RoyalBlueOnce were Biscuitmen AZ is basically a slightly richer version of SJM, willing to subsidise the business in a limited fashion but not a sugar daddy that is going to throw away his Father’s cash so we can all watch Premiership football every year.
Thems the breaks folks.
If anybody on here wants to buy the club and spend their own money subsiding a loss making business fantastic, if not why not just pipe down a touch?
Oh brilliant! That old chestnut raised again! And about as convincing as 'if we spend more money we will end up like Portsmouth. Fans may not be able to afford to buy the club but I wager there are a good number who have ploughed higher percentages of their disposable income into supporting the club than either Madejski or AZ and without the perks.
I suppose I should have expected Madejski to have found a successor in his own likeness and it is now looking like AZ is very similar. Only saving graces are that AZ doesn't seek to always be the centre of attention like and his other half is far more attractive!
But in absolute terms the disposal income committed by fans is depressingly irrelevant to the financial and on-pitch performance of the club, driven as it is by TV revenue and the largess of owners.
Championship football has to put it's house in order, fans always ask for 'some' more investment and taking on a 'little' more debt if required to reach the promised land of, 'the prem'. If anybody points out the risk of this slippery slope then they are immediately accused of scare mongering; but before leveling that charge consider just how bad the financial situation in the 2nd tier actually is:
From the Deloitte 2013 football survey:
•The aggregate operating losses of Championship clubs worsened to £147m in 2011/12; a long slide from an aggregate operating loss of £35m back in
2003/04. Only three Championship clubs made an operating profit.
• Championship clubs’ net losses(after player trading and finance costs) for 2011/12 improved to £158m(2010/11: £189m), an average of £6.6m per club.
Only five Championship clubs made a net profit.
•The average wages/revenue ratio for Championship clubs was 89% and has been between 87% and 90%for five seasons. 17 Championship clubs reported a wages/revenue ratio above 70%, including nine clubs for which the ratio exceeded 100%. So, these nine clubs spent more on wages than they earned in revenue in the season, and in addition had to fund their other operating costs.
• This loss-making behaviour is, in part, due to the lure of the Premier League promotion prize of at least £120m. Each of the promoted clubs can expect a revenue increase of more than £60m in 2013/14 and,even if a club is relegated after one season, it will be entitled to parachute payments over the following four seasons of around £60m.
The level of financial rewards available in the Premiership are still persuading too many owners (and most fans) to indulge in a self destructive, debt fueled arms race to reach the top tier.
However, the consequence of this behavior is to make the 2nd tier of English football unsustainable in the long run. Thankfully both SJM and AZ were and are both unwilling to fully commit to this madness and try to run the club as sanely as possible given most of our competitors are not.
We are trying to do the prudent financial thing in an insane world. It will harm our chances of short term success on the pitch but will hopefully ensure that our club is around as part of the Reading community when many of those sides we have played against are not.