News
78 Articles · Latest firstLatest reporting
The Loophole Is Closed. Will Clubs Still Fund Their Women's Teams?
Chelsea Women were valued at almost £200m in a sale to their own ownership group, then reported a £17.1m loss on £21.3m of revenue. Today's regulator report puts that kind of transaction under scrutiny, and the Premier League has already closed the route — but its replacement rules leave clubs with a structural incentive to keep funding the gap.
English Football's £9bn Problem: Losses, Owner Dependence and the Rise of Creative Compliance
The Independent Football Regulator's first State of the Game report finds 94% of clubs loss-making, 32 unable to last a month without their owner, and 60% operating without a business plan at all. The warning that should worry clubs most is the one about how compliance is achieved.
Women's Football's Pay Divide: A Billion-Dollar Industry Paying $480 a Month
Women's football is on course to pass $1bn in global revenue. FIFPRO's latest employment report finds average monthly pay running from $6,450 in North America to $480 in Africa, and almost half of surveyed players considering leaving the game early.
Forest Green Rovers Want Football Without a Manager. But Who Holds the Power?
Dale Vince believes football may work better without one dominant personality making the decisions. At Forest Green Rovers, he is testing that theory with three coaches, a director of football and an ownership structure in which ultimate control remains firmly concentrated. The experiment raises a bigger question than who picks the team.
Manchester City's Appeal Could Run Beyond Christmas. What Does That Mean for Football's Financial Rules?
The Premier League's new twelve-week appeal timetable does not require a verdict by Christmas. Its rules give an independent Appeal Board a further 30 days to issue written reasons, allow the timetable to be varied, and leave open a separate process for determining any punishment. The consequences could reach the closing weeks of the 2026/27 season.
The Pyramid partners with Cheltenham Town
The Pyramid has agreed a two-year partnership with Cheltenham Town, taking in pitchside and LED advertising at Whaddon Road. The boards went live for the League Two fixture against Salford City on Saturday 10 October. It is our fifth club partnership — and our first in League Two.
Gateshead FC Agrees Sale to Flacks Group: Who Is Michael Flacks and What Is He Buying?
Gateshead have agreed in principle to sell to an American investment group whose stated speciality is acquiring businesses in complex situations. Ten days earlier the club's principal backer had walked away and its staff had gone unpaid. What nobody has disclosed is the price, the funding or what happens to the creditors.
Southampton's Spygate Punishment: A £28,000 Fine and a Promotion Prize Worth Up to £365m
Southampton were expelled from the Championship play-off final for spying on opponents, and their manager Tonda Eckert has now been fined £28,000 and given a suspended six-week ban.
Wrexham's £69m Kop: The Economics Go Beyond 7,750 Seats
Wrexham have approval to increase their new Kop to 7,750 seats. But a £69.3m construction contract worth more than twice the club's annual turnover cannot be understood through ticket sales — and the accounts show why. Matchday income is only about 18% of what Wrexham earn.
Where Could Leyton Orient Build Their New Stadium?
David Gandler says Leyton Orient have identified a site for their proposed new stadium. He isn't saying where it is. The public planning documents narrow the search — but one of their most important assumptions has since changed.
Leyton Orient, David Gandler and the Billion-Pound Stadium Question
Leyton Orient turn over £9.4m and lost £4.6m at operating level last year. Their majority owner is now positioning the club inside a development requiring billions of pounds of capital. Who finances it — and who owns the stadium?
Kingstonian's New Stadium: The Surbiton Search Is Moving Forward
Two months after The Pyramid reported that a site in Surbiton was under discussion, Kingstonian have disclosed that architects are working on planning for their proposed new ground. The site remains confidential, but the project has moved beyond another expression of intent.
Swansea City Want to Own Their Stadium. What Are Their Investors Building?
Swansea City have agreed Heads of Terms to buy the Swansea.com Stadium, want to acquire their Fairwood training ground and are pursuing Category One academy status. Behind the celebrity investors sits a much more conventional football-finance strategy: capital, infrastructure and control.
The Pyramid Partners With Hanwell Town
The Pyramid has agreed a partnership with Hanwell Town for the 2026/27 season, taking our sponsorship programme into tier seven. It is our fourth club partnership, and it means we now advertise at four levels of the pyramid we cover.
Gateshead's Rescue Bill Is Growing: Unpaid Wages, an Embargo and a Manager Contracted Until 2028
Gateshead entered their current crisis with £373,350 due within a year against £27,286 of cash. Now September wages are unpaid, the club is under a transfer embargo and Lee Cattermole has been dismissed less than four months into a two-year contract.
Plymouth Parkway Takeover: Who Is New Owner Muizz Mirza and MEC Study Group?
