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A really sad day for English Premier football but one that has been expected for a while.
Having lived beyond their means for the last few years, debts have finally caught up with Portsmouth FC and the club has now gone into administration resulting in a large fine and a nine point deduction.
They will almost certainly be playing Championship football next year instead of playing in the Premier league.
I wonder who will be next to feel the wrath of HRMC?
Sorry to bother you with the question, but how are the football teams structured there? Are they all privately owned? Owned by some overarching body? It seems odd that they would get fined for not having money (at least I think that's what 'adminstration' means, right? (analogous to declaring bankruptcy and reorganizing in the US).
Also, do they have to pay or make guarantees on audience size to the league they're in or risk a point penalty/demotion?
Football clubs tend to be privately owned, although there are a couple that are publically listed and you can buy shares in.
Each club is a business and like all businesses still has to make money or at least break even. Despite that several clubs are run by people for the local town without expecting a return on their money. Most money comes in from TV viewing, sponsorship (usually the logo on the team kit) and paying fans. The main payments are on the grounds and the players.
Unfortunately, in order to compete with bigger and better clubs, several of them spent big and having been living beyond their means. Portsmouth has several players on wages which are too expensive for the club to maintain and has already missed payments for some months. They also owe the government large amounts of tax money and it was a winding up order from HMRC which lead to the club going into administration after Portsmouth could not put together a buyout plan, which allowed them to pay off their debts.
If the staff have been earning wages in comparison with the rest of the PL's average wage bill, there is no excuse for these players and the management to work for nothing until the problem is solved.
While there is still the prospect of Wembley glory, I'm sure the players would gladly do this, but afterwards, if their bubble of hope is burst?
What is probably worse for the club is that is and when they get relegated, they get one seasons parachute payment and if they don't get back into the Premier League, those player's wages are going to cripple the club unless they manage to sell a lot of them.