I think it is fair to say that the difference between Arsenal and Tottenham is getting more slight by the season – there is no one reason. On the pitch Arsenal are still going through a never-ending transitional period that has been emphasised by falling short when it really matters, the fact that the club are laying the foundations for the generations to come has been stressed to the fans to the point of rhetoric. The less noticeable development of Spurs hint that the North London clubs may just be leading the way in building the clubs up for sustainable and financially stable future.
Arsenal have the advantage. The revenue generated by the club is nearly three times higher than that of Spurs, there is far more money to play with and support the debt repayments that are needed to pay for the Emirates stadium. In the case of Spurs, it is not clear where all their money comes from, there is the opinion that Levy has offshore bank accounts and the club is financed this way but there is no proof and I’m certainly no expert on stuff like this. What is clear is that they are thinking of the future – the desire to build a stadium to rival ours in capacity (albeit with less corporate facilities) and the fact that they have a very large fan base enables them to use this to secure their financial future.
In the clubs rich list, Tottenham are always ranked between the 15th and 10th richest clubs in the world, some achievement for a club who only qualified for the Champions League qualifying stages in the season just gone, it is said that Spurs have the highest revenue out of the non-Champions League teams (before last season), impressive given some of the teams in Europe that fail to qualify.
Investment in the team is where the main difference is. Arsene Wenger is frugal. When he spends big most of the time the players turn out to be a success, the signing of Thomas Vermaelen for just less than 10 million last summer shows that you can buy class on a budget whilst still having funds to add a player of proven class to mix things up eg. Andrey Arshavin. Spurs are one of the top three spenders over the past three seasons and some say they have paid over the odds, their ambition has stayed the same though and finally they have achieved that so you can say that to a degree, the spending has worked out. The extra revenue generated from the Champions League is the next stage of their development, then the stadium. Its fair to say they are a club that is growing.
Compared to Arsenal, the whole financial situation is complex, the delve into the property development market was a wise move to supplement income and bring in a load of money in to lift the bank account even more; massive chunks of the debt have been paid off and now some money can be released to invest in the squad, whether it is spent is another matter. The money is there and despite having debts, they are the most serviceable out there. It was planned to such a degree that even if the club didn’t achieve Champions League qualification for two or three years the future will still be stable.
There are new kids on the block though, and they don’t have to build or plan, they can just bulldoze their way through the hard work and write a cheque for hundreds of millions without thinking about it. Manchester City.
Their current first team costs over 200 million. Over half of what the development of the Emirates cost to put it into perspective.
They can pay the highest wages, buy the best players and get the best managers. The only way to stop them is with FIFA legislation allowing only funds that have been received in revenue to be spent in the transfer market.
Chelsea are the other club with a big financial backer, though Roman Abramovic is no longer the big spender he used to be – he will invest to ensure success but is more reluctant to pay over the odds on wages and go over the top on transfer fees. He wants them to break even.
Then there are United and Liverpool, United are in real danger and the Glazers record in business is shocking – Panorama revealing that their ‘self-investment’ was actually just another loan based on a bunch of currently empty shopping malls in the USA. Liverpool have had their loan extended by RBS so have to make re-payments and sharpish.
On the pitch the gap between Arsenal and Spurs has got a lot smaller, in the financial stakes Arsenal are still in a different league but that will start shortening at some point too. As an Arsenal fan it doesn’t daunt me, I can only think of it as a good thing. We are leading the way, and going in the right direction.
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Nice blogging sir!
Will you be at Barnet on Saturday? for the 1st time ever I’m going to that game as I’m at a loose end!
Anyways I’m not convinced of Spurs’ financial viability their December 2009 6 monthyl interimd showed a loss before tax of £8.3m.
The last few years before this they have made substanital gains via player trading. Now they have the free spending Redknapp at the helm spending some £45m in his 1st 12 months in charge they will not remain a major force in the market unless they sell to spend.
Spurs also need to move home if they want to compete on a serious level and I can not imagine for 1 second that with the purse strings closed during the 1st 3yrs (like at the emirates) they wil continue to compete unless they go into more hock which is not recommended.
I personally feel their current moment of euphoria (4th place) will be short lived. They are not that sustainable if you take a very close look at their Interim report to 31st December 2009
Nice article mate, and very objective, unlike the rubbish written by “Untold Arsenal” in always glorifying Arsene Wenger. You have said what I have been saying all along. The money is there, at least we can spend £40 million this transfer window, but Wenger choses to continue being frugal. Surely we cannot continue blaming the Hill-Wood hierarchy for this anymore (although the situation suits them). This transfer window is showing that Arsene is only very slightly willing to learn from the bitter lessons of the past.If we identify a top notch talent, why can’t we buy him even if he is worth £20 million ? Our hesitancy and caution in the transfer market is the only reason why Spurs are catching us up in the playing field. Wenger is to blame for this nonsense because technically speaking ARSENAL SHOULD BE WELL OUT OF SPURS’ REACH.
Just wait and see the magic of Harry at Rottenham..He is master in banckrupting clubs…he just has completed 1 full season, give him 2-3 season and he will be upto it!!!!
To Joel71: At least I at last see someone who holds my views re: Arsene Wenger. Some people have chosen to be so blinded by him that they cannot see any faults with this man. I choose and actually beg to difer as I see him as a proud, stubborn and arrogant man who wishes to look back in anger, tap himself on his shoulders and smogly comment to any one who cares to listen (and there are many followers), ‘but I told you so, here am I, I have been proved right yet again’. He so much beloieves in his own self-worth and hype that this is damaging to the team! Even Arshavin has seen things differently and now Cesc is about to vote with his feet (I sincerely hope not)! I wish Arsenal all the best this time round again and if it does not happen for us again the 7th year running, we all know whom to blame!
Well constructed and realisyic article – I do think that Wenger has been prone to making more mistakes in the last couple of years than he did in the previous few years. He is a very proud and stubborn individual and these characteristics are not conducive to getting the best out of his squad.
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