League One and Two owners are able to inflate wages beyond clubs’ means, and if their money dries up it can be terminalIn the days after Manchester City received their two-year Champions League ban for overstating their sponsorships, Uefa’s “financial fair play” concept became a target of some misdirected fury, accused of stifling clubs’ ambitions by limiting the subsidies of owners.While that ire was playing out, the EFL’s review into the calamitous collapse of Bury, 10 miles up the road from City, was concluding that reliance on an owner’s subsidies was the prime reason for the club’s demise, a painful illustration of the need for FFP. Jonathan Taylor QC, commissioned to review the process leading to Bury’s expulsion from the Football League after 125 years’ membership, determined that the club crumbled because its last owner but one, Stewart Day, funded excessive players’ wages, creating a terminal crisis when his money ran out. Many clubs across Europe have fallen to this most basic financial danger, and Uefa gave a lead by introducing FFP in 2010-11, encouraging clubs to spend not much more than the revenues they make. Related: FFP turned round Premier League clubs’ losses and helped restore Liverpool | David Conn Continue readingreadfullarticle