Muizz Mirza says he has taken ownership of tier seven Plymouth Parkway through MEC Study Group. The accounts show what he is taking on: £404,880 due within a year, £63,138 of net liabilities and a ground carried as short leasehold — before the cost of turning Parkway full-time.
The Women's Club World Cup Could Be Heading to America. What Will It Be Worth to WSL Clubs?
FIFA's first Women's Club World Cup could be heading to the United States in January 2028. The host is not yet confirmed and neither is the prize fund, but the numbers already available show why both FIFA and Europe's clubs are interested.
Could Manchester City's Financial Case Affect Manchester City Women?
Manchester City Women are a separate company from the men's club facing Premier League sanctions. Financially and corporately, however, the separation is not absolute.
Camden Town WFC Was Valued at £480,000. What Did 96 Investors Actually Buy?
Camden Town WFC has raised £138,533 from 96 investors. Behind the crowdfunding headline is something rarer in women's football: a public valuation, newly issued equity and a corporate structure that shows exactly which company received the money.
Manchester City's £920m Finding: Why Football Accounts Matter
An independent Commission identified more than £920m across Manchester City's income and expenses and found that the club's accounts did not provide a true and fair view. City deny the allegations, maintain they are innocent and say the decision is unsafe. They have until Friday to appeal.
Eight Years of Profit: How Fisher FC Make Tier-Nine Football Pay
Fisher are supporter-owned, charge £8 at the gate and generated just £80,444 last season. Yet the Rotherhithe club has now reported eight consecutive profitable years.
£1.5bn+, 72 Clubs and a New Regulator: Why English Football Is Finally Talking About Redistribution
After years of failed negotiations, the Premier League has put a ten-year funding proposal worth more than £1.5bn to the EFL. The numbers matter. So does something that did not exist when the talks stalled: an independent regulator with the legal power to intervene.
Why Is a US Sandwich Chain Sponsoring the EFL Trophy?
Jersey Mike's is entering Britain with plans for 400 restaurants — and has reportedly agreed a £5m deal to put its name on a cup built around League One and League Two clubs.
The £1.65m and 50-Year Deal Behind Boreham Wood's EFL Ambition
Boreham Wood's Meadow Park redevelopment has triggered plans for a new 50-year lease — alongside up to £1.65m of council infrastructure funding.
Manchester City Reportedly Found Guilty: How Far Could They Fall Down the pyramid?
On 29 September the Premier League published the independent Commission's decision against Manchester City: every charge relating to serious breaches of its financial rules proved, the majority of the allegations about co-operation upheld, and Charge 4(B) not proved. No sanction has been decided, and the club can still appeal. But the reporting has raised a question the rulebook answers less clearly than most of today's coverage assumes: if the punishment were expulsion rather than a points deduction, where would Manchester City actually play?
The Pyramid partners with Peterborough United
The Pyramid has agreed a two-year partnership with Peterborough United, taking in pitchside and LED advertising at the Weston Homes Stadium. The boards went live for the League One fixture against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday 19 September. It is our third pitchside advertising partnership — and our first in the EFL.
Where the Money Stops
One season, one set of filed accounts. From £186.5m in the Premier League to micro accounts at tier eight, this is how the money — and the record of it — disappears down the English football pyramid.
Farnborough FC Is Looking for a Buyer. What Would You Actually Be Buying?
An agreed sale has stalled, putting the tier six club back on the market. With a 30-year stadium lease, considerable unused capacity and development opportunities around Cherrywood Road, The Pyramid looks at what a prospective investor would actually be buying — and what would still need to be built.
£35m In, £224m Out? The Actual Economics Behind the Leicester Sale
King Power bought Leicester City for £35m. After more than £420m of family investment, what exactly would a buyer now be acquiring?
Arsenal Women Made £21.5m. More Than Half Still Came From Arsenal FC
Arsenal Women generated a record £21.5m in the season they won the Champions League — but £11.9m of it still came from the parent club. The accounts capture both sides of women's football's growth.
Why Is a Fortune 500 Company Investing in a Sixth-Tier Women's Team?
AIG is taking an equity stake in sixth-tier Salford City Lionesses. The investment suggests women's football is becoming investable well below the WSL.
Michele Kang Has Invested £22.4m in London City Lionesses. What Has It Bought?
Michele Kang's YMK Holdings put £22.4m into London City Lionesses across two financial years. The club's latest accounts show £901,715 of revenue, a £10.58m loss and £6.7m of fixed assets. This is what the money has bought — and what London City still have to build.
The FCA's Sponsorship Warning Meets the IFR at Tier 5
The FCA is working with football's new regulator over financial-services sponsorship, and the footprints of the two regulators overlap all the way down to the National League.
