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CLUBS

AFC Wimbledon are chasing growth without losing fan control

Wimbledon aren't in crisis. They're trying to solve a harder problem — how a fan-owned club raises the capital to compete in League One without giving up control.

MON 27 JUL 20265 MIN
FINANCE

Merthyr Town's accounts show what most football clubs never have to reveal

Merthyr Town's turnover, surplus and net assets all rose this year. Their auditor still included a cash-flow caution in the same report — a level of disclosure most football clubs in England are never legally required to publish in the same way.

SUN 26 JUL 20266 MIN
HISTORY

Corinthian-Casuals: The Remarkable Amateur Team Who Beat Man Utd 11-3

In 1904, an amateur side beat Manchester United 11-3 — still United's heaviest defeat in their history. The same club coined the phrase "Corinthian Spirit," helped found one of South America's biggest football institutions, and today survives as a Step 9 side worth about £210,000, still refusing to pay a single player a penny.

SUN 26 JUL 20267 MIN
CLUBSClubs

Jermain Defoe left Woking two weeks before the new season. Their accounts just got harder to read.

Defoe's exit was mutual, four months into his first management job. Woking's balance sheet improved by £1.5m this year too — the same year the accounts stopped explaining why.

FRI 24 JUL 20267 MIN
REGULATION

Villa are selling again. Spurs just spent £237m. Here's the rulebook nobody explained.

Aston Villa have raised roughly £400m selling their best players over the past two years and are still under pressure to sell more. Tottenham broke their own transfer record twice in a week and have another £250m to spend if they want it. Both clubs are following rules — just not the same ones, and not the ones most people below the Premier League should actually be watching. From this season, the rulebook for the Championship changes completely, and it's about to matter more than it ever has.

THU 23 JUL 20266 MIN
CLUBS

Keeping Jarrod Bowen may be the most expensive thing West Ham do this summer

They sold Mateus Fernandes to Tottenham for £85m and kept their captain. On a club's accounts, a player bought years ago is the most efficient asset there is to sell — which makes keeping one a decision with a price attached, and a bet on a season.

SUN 19 JUL 20267 MIN
GROUNDS

Are Kingstonian finally getting their own ground again?

Kingsmeadow has been sold three times since Kingstonian built it. The first time they got nothing. Five host clubs later there is still no ground of their own.

SUN 19 JUL 20269 MIN
REGULATIONRegulation

In case you missed it: football's new regulator published its final rules on 1 July

While the World Cup had everyone's attention, the Independent Football Regulator quietly finished the job. Every club in the top five tiers now needs a licence to keep playing. Applications open on 1 November. Here is what clubs actually have to do.

SUN 19 JUL 20269 MIN