that the owner put money into the club but that is true investment which has not lost him value. He is not funding a deficit, he is helping the club compete. That is what any business needs
He’s just had his uk assets frozen! You talked that up!
Mick, surely you would agree that a board with no designated chairman and three of the five directors having remained in place since 1996 is not a healthy situation? How many other multi-million-pound operations in an increasingly competitive, money-driven industry would have remained so static in the boardroom? And as for the others, who really knows anything about Tom Smith? And as for Stephan Phillips, all I can say, Mick, is ask anyone who was in editorial in Archant when he was in charge what they think about him. I have.
If we’re not going to change the self-financing model or sporting director situation the bare minimum we need is a new line of thinking in the boardroom to challenge the status quo.
Ultimately, though, the real problem isn’t NCFC but modern top-flight football. At the moment there are no financial basket cases in the Premier League; the only clubs at serious risk of going down are the newly-promoted three plus Burnley and Leeds. Breaking into that “established” 15 is a very hard trick to pull off and takes more money than we have at the moment.
It will be overlooked or ignored but I understood your point about SP.
Well said.
I knew him quite well back in the day Martin.
A decent enough fellow and quite genial. Remember my last day at archant when the staff turned out to see me off in style and he was amongst several speakers with highly embarrassing anecdotes regarding my time there.
He certainly had an edge though.
My comment comes from knowing a lady on the Evening News and two guys in the then *art studio* who I used to play 6-a-side with at the UEA many years ago. You may well have worked with all three of them!
When I left the Ilford Recorder I got a traditional printers’ *banging out* ceremony from all the lads on the shop floor. I was the stone sub and they felt I was one of them – so much so that I joined the NGA for a while.
I’m not an emotional guy but I cried all the way home – really.
I’ll never forget it.
I also wonder if it is the right thing to do as a family, to pass this onto a beloved nephew in the certain knowledge the poor boy will face all kind of abuse when things go wrong.
I certainly wouldn’t put this on to my niece or nephew that’s for sure, unless either had a £1 less in the bank than Sheik Mansour.
Mick is starting to sound like the Russia Today of the canary world
The premier league may be broken but it won’t change and our model clearly can’t work so it is time to follow the herd
Unfortunately this article is one of the many reasons why that until delia goes this club will remain a laughing stock. How many relegations will it take for even the blind to see? The self funding BS is exactly the problem – it’s nothing of the sort, it’s called asset stripping and when the parachute payments run dry and there’s no one left to sell are our beloved owners going to step in with the money to fill the gaps – no they aren’t. We will never be established in the PL with the current set up and ironically are more likely to end up established in L1 with the current set up. Hell even the binners changed ownership and are heading in a better direction than us ! Wake up and smell the coffee before it’s too late
Agree with the comment on self-funding comment.
The irony, to my mind, is that Robert Chase started all this when he demanded, and got, 5 million for Sutton. Suddenly the super rich realized there was money to be made in football. Arguably one key player, be it Salah or Kane or Allison even, could keep us in the PL. We just don’t have the cash, obviously. What I do hate is the criticism of the players. Our current side would probably destroy our Bayern beating team. That they’re not quite good enough as a collective is hardly their fault
This started with the creation of the Premier League. The sale of Sutton was an early indicator of what was happening. The wealth being centred in the top flight, a few wealthy owners being happy to subsidise success (e.g. Blackburn).
No it didn’t it started with the first £1000 transfer way back in the early 1900’s. Money has always allowed bigger clubs to get who they want.
Well said Mick. Your views were always worth hearing in that freelance career. I should know, having (full disclosure) commissioned you to share them on 5Live.
No easy answers from me. Clarity from the top as to the five or ten-year plan would be good. Better recruitment is vital, but realistically we should delight in finding the occasional gem – I was all too aware of the need to relish Buendía’s genius while we could. And some optimism that the academy can keep providing – Rowe, Idah and Omabamidele all in the mix would cheer me up.
It’s bad just now. But that doesn’t mean change, any change, is the solution.
Marcus Evans should be added to the list of mega rich
owners buying into the football dream but ultimately failed to ignite Ipswich’s push to join a more elite group of clubs. Who at City will forget the “we’re******* loaded” jibes chanted towards us?