Harrogate Town's £6.4m Question as New Investors Await Approval
Harrogate Town are awaiting regulatory approval for new investors at a point when the club's finances remain heavily supported by chairman Irving Weaver.
Shrewsbury's New Owners Are Bringing the Spartans Model With Them
Scott Davidson is not simply buying Shrewsbury Town. He is bringing part of his existing football operation with him. The Miami businessman leading the American consortium seeking to acquire the League Two club is already a director and the largest shareholder of Spartans in Edinburgh — and fellow Spartans board members Will Dotson and Craig Graham are due to become Shrewsbury directors, with former United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel joining them.
The Council Built Truro City a Stadium. Who Makes Money From What Comes Next?
Truro City already have a council-built stadium at Langarth. The Milestone Project is about making the development around it produce a durable income stream — under a structure almost entirely council-controlled.
Maldon & Tiptree's New Owners Inherit a Promotion That Has to Pay for Itself
Maldon & Tiptree won promotion, then owner funding stopped and two fixtures were postponed. Their new owners are promising a more sustainable model.
A 99-Year Lease Saved Prescot Cables. Now the Ground Needs Another Rescue
Knowsley Council bought the freehold and granted a 99-year lease. Public and Premier League money then improved the ground. None of it removed the eventual cost of renewing the asset.
How 3G Pitches Rewired Non-League Football Finance
Artificial pitches have spread through the lower pyramid because they can earn money seven days a week. The replacement bill arrives a decade later.
The Energy Crisis Never Ended for Non-League Football
Small businesses still face elevated electricity costs four years after the energy crisis — and non-league clubs are investing to bring bills down.
Lancaster City: From 18% to Control
Go North Ventures holds 18% of Lancaster City and has agreed to reach control over 24 months. How it gets there is the question.
Who Funds West Ham Now? Ownership, Liquidity and the New Spending Rules
Daniel Křetínský is set to become West Ham's largest shareholder. But ownership, liquidity and squad-spending capacity are three different things — and the signed accounts show the club was already being funded from four directions before he moved.
The Transfer Fee That Keeps Travelling: How FIFA Solidarity Payments Work
Ollie Watkins left Exeter City nine years ago. His £51m move from Aston Villa to Al-Hilal could now send roughly £1.9m back to the club that developed him — a timely example of one of football’s less understood financial mechanisms.
Why Buy a Tenth-Tier Football Club? Inside Goole AFC's Unusual Investment Proposition
Goole AFC have a new American shareholder, ambitions for multiple promotions, and access to a ground transformed by almost £7m of public and football funding. At the tenth tier of English football, it creates an unusual investment proposition.
From Free Agent to Record Sale: The Abdulmalik Deal Pays Off for Boreham Wood
Boreham Wood signed Abdul Abdulmalik for nothing. Two years later, he has joined Djurgården for a reported club-record fee above £1.5m — surpassing the fifth-tier benchmark set by Jamie Vardy in 2012.
The Cost of Ambition: Inside Torquay United's £1.68m Football Operation
Torquay United are budgeting £1.68m for their football operation this season — and still expect to lose £366,000. Two years after entering administration, the numbers reveal the economics of trying to climb out of National League South.
Ebbsfleet Have a New Owner and Paid HMRC. Why Are They Still Suspended?
Ebbsfleet have a new owner and say their HMRC bill has been paid in full. But the National League suspension remains — because the test is no longer one unpaid bill, but whether the club can fund an entire season.
Salisbury's Owners Bought Andover Town. The Price Is Undisclosed
Salisbury FC's owners have acquired Andover Town, taken a 25-year lease on its council-owned stadium and plan to share players, scouting, coaching and infrastructure. This is multi-club ownership on a very different scale.
From Emerging Markets to League Two: The Money Behind the Northampton Town Deal
Northampton Town have been talking about new investment since April. Follow the corporate trail and it leads not to Alexandre Pato, but to a Mayfair emerging-markets investment manager.
Is Football Sponsorship Actually Worth It?
The Pyramid has agreed pitch-side sponsorship with Boreham Wood and Corinthian-Casuals. Having written the cheques, we went looking for the evidence on whether football sponsorship actually pays.
The Pyramid partners with Boreham Wood FC
The Pyramid has joined Boreham Wood FC as a commercial partner for 2026/27, taking our football finance coverage from the screen to the side of the pitch.
The Hidden Price of Fan Ownership
More than 96% of voting Bath City Supporters' Society members backed handing majority control to an investor group with roughly £6m behind it. Relegation, not apathy, changed the maths.
From £50m to £15,000: What Is the Front of a Football Shirt Actually Worth?
Chelsea reportedly value the front of their shirt at £50 million and would rather leave it blank than sell it cheaper. Two clubs in the same Step 3 division quoted The Pyramid £50,000 and £15,000. There is no going rate.
