UEFA’s Financial Fair Play to alter EPL Landscape?

With reports of a whopping £4.4 billion spent collectively by Premier League clubs on player transfers in the last decade, this week’s space is dedicated to evaluating transfer expenditure in relation to recent success. There has recently been plenty of talk about UEFA’s Financial Fair Play and how likely it is to be strictly implemented. Assuming UEFA implements its threat to banish from Europe’s prestigious competitions teams that spend more than they earn, one can’t help but imagine how this will impact the football landscape.

Top Six Spending Clubs on Premier League Player Transfer Expenditures in the Last Decade

Club	Players Signed	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Chel	£681m	4th	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	3rd	1st	2nd	6th
ManC	£582m	9th	16th	8th	15th	14th	9th	10th	5th	3rd	1st
Livrpl	£414m	5th	4th	5th	3rd	3rd	4th	2nd	7th	6th	8th
ManU	£352m	1st	3rd	3rd	2nd	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	2nd
Spurs	£350m	10th	14th	9th	5th	5th	11th	8th	4th	5th	4th
Arsnl	£214m	2nd	1st	2nd	4th	4th	3rd	4th	3rd	4th	3rd

It is of little surprise that the new found success at Chelsea and Manchester City has called for investment head and shoulders above their more historically successful rivals. With £681m and £582m respectively spent in the last decade by the new wealthy owners, the best talent has been assembled to transform these previous also runs into consistent challengers for domestic and continental honors. Consistent with the saying that “success breeds success”, these clubs have now started to establish an international fan base and increase earnings from merchandize sales, prize money and sponsorship.

If the success of both Chelsea and Manchester City is utterly attributed to financial investment, it is interesting to look at the fortunes of Liverpool and Arsenal, two more traditionally successful clubs that have taken slightly unrelated paths. Liverpool has invested £200m more than its rival but has endured more modest success, failing to qualify for the Champions League in the last three seasons! Perennial qualifiers Arsenal are marked out as one of the most fiscally responsible clubs, enjoying returns from the high capacity of their new stadium and the bounty associated with simply making the Champions League.

Liverpool fans have at least enjoyed some recent cup success, although the league cup, England’s least prestigious cup is all they have to show from the last six years. Arsenal on the other hand has to deal with a very frustrated fan base that was used to challenging for honors but now face the new reality of selling their best players every season as they take pride in simply making the EPL top four.

Tottenham, Arsenal’s North London bitter rivals has spent just £2m less than Manchester United, English Football’s most successful club of the last decade but only have the 2008 league cup to show. While a lot can be attributed to tradition and infrastructure established over years, United has spent a massive £62m less than Liverpool, their bitter rivals for English football’s most successful club in history. On top of the attractive cash prizes associated with their recent success in the EPL and Champions League, United enjoys the largest average match attendance with 75,387 per game last season, arguably the largest fan base globally to attract merchandize sales and very lucrative sponsorship deals. Nearest rival, Arsenal had 60,000 per game, while cash rich Man City and Chelsea had a meager 47,044 and 41,478 per game respectively. But even United has the small issue of debt loaded onto it by its shrewd owners to contend with.

Some pundits may rightly point to manager continuity as the reason behind United’s great success and Arsenal’s relative success considering their outlay and player turnover. It could however be argued that Chelsea the second most successful English club of the last decade has managed to attain this feat despite one of the highest manager turnover rates in the league, because it has assembled a quality squad.

There is no doubt that money is an essential ingredient for success, but it must be wisely combined with infrastructure and stability for a club to realize its full potential. While the setup of European football has until this season allowed money to bear a greater influence on success, implementation of the new UEFA regulations will tilt importance in favor of infrastructure and stability. Soccer academies, fan base and visionary managers may yet prove to be a more valuable resource to clubs than wealthy owners with very little knowledge about the game! Before we let ourselves get carried away with the dream of a fairer football world that Mr. Wenger at Arsenal has been holding onto for the last few years, it is questionable that UEFA will have the spine to address phony deals like Manchester City’s record £400m deal with Etihad Airways. Cheers Man City and Chelsea fans! Your wealthy owners will keep your houses “in order”. After all most fortunes are built by circumventing rules!