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Storrie: Huge transfer fees will crush football clubs



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Published Date:
10 October 2008
Football is tottering on the brink of a financial crisis and Peter Storrie believes wrestling back transfer fees is the only way to save it.
The global credit crunch is eating away at the financial fabric of the beautiful game – and the backlash could be catastrophic.

The past week has seen Football Association chairman Lord Triesman speak of his fear for English clubs he estimates owe £3 billion.

Right on cue, West Ham's future has been plunged into uncertainty after owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson saw the Icelandic bank he is a major shareholder in placed into receivership.

New manager Gianfranco Zola is now likely to have to sell some of his prized assets in the January transfer window.

Also see: Pompey have a gem in Crouch - Burton's Banter: click here to read the post.

Meanwhile, UEFA general secretary David Taylor has warned clubs with heavy debts could be excluded from future European competitions.

These are times of worry for football amid the backdrop of a volatile financial climate.

It was a scenario long anticipated by Storrie, who back in early August told The News of his credit crunch concerns.

Pompey themselves had to slam shut their transfer chest and operate a sell-to buy-policy as a result.

Now the rest of football can see what all the fuss was about.

The Blues' chief executive said: 'I said it in the summer and I believe I was the first person to do so.

'No football club is immune to the credit crunch. It is something which can happen to anyone.

'Now we are all seeing that for ourselves.

'In fairness, the West Ham case is particular to just them.

'Their circumstances have occurred because of the situation with Icelandic banks and their owner.

'Other clubs, though, are being badly affected by the credit crunch as a whole – as are the fans.

'One of the biggest problems are transfer fees.

'Personally I think they have got a little bit out of hand and that is something that needs to be looked at.

'You have got to balance to survive but some of the wages and transfer fees in the game now are just too much in this current situation.

'How, I am not sure, but it needs addressing because it is a serious concern.

'Fortunately, as a club, we could see this was going to happen and have acted accordingly.

'You need to manage costs and we have a good team behind the scenes doing that.

'As a football club you need to keep your payroll tight and operate a policy of good buying and selling of players.

'Simply put, all areas of the club has got to be run as a business with tight controls and we believe we are doing that.

'But the credit crunch is affecting everybody and other clubs are going to struggle.'

Meanwhile, Pompey themselves remain up for sale – at the right price.

Two weeks ago the club admitted Sacha Gaydamak would listen to offers following two-and-a-half years at the helm.

The statement finally clarified the owner's stance after months of uncertainly engulfing Fratton Park.

But Storrie insists a bid has yet to be received.

He added: 'There is nothing to add to that at the moment. We have received no bids.

'As Sacha has always said "no change".'

Also see: Alex Cropley: I was a spent force by the time I arrived - Bygone Blues. Click here to read the post.

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The full article contains 606 words and appears in The News newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 10 October 2008 11:02 AM
  • Source: The News
  • Location: Portsmouth
 
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Dave,

IOW (in USA) 10/10/2008 01:09:29
It was only gonna be a matter of time before football clubs were affected by the global financial crisis. Fans are gonna have to get used to us selling to survive There is no way we can survive with gates of around 20k. If that means selling the likes of Diarra etc etc then unfortunately it has to happen as much as none of us would like to see any of our star players leaving, the future of the club is far more important than any player(s)
2

PompeyWest,

Sidney 10/10/2008 04:54:59
Agree, DaveIOW. Sell, yes - but to whom? Other than the clubs with 'deep-pocket' owners (and who knows how wealthy some of them really are? see West Ham) many clubs are going to be in the same boat. So, with the laws of supply and demand, that may well work to reduce transfer fees and salaries as Storrie suggests. And that may be no bad thing.

P.S. I was born on the IOW and used to get the ferry from Ryde and walk to/from Fratton Park - couldn't afford the bus and the 2/9d return ferry fare! Now I'm in North America, same as you.
3

justatrufan,

10/10/2008 05:57:17
Whilst the credit crisis will affect some clubs it will also make football even more of a games of haves and have nots. Clubs such as Man City have owners who have more money than sense and will buy success at any cost. Other clubs such a Hull City have no money so they will continually lose players to the wealthy clubs. So the existing gulf will get wider and the game even more predicatable.
Salary caps, transfer fee caps etc can have some success but only if EVERY club everywhere agree to it.I don't know the answer. Perhaps FIFA and all the governing bodies need to say "This is how much each club can spend on transfer fees and wages for players. Use it how you see fit but that is the limit. If you don't have that amount of money then just spend what you can. If you have more than that then keep it in you pocket as you wont be able to use it.".
Realistically, the more players cost then the more wages will be and the higher price the tickets will be and less fans will go to matches.
4

wicket,

10/10/2008 06:04:48
or we could go like american football (someone correct me if im wrong) where the clubs that finish lower in the league get first choice on the young stars
5

HarryStotle,

Blackheathstone 10/10/2008 06:48:04
So Peter Storrie reckons he was the first to warn that football costs have spiralled out of control. He must be completely out of touch because fans have been saying this for years. The problems started when the Premiership was formed and have become much worse fuelled year after year by TV money.
For many decades there was stability about the way professional football was run in Europe. Now, clubs have become dependent on the TV money rolling in and when it stops, as it surely will, the dangerous fall-back position is a bunch of foreign owners like Gaydamak who couldn't give two figs for football let alone the clubs they profess to support.
Storrie, you were warned.
6

Steve W,

Portsmouth 10/10/2008 07:36:09
It is a worry that we could suffer due to the current situation. But it has been coming for a very long time fee's and wages have spiralled out of control, and with all respect to Chelsea, Abramovich has increased the problem ten fold since he has taken over. And now with all the money at Man City things could get worse! It would be great for there fans to win the title but when you are driving a Ferrari and the rest have Ford Fiesta's its not that much of a race is it?
I agree with the above refrence to a transfer budget it is a possible answer to part of the problem if every team is allowed a max of 30/40 million then at least they would have to build over a few season's rather than just going out and buying all the top performers at the current time?
Fingers crossed we dont get hit to hard? PUP
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Michael S.,

10/10/2008 07:57:16
Wicket it is the same in American Football,Baseball and all sports in America it is called a Draft,where the teams that finished last get first choice of a player either out of college or elsewhere,it happens in the off season.Then when the last team picks it goes up from there and the team that finished first,or like football won the super bowl get last pick in that round usually there are 4 or 5 rounds to choose new players.
So if it happened in the premier Man U would get last pick and Pompey since they won the FA cup would be near to last to pick.
Sounds to me with the credit crunch that the whole world is nearing a depression,petrol tho in the US is going down alot the last few weeks,so there may be help soon.
8

dave rancskum,

10/10/2008 08:22:17
how much is storrie on a year, i wonder if the credit crunch is affecting, him...........by his waistline i think not...............compulsive bulls*itter
9

Michael S.,

10/10/2008 08:37:42
Harry was saying on skysports.com he doesn't agree with a salary cap and going back to American sports that is a main thing cause that is what hurts alot of teams in any sport is the salary to a player.
Maybe Storrie should use some of that tv money to help pay a few bills for tat is what also is saving alot of teams in the U.S tv money.
10

pumpkinhead,

10/10/2008 08:42:26
A lot of good comments on here, the draft idea would not be workable though unfortunately as clubs academies are responsible for training youth players because the level of sports at the college/school level is a joke compared to the states.
The place where the superbowl was held last year was much better than wembley and it was a college stadium! That's how much money goes into a college over there.
But American Football does have a good salary cap and each club has a budget they can spend as in Basketball too. It makes the leagues much more unpredictable but i sometimes think that the powers that be in football WANT to keep the top clubs at the top in all competitions.
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