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cheshire_red

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  1. All things Bristol Bears

    in General Chat

    Posted

    I am so looking forward to 4.30pm tomorrow. Two huge packs full of quality going head to head, Bears backline is so full of attacking intent, skill and has three world class players, the Sarries backs aren't too shoddy either. If the Bears pack can get good quick ball out Bears will win by 10.

  6. The Championship FFP Thread (Merged)

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    Derby County could yet face sanctions for possible breaches of financial regulations after the English Football League ordered an independent valuation of their Pride Park stadium.

    Derby are among a number of clubs who have been accused by rivals of exploiting a loophole in the rules that has allowed them to buy their own stadium to make themselves financially compliant.

    That has prompted the EFL to commission property experts to provide a valuation of the Sky Bet Championship club’s ground, The Times can reveal. Sources have told this newspaper that independent stadium valuations have also been commissioned for Sheffield Wednesday and Reading.

    In Derby’s case, owner and chairman Mel Morris used a separate company to buy the ground for £80 million — with a deal to then lease it back to the club — when it was listed as an asset on the club’s books with a value of just £41 million.

    It meant Derby reported a pre-tax profit of £14.6 million earlier this year when losses in excess of £13 million per year over a three-year period amount to a breach of the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules.

    Last season Birmingham were docked nine points after recording total losses of £48.8 million from 2015-16 to 2017-18, taking them close to £10 million more than the £39 million limit.

    It remains possible that Pride Park’s valuation could be boosted by a proposal to build a roof that would make the stadium a multipurpose venue. But the 24 planning application documents currently listed on Derby City Council’s website appear to be focused on a two-storey extension for a food court.

    One property expert with knowledge of Pride Park believes it could be valued even lower than the £41 million previously stated in Derby’s books.

    A senior figure at a rival Championship club dismissed plans for a new roof at Pride Park as “irrelevant” when it had not been built at the time of the purchase by Morris.

    Derby, who have made a slow start to the season under new manager Phillip Cocu and sit 19th in the Championship table, are already under renewed scrutiny after signing Wayne Rooney as part of a controversial £100,000 a week player/coach deal in collaboration with a major betting firm.

    Clubs have already accused Derby, among others, of breaching financial fair play rules, with Middlesbrough even reportedly considering legal action. The Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson levelled such accusations at both Aston Villa and Derby at the Championship’s March meeting and the Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani argued that Derby should have faced sanctions for selling their ground to their owner.

    “We should revisit the rules,” said Radrizzani at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. “We were judged as a cheating club when we sent a scout to watch [Derby] training, so they should take a similar view on what I would say is greater cheating by these clubs.

    “For me if it’s cheating to send a scout in a public street, what should be the punishment of selling the stadium to a sister company to increase income of the clubs?”

    Derby, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading have consistently said they have not breached any regulations.

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