The £10 virtual ticket that helped save Marine FC — and built its future
When COVID restrictions took away Marine's biggest potential home gate in the club's history, Spurs supporters didn't simply help the club survive the day. They helped create the assets that changed its future.
Dulwich Hamlet: Crowded turnstiles, strained cash, and the £8m Greendale breakthrough
Cash down £100k, creditors up to £450k, and a six-figure deficit. Dulwich Hamlet's latest accounts look alarming — until you see what the money actually paid for.
Leyton Orient's commercial model: turning Brisbane Road into more than a matchday
Record £9.43m revenue, a £4.6m loss, and £22.64m of owner debt converted to equity in a single transaction. Inside the numbers behind Leyton Orient's rebuild.
Dagenham's new ownership: KSI is only part of the story
Dagenham & Redbridge have undergone a striking ownership overhaul involving US investors, YouTube star KSI, former QPR owner Tony Fernandes, former England striker Andy Carroll and ex-Daggers captain Anwar Uddin.
Derby's takeover passed every regulatory test. It still fell through.
Derby County's proposed takeover by Saudi-backed Lion Sport has collapsed, leaving the club under David Clowes and off the market. The deal had passed both the EFL and Independent Football Regulator process, but Turki Alalshikh withdrew after concluding the regulatory timetable left too little time to prepare Derby for the new season.
Walton & Hersham's promotion problem: who gets the matchday money?
Three promotions took Walton & Hersham to the National League South. The club says it receives none of the bar takings at its own home games — and the dispute has now gone public.
How League One's new cost-control rules locked Oxford United out of the transfer market
Oxford United cannot currently register a new player. That does not necessarily mean the club is insolvent or cannot afford an individual signing. It means they have not yet satisfied the EFL that their planned player expenditure is funded and compliant with the revised Salary Cost Management Protocol.
How Simon Jordan lost Crystal Palace: what the 2010 records show
Simon Jordan has spoken extensively about losing Crystal Palace. We went back to the contemporaneous reporting and subsequent legal record to reconstruct what happened in January 2010, who was owed what, and which creditor formally put the club into administration.
The most Ted Lasso club in football isn't fictional
King George's Field sits in Tolworth, a borough away from Ted Lasso's Richmond. The real club playing there has a history no scriptwriter would risk: a goalkeeper who stepped aside for a penalty because he didn't believe deliberate fouls existed.
Ebbsfleet suspended — the accounts saw it coming
The National League has suspended Ebbsfleet United over an HMRC winding-up petition, postponing their opening three fixtures. The club's own accounts show a financial structure built almost entirely on parent-company debt.
How Boreham Wood can afford to say no to £1m
Boreham Wood have twice rejected bids for winger Abdul Abdulmalik, the latest worth around £1m. The filed accounts give real context for that decision — meaningful cash, positive net assets, no obvious balance-sheet pressure — but not the clean explanation the headline invites.
A student bought a defunct football club for £15: East Sheen FC
Somewhere in south-west London, the entire ownership history of a football club that once produced two England captains can be traced to one afternoon a 23-year-old sports management student spent reading roughly 400 newspaper articles from the 1800s. Registering the club's name cost him £15. The story since has reached tens of millions of views online — a level of attention a defunct 19th-century amateur club could never have imagined getting in its original lifetime, let alone in its second one.
How West Ham's pre-emption rights turned Kretinsky's takeover into a bidding war with himself
Daniel Kretinsky's agreed route to control of West Ham United has been overtaken by a higher bid — and the mechanism now standing between him and the club's boardroom is the same pre-emption clause that's been part of West Ham's shareholder structure since he first invested in 2021.
Millwall's changing crowd: what the numbers say about football's most notorious 'closed' fanbase
Millwall's commercial revenue jumped 36% in a single year — but the real driver was a new shirt sponsor, not the area's gentrification. The two stories are converging anyway.
Player trading isn't a bonus for most Pyramid clubs — it's the business model
Peterborough's £2.9m profit still relied on £6.5m of player trading — but a three-year look at the accounts shows the underlying loss has halved.
The World Cup is for sale: why FIFA's $4bn spin-off is the exact opposite of what non-league clubs do
While fan-owned clubs carefully restrict minority investment to protect their communities, Gianni Infantino is reportedly carving up the commercial rights to the World Cup for private equity. It is the ultimate expression of modern football's two realities.
A £75 season ticket, a £450 chef: the brilliant community partnership at Aberystwyth Town
A season ticket at Aberystwyth Town costs £75. A tasting menu at their new catering partner starts at £450. Why Wales' only two-Michelin-star chef is stepping in to elevate matchdays at his local football club.
AFC Wimbledon Is Fan-Owned. The £26.8m Figure Is Not a Sale Price
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.