Perish the thought, but the local derby could soon be on again.
Evans pumped millions into the club to keep them playing Championship football much longer than would otherwise be the case. Without him they would have gone the way of Portsmouth or further
Yes the game is broken but I think Chelsea is a different issue. We need to look at what is happening in the Championship, I am not aware of any clubs breaking even without parachute money. That is the reality that we face, the game is broken but it is going to break us. We have made £150m profit on player trading in recent years, we have received some form of PL money every year with the exception of one since 2012 but we are still sailing close to the wind. I don’t have an issue with people who acknowledge that the game is broken and that we are trying to do things the right way. I am more concerned with people who think we have solved the issue and we have nothing to worry about. It is interesting that we are not distressed enough to be a good buy, I agree and that is the concern. If things turn bad, we suddenly became attractive to asset strippers. We need cash, we need a fighting fund to see us through bad times or to build on good times. This is not bad business practice, it is what happens in business. In fact we have done this relatively recently when the owners gave us an interest free loan in order to improve commercial facilities. You mention Peter Coates, who I often see as a billionaire version of Michael Wynn Jones, I might be wrong but I imagine that they would get on well together. The benefit of Coates ownership is that he can support the club through a lean period. We don’t have that safety net. This could be argued as a strength in that we can not afford failure but it makes me concerned about the club. Overall the club breaks even but cash flow is king. There must be a way of attracting working capital, Bonds? Share issues? Debentures? There must be a way. Failing that we might need to find a buyer before they find us
As ever, that old chestnut “be careful what you wish for” is wheeled out. Whatever I was wishing for at 4.15pm on Saturday afternoon is anyone’s guess. I certainly wasn’t getting it.
The damage to the standing and reputation of the club caused by its conduct this season cannot be ignored. Its humiliating.
Part of me wishes we could magically transport back to the 70s and 80s, when everything seemed simpler. But as tge rest of the football world brushes past us, we are in danger of sliding into complete obscurity.
Self funding is nothing of the sort.
This ownership has effectively withdrawn the money owed it by the club, declaring they will not make any financial input going forward. They incessantly sell playing assets at an industrial rate, weakening the team every six months. They increase already steep ticket prices to what will undoubtedly be the most expensive level in next seasons championship, block any enquiries pertaining textural financial involvement in the club, which they have publicly admitted to doing.
All while making infrequent embarrassing public proclamations which add to our laughing stock status.
That’s without even mentioning two of the last seasons literally saturated with the most unmitigated torrent of shit ever witnessed by this clubs supporters. Record breaking ineptitude.
Robert chase was vilified for a fraction of this. And he never dragged the club into division three.
Support the CLUB.
I’ve said many times in broadcasts and written pieces over the last 20 years that any club — not just us — who fall from the Prem suffer a cataclysmic fall in income and once parachute payments finish, there is a risk of insolvency. It is far less likely for Norwich now that everyone has relegation clauses in their contracts.
The 18-19 accounts included all the promotion bonuses (yes, with £1m for Naismith) and buying up contracts of others signed in the previous regime..
There’s no mystery or obfuscation.
You say you have no idea of the future – none of us has. But if we don’t do up in the next 2 seasons and have sold all our silver we are back to where we where before the “5 year plan” – what ever that is/was.
Yes, we have a wonderful training ground but with no money to pay decent wages etc unless we have a lucky season we will be stuck in the championship – will we still have 25k willing to pay high season ticket prices?
It is all well and good Norwich (Delia?) being principled and going against the tide but unless the football bubble blows up where will that get us ? I do not want dirty money funding the club but cannot believe we are not of interest to someone.
The ‘old chestnut’ of be careful what you wish for does not appear in my words, but in the headline, written by the editor.
Yep – guilty as charged on that one. Thought it worked in the context of the piece. If it caused confusion, I apologise.
I’ll genuinely think twice about broaching this subject again.
Fair enough, I do recall Gary mentioning this in the past.
“I don’t know what the way ahead should be. Sorry.”
I think that’s the key line for me in this excellently written piece. The point I got from it wasn’t so much we should just stop moaning and stick with Delia, Michael, and the self-finance model, but: isn’t football all a little depressing at the moment.
I want to support a Norwich City owned by people who care about the club. Supporting them would be great too.
