Court date set to ban five of Chelsea’s racist fans
March 12 – Five men are to appear in court in connection with the racist abuse by Chelsea fans prior to the Champions League first-leg last-16 game against Paris St Germain last month.
Premier League
Man Utd’s mis-firing Falcao fails to last U21 outing
March 11 – Football is full of cases of misfit superstars failing to adapt to new surroundings. But few in recent years feature such a stark fall from grace as that of Manchester United’s on-loan Colombian striker Radamel Falcao.
Will Etihad stump up £80m a year for Man City sponsorship?
By Mark Baber
March 10 – Manchester City are poised to sign a massive £80-million-a-year sponsorship deal with Etihad, according to rumours in the British press. The new deal would mean a renegotiation of the current £400 million deal.
Spurs go back to school with Lord Sugar and opening of TUTC
March 10 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur activated the next stage of its participation in the regeneration of the local area around its stadium with the opening of the University Technical College of Tottenham by the club’s former Chairman and star of the TV series The Apprentice, Alan Sugar (now Lord Sugar).
Villa pitch invasion and violent fans spark FA investigation
March 9 – English football authorities are investigating disgraceful scenes at the end of an FA Cup quarterfinal between arch-rivals Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion that were reminiscent of the dark days of the domestic game.
Exclusive: Ker-ching! 2013-14 was a barnstorming year for Premier League profits
By David Owen
March 8 – The 2013-14 season is set to go down as a major milestone in the business annals of the Premier League, with the 20 clubs on course to record an aggregate pre-tax profit – perhaps a substantial one – for the first time in over a decade.
Man Utd top Twitter table for third week, Chelsea move up to second
March 6 – For the third week running Manchester United have topped the Insideworldfootball Premier League Twitter ranking putting on more than 43,000 new followers. Chelