With Manchester City currently heading the Premier League after winning their first seven matches, the uproar over their being found guilty of 114 financial charges by the said league continues unabated. The club have appealed the decision and will find out early next year what the outcome of that appeal is. In the meantime a sanctions hearing is supposedly taking place with a punishment being discussed which could mean anything from a massive points deduction to expulsion from the Premier League. This long drawn out process has led to a flurry of rumours about what that punishment could and should be, including stripping the club of the trophies they won during the period in question alongside a points deduction or expulsion. There’s a political edge to all this too when you consider the amount of money that the clubs owners put into some of the regeneration projects around the city when the current Prime Minister Andy Burnham was mayor. The club says they have “irrefutable proof” that the charges are false, though why this hasn’t been disclosed already is anybody’s guess and even if they do have a defence, a good proportion of the accusations relate to obstructing the investigation after it started. Basically it’s a shambles and we won’t know the final outcome until March next year, leaving a cloud hanging over almost the entire season.
While all this is going on, a landmark report about the precarious state of footballs finances has been released. Professional football clubs in the UK brought in over 9 Billion pounds in season 2025-2026 with the Premier League bringing in the vast majority and the clubs themselves growing on average 10 times faster than the UK economy. And yet 94% of clubs make losses, 32 of which would not survive a month without owner financing, 60% of the teams below the Premier League are technically insolvent with an average of 5 teams from the actual Premier League itself falling into the same category at any given time. Apparently a deal is being struck so that some of that income goes to the EFL and the National League but with the Premier League losing almost 1 Billion last year and with current debts, both good and bad, spread amongst the clubs of almost 3.6 Billion, this seems contradictory at best. In the meantime ridiculous transfer fees, spiralling wage bills and my personal favourite, agents fees, continue out of control. The latest figures from Chelsea, an extreme example I’ll grant you, disclosed that they paid nearly 100 Million in agents fees last season. Nice work if you can get it.
There’s just a couple of notable events to mention this month, not least the conclusion of the F1 season in Abu Dhabi on December the 6th. We have four races in November and it would be a massive shock if both the driver and constructor’s championship are not concluded by then with Mercedes well ahead in both competitions. F1 fans have four races to look forward to in November, starting in Mexico on the 1st, going on to Brazil on the 8th, Las Vegas on the 22nd and Qatar on the 29th.
Just one other thing before we sign off, the Melbourne Cup, one of the worlds great Horse races, takes place on the 3rd at Flemington. The race gets underway at 11am local time and with the prize pot in the region of 2.4 million Pounds, you can be sure that both the UK and Ireland will be sending some serious contenders for the winners purse. Go along to see it if you can, it’s great fun and I believe one or two of the hotels in the city plan events around it.
That’s all for this month, good luck.