I don’t have any answers either.
I’m not sure I just want to support billionaires – because that’s what football has become – a toy / soft political tool for billionaires and entire nations. That doesn’t make me someone who is happy to watch us not only yo-yo, but be so uncompetitive when we do go down. It just makes me question my enjoyment of the sport as a whole, one – at least in the men’s game – that is getting increasingly uncompetitive and devoid of all hope and glory for most clubs. That’s why the FA Cup has got some of its magic back – because it does offer hope.
The trouble is that football is so much part of my life and routine that I can’t let it go!.
Take Everton John. Nearly 1/2 billion in 5 years. To be what ? as bad as us.
Where I agree with Mick is all these supporters who say get rid of Delia and Michael and all our problems are solved is living in cloud cuckoo land. And some prominent City supporters should know better.
With the money has to come some financial prudence, a excellent coaching staff and a visionary board.
Look at Liverpool’s income compared to Manchester United. Way behind, but they have Klopp and not some ex-player who managed Cardiff City or an interim manager.
One without the other, neither works.
I enjoyed the article Mick. It’s great we can all freely express our views and mixed emotions.
Mine is to get behind the team, we are in a mini league of 5 where 2 will survive. We are very poor but so are the other 4.
There has been a few comments about Ashley but at the end he is a businessman and will not see something he owns go down the pan.
A Newcastle supporter told me he wasn’t scared of spending just didn’t do enough of it his biggest transfer in was £41m for one player.
Would he increase capacity I would presume anyone coming in would look at doing that so it nears less out of their pockets.
Mick like many are blinded by friendship and I do respect that but at sometime there must be a chat and I have done it and had it done to me when a friend tells me I got it wrong.
Being a friend or advisor you have to break bad news to people not agree with everything they do or say, if that breaks your friendship then that was on weak ground to start with.
Who out of her friends and family has the strength of character to tell her the truth before it all goes bust
Really good read mick
What is broken is not our beloved football club its football its self
To much money, average players earning stupid money with no reality of how the working man lives. Sky or the Premier league changing game times without a thought for the people who will always be the life blood of this once great game
Let’s hope someone in government stops red Roman selling Chelski, and takes the assets and strips the club to nothing, I would not shed a single tear. He and the rich aribs along with sky have killed the beautiful game I grew up watching and turned it I to a very elite club that only the privilege few at the top can feast and the other fight for scraps!
I always said football would implode this is the first step hopefully to rid the game of the rich kids and elitism and give us our beutiful game back
No oligarchs for me. Often wonder if those who profess that we are seen as a laughing stock, do actually attend any games. As I stood at Southampton railway station waiting for the 11.30 train I listened in to the Saints fans talking next to me. They were agreed that our support had been good, and Everton had been worse off and on the pitch.
We ARE a laughing stock. And yes, I was I attendance on Saturday to witness that farce against brentford.
I defy you or anyone else to find a better description. Ridiculous.
Have to totally agree Chris.
As far as the PL are concerned we ARE an embarrassment & laughing stock.
In fact, given that we invested more than ever last summer, and are (in my opinion) worse now than we were 2 seasons ago, I really fear for what will happen next season in the Championship.
So many of the current squad give the vibe that they really couldn’t care less, and to a fan of almost 60 years that hurts.
I spent many hours and days over whether or not to renew, and much as it hurts, I’m giving up my season tickets.
I’ll continue to follow them, but won’t be at the Carra very often after the Spurs game!
O T B C
Hi John
I’ve often had these thoughts as well but have never gone through with cancelling for the simple reason I would miss my matchday mates and something that has been one of the focal points of my life for the last 35 years.
Just like She Who Shall Not Be Named I enjoy the social side too.
Have a final objective think mate 🙂
I’m sorry to see that John.
If it wasn’t for the shared time spent with family I would do the same.
I love Norwich City but I loathe what it’s become under these people.
Chelsea are the laughing stock methinks today, not a well run club which has punched well above its weight. Maybe you should get further afield than Norfolk.
Maybe I do.
Let’s leave it there.
Off the top of my head I can reel off France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Austria, the old Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Andorra and every goddam county in England and Wales except Somerset.
Most, but not all of it, was for a thing called *work*.
Still wouldn’t live anywhere but Norfolk though.