Every club in the SPL is currently lumbering along carrying a multi-million pound debt, with one exception, Partick Thistle, whose debt is a mere six-figure sum.
Both United and Dunfermline have talked to their players about deferring player-bonuses, and the latter are rumoured to be very near the brink of administration.
Rangers are rumoured to be over £50 million in debt, and several other clubs are rumoured to be desperately close to financial meltdown, and the situation is bleak for several clubs south of the border too.
Why Are Clubs So In Debt?
Most clubs in deep trouble appear to have been paying too much for players, some laying out more in wages than actual turnover.
Attendances are down too on, say, twenty years ago, for some clubs anyway, but surely not enough to run up debts of millions of pounds? All clubs have made ground improvements after Hillsborough and the anti-standing campaign, which certainly cost a few quid. Now all SPL clubs are to have undersoil heating – more expense for the cash-strapped. Will we have a situation where clubs cannot afford to play in their own league? And what then? Some have even said that Public Money should be made available to help save clubs in crisis, and this line of argument has raised much debate on the messageboard here. It getting to the stage where there seems to be more focus on what’s going on in clubs’ bank accounts rather than what’s on the park.
Clubs have maybe reached a point of no return re debts. They cannot continue as they have been doing, and many are turning to administration as a way out. Next season, the SPL are introducing a 10-point deduction system for any clubs in administration. The way things are going, all but a few will be starting at minus 10! Maybe the clubs should have a pact and all go into admin? Certainly worth a thought!
I feel sorry for those in admin right now – as they are currently the exception to the rule, and their fans must have taken the blow hard. Other clubs will follow I’m sure, and these clubs will follow the examples already set by the likes of Motherwell and Dundee in money-raising and organisation.
It has to be emphasised though, that there are two battles currently engaged in the SPL – the battle for league places, and the battle for financial survival. I think all the clubs will survive and see better days, but it’s going to be tough on any club that gets a bad break on the park – like for example both Dundee clubs being knocked out of the Cup will have hit the bank balances just as hard as the defeat demoralised the team and fans.
We are, as a league, in a state of transition. Those already in admin have accepted defeat (in one respect) and retreated in order that they survive. Those struggling must be looking at administration also as a means of escape, and why would a club struggle along with a 5 Million debt, and watch other clubs escape their debts by taking the administration option? I think in this respect the SPL are right to punish clubs taking the admin route, though I sympathise with the view that it is punishing the already humbled.
Will any clubs go to the wall? Well this remains to be seen. Of those in trouble, Dundee appear to have the largest rumoured debt, and it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming months, certainly for those in administration, and also to see if any more follow the same path.
It’s not a pleasant time for football in Scotland. The SPL’s clubs are rocking, the national team are not a patch on the older outfits, the old firm have dominated for too long, and there have been no Euro titles for any Scottish club for as long as anyone can remember.