Aside from those who bank abroad, relatively few Premier League stars have seen their healthy finances damaged by the credit crunch. Last night, however, a property investment firm called Active Asset Management (known better by the confusing acronym aAIM) bit the dust, taking the cash of celebrity shareholders with it.
Those who parted with their hard-earned include Simon Cowell, Sir David Frost, Sir Alex Ferguson (pictured praising the company on their website), Alan Smith and Gareth Barry.
It’s unclear how much each person lost, although HBOS’ £200m backing gave them 20 per cent of the company, meaning other shareholders will will £800m between them.
“Secret Santa” systems are usually reserved for drab offices full of mutual loathing, but two years ago Jose Mourinho also “raised morale” at Chelsea with a secret present draw. This year, the highly paid stars at Manchester Utd will refrain from grotesque spending gestures, parting with just £5 for Christmas gifts:
“Alex didn’t want the lads openly flaunting their wealth this Christmas, with most families struggling.”
So spending as little as a fiver will go down well. A few players already have their thinking caps on about what might be appropriate and raise a giggle.”
If the players are struggling for worthless rubbish to give each other gift ideas, they should visit this site - there’s a “strip tease pen” for C-Ron, something called a “Moody Face” for Berbatov and a charming Hello Kitty letter set, with which Carlos Tevez could write to the many beautiful women he is [allegedly] having affairs with.
Earlier this year, Hank Hicks and Billy Bob Gillett ran into a little money trouble and faced the prospect of offloading Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel just to pay the heating bills. Today, the papers are awash with the news that the American investors have suffered at the hands of the current financial apocalypse and will owe two banks (Wachovia and the Royal Bank of Scotland) £350m in January. They do not currently have the cash, and refinancing loans from two of the worst hit banks in the crisis will be harder than getting Ledley King to stay sober in a nightclub.
While the prospect of a fire sale right in the middle of a serious title campaign is a possible (and potentially disastrous) way of raising much-needed equity, the current predicament does have a rather large silver lining: Hicks and Gillett may be desperate to bail out, forcing
From today’s London Evening Standard, some chilling news for admirers of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley’s bank account.
“Mr Ashley is the fourth biggest loser from the crunch and has seen the value of his stake in Sports Direct, the retail giant he set up and floated on the London market, dive from £1.17 billion in February last year to just £168 million today. That is a loss of £1 billion.”
Global belt tightening brings mixed fortunes to the big four
Manchester Utd’s £14m-a-year- AIG shirt sponsorship looked to be on rocky ground earlier this week, and the future of the deal looked no more certain as the US Federal Reserve rescued the insurance behemoth with a £47bn refinancing package yesterday: rather understandably, they will no longer consider sports sponsorship a ‘core activity’.
According to this morning’s Guardian, however, the frailty of the American International Group should not concern United as much as the intentions of the Glazer family. Malcolm and co have been forced to spend $150bn on ‘PIK‘ loans in recent months, the interest on which is a hefty 14.45 per cent. A Glazer representative insists that “the investment is for the long term,” although the Guardian strongly suspects ex Football League chairman, United fan and major dealmaker Keith Harris is touting
Top flight grounds will soon be emptier than Kerry Katona’s head
According to a poll in this morning’s Sun newspaper, an incredible 43 per cent of West Ham fans are planning to boycott their beloved club in 2008/09, with many arguing that they didn’t receive very good value for money last year. Upton Park has yet to sell out any of its three home games this season, and away tickets for this weekend are still available, something that would have been unheard of last season.
The reason for this lack of support isn’t so much a protest at the club (although in some cases it is), but a reflection of the hard times brought on by the credit crunch. According to a Virgin Money poll, the average cost of watching a game is now £106.21 when tickets, transport and food are taken into account. To put that in perspective for our American readers, that’s about $63,000, and for those in Middlesbrough, that’s a four bed semi.
On average, Premier League clubs have increased their prices by fourteen per cent this season, a necessary move when you consider Frank Lampard is paid approximately £1.04 per second (based on a 40 hour week). Such an increase
The Spoiler considers the decline in big money transfer activity
The credit crunch is affecting everyone in the UK at the moment: bread now costs more than a Ford Fiesta did ten years ago, house prices in the north have fallen below £25 for a two bed semi, and pretty soon, Cristiano Ronaldo will start having to using cheaper prostitutes just to get by.
The transfer rumours thrown around each day seem to assume that the Premier League’s elite are not affected by the global financial problems, but the cost of obtaining loans has clearly stalled the summer transfer market.
Consider the list below, which details each Premier League club’s biggest summer signing last year and the date on which they occurred:
Eduardo to Arsenal - July 3
Reo Coker to Villa - July 5
Muamba to Birmingham - May 11
Santa Cruz to Blackburn - July 28 Samuel to Bolton - July 1
Malouda to Chelsea - July 9
Earnshaw to Derby - June 29
Yakubu to Everton - August 29 Kamara to Fulham - July 9
Torres to Liverpool - July 3
Elano to Man City - August 2
One in Seven fans won’t be renewing their season tickets
We’re all a bit hard pressed these days - each time we turn the ignition keys we face spending the equivalent of the GDP of a small African nation, and a loaf of bread now costs the same as a two bed semi in Bradford. While the Premier League’s finest are rubbing our noses in it by spending like it’s going out of fashion, it appears that the clubs themselves are about to become the latest victims of the nationwide belt tightening. According to Scott Mowbray of Virgin Money, nearly one in seven fans are refusing to renew their season tickets this year.
The worst affected club are West Ham, as 25 per cent of their faithful will now spend Saturday afternoons standing around in Jane Norman at Lakeside while the missus tries on dresses she won’t buy. This defection may be due to the fact that certain factions of Hammers fans are dissatisfied with Curbs and his boring brand of football, or it could be that the average ticket price is around £780
