By Paul Nicholson
September 3 – Football Benchmark, the sports research arm of accountancy and consultancy firm KPMG, has produced a new report looking at the relationship between total staff costs incurred by clubs from the ‘big five’ leagues playing in the Champions League (CL) and the cash received from UEFA’s CL distribution system in the 2011/12-2013/14 period.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 2 – The summer transfer window may have slammed shut with the English market forking out a record £870 million as it again dominated the spending landscape but it was the moves which didn’t go through that raised eyebrows – with clubs and players alike indulging in an unsavoury blame game.
September 2 – The second edition of IFA’s Berlin breakout conference – Football’s Digital Transformation – that will be held September 10 is reporting that registrations are almost full and will close this Friday. The organisers have also released the schedule for the event.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
September 1 – The city authorities of Brno have unveiled plans to lease the Za Luzankami stadium to Verime Zbrojovce, a supporters’ association led by former footballer Petr Svancara, and, in the long-term, finance a project worth some CZK 1.5 billion (€55.5 million) to overhaul the stadium for Czech football club FC Zbrojovka Brno.
September 1 – An amateur match in Berlin descended into a mass brawl that left two people injured after fans and players from both teams exchanged anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim insults, according to German police.
By Alexander Krassimirov
September 1 – More than 60 Ultras, supporters of Bulgaria’s Lokomotiv Plovdiv, laid seige to the police station in Montana this weekend, trying to free one of their fellow fans. The fan had been arrested during the game in the Bulgarian elite league between Montana and Lokomotiv after Plovdiv Ultras tried to invade the pitch.
August 31 – Five spectators, including two minors, were injured as a safety barrier gave way at the recently opened Nouveau Stade in Bordeaux late in the Derby de l’Atlantique.
August 28 – If there wasn’t quite a group of death, Manchester City arguably again drew the short straw in the draw for the group stages of the Champions League.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 28 – FC Schalke 04 has inked a new sponsorship deal with Turkish Airlines. The deal, which is estimated to be worth a total of €1.4 million, will see the airlinesupport the Gelsenkirchen-based side for two years.
August 28 – Lionel Messi’s role in Barcelona’s treble-winning 2014/15 campaign has resulted in him being been named UEFA’s European player of the year for the second time in the accolade’s five-year history.
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
August 27 – Following the club’s return to Italy’s Serie B, Italy’s second tier, Ascoli Picchio FC has unveiled detail of a planned €12 million stadium redevelopment.
By Alexander Krassimirov
August 27 – Bulgaria’s Levski Sofia have started an educational campaign in a bid to combat the extreme racism of their fans. The club is one of the most frequently fined by the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU). Recently the fines for Bulgarian teams for racist incident, of which there are sadly many, have been increasing.
By Mark Baber
August 27 – The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has referred the Batman Petrolspor team to the Professional Football Disciplinary Committee after the club released white doves representing peace prior to their first game of the season.
August 26 – The English Premier League may generate the most income of Europe’s domestic leagues but tomorrow’s Champions League draw features no fewer than five Spanish clubs, the first time one country has had that many representatives in the competition.
By Matt Scott
August 25 – Olympiacos have been cleared to play in this season’s Champions League group phase after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Monday that UEFA had been right to admit the serial Greek champions.