There is no doubt that Covid-19 has impacted every business globally. During this time it has and will continue to change and impact on what we do daily from communicating to working. Many events were cancelled and postponed. This include scheduled football matches as no games were permitted from 9th March all the way to 17th June. whilst, football is back up and running with fans entering stadiums the impact of Covid remains drastic to clubs in the football league.
Although interest in football has remained positive throughout the pandemic, UK clubs have lost almost £2 billion in revenue as no tickets were sold and sponsorship revenue reduced as games were postponed meaning fans were not exposed to the marketing and advertising.
As revenue reduced, the debt for some clubs have increased. For example even for Manchester United (a club more stable than lower league clubs) debt has risen 16% to 455.5 million.
The bigger problem occurs with teams outside the premiership as these clubs are less financially secure. Gary Neville the co-owner of league 2 side Salford City said this "You are going to see fewer players and smaller squads and clubs using their academy". This shows the impact of Covid-19 with smaller clubs needing to reduce staff costs and player wages resulting in smaller squads. This is essential to ensure clubs survive and not end up like Bury FC who were recently removed from the football league due to the amount of high debt they had. It also puts strain on the current players at the club as smaller squads result in higher reliance on the current players meaning they would play more games increasing risk of injury and performance.
However, a positive that can be taken is highlighted when Gary Neville said "clubs relying on their youth". This suggest that the younger talent may get more opportunity to prove to the manager and fans what they are capable of, increasing development of those players that could help when approaching major international tournaments. This may also help clubs as many youth players are free/loan players. If they can prove their ability they might be sold to bigger clubs in higher leagues at a profit. This happens often already as you can see from the image below, where over 200 million has be spent by Premier league clubs purchasing players from lower leagues across the last 2 seasons. This revenue helps smaller clubs survive as sadly football has become very money orientated and an expensive business. However, youth talent is what makes football so exciting as you never know when the next big talent may appear.
The time football was postponed for and debt clubs are in
how much football has lost due to covid
Revenue made from prem clubs buying other 3 leauge players.
My thoughts. Covid has affected all businesses and all walks of life. Football is a mature industry and has a deep loyal fan base so in the main should manage to withstand the disruption. What’s important for all clubs but especially those in the lower leagues, is a requirement for review and pivot on how the clubs are to be run in a post-pandemic environment. What was ok before might not be ok in the future and in order for revenue streams to be maintained by clubs from fans, there will be a need to ensure confidence of wellbeing when the fans visit or engage with the clubs. I’d be interested in what new and innovative direction the clubs are…