Crunch Time For Football Finances

Despite Kaka's proposed £100m move to Manchester City, many football clubs are struggling in the economic conditions. Ian Dovaston has been to two very different clubs to see how they're coping.

This is Pierre resistor, this is first real Madrid chair, war against. I am trying to confront it, but. . .

John Ryan proves a life time fascination with football. I have a passion for my hometown Dovaston. I said that I would do it when I was 20. So you know. That was a calling for me really. But if it was a business decision I would torture? you with batch poll.

He's dragged his club from conference to championship pouring in perhaps 5 million pounds of his own money. It is a familiar story, but never more pertinent. Part from Saman city, I think the cold wind recession is reaching every club. Doncaster Rover is debt free, thanks largely to Ryan, but too many aren't. And the banks are wanting their money back. In the next few months, you will see, you might see some big casualties, I mean, who knows. But can morals go both. You know, in 1998 business. Who knows. These are treacherous times for football clubs. When Doncaster Rover emerged from M league, its wage bill was 800 , 000 pounds. Now just over 4 years later, it is 5 million pounds, or almost 60% of the clubs' turnover. As for so many others, the challenge for Doncaster and their chairman John Ryan is for the club to sustain itself financially. Here at Queen's Park ranges they have not just one, but three very wealthy individuals on board, but it seems suspiciously prudent. Edman Betty represents those wealthy men, Flobia Victory, Berly Achostood and Lachely Mitown, each of whom has significant sums in recent months. So far even they have spent less than 2 million pounds on 5 players in the transfer window. As I travel with the team for three months and speak to a lot of different clubs boards is that all of them are affected. And they are probably, you know, have less appetite to spend that they would did 12 or 18 months in some cases. And they have no appetite at all. C* have premier ambitions. But they are pledged to be building patiently. Football it would seem in general slowly coming around to that view.

When the January transfer window began in 2003, 33 million pounds were spent in the premier league alone. Four years later, that spending hit doubled. But just one year later in 2008, that figure had almost tripled again to 175 million pounds. Unless Manchester city get that man, the figure this year is expected to be down. But the QPR the believes old habits die hard. We may see a year or two, you know, maybe less spending. But I think eventually it will go back to the times when money is paid for quality. That's something that's always happened in football. Back to Doncaster, however, John Ryan believes recession could prove to be football saver. In a strange way, it might bring it back to reality. There are some problems with football. It lives in this fantasy world. Manchester city's Large Ace created perhaps a dangerous illusion. Football has hit lean times. No question. In Dovaston, Sky News.

NOTES:

transfer window 在“轉會市場”中可以選擇合適的球員并簽約到自己的球隊中。

QPR Queens Park Rangers. 女王公園巡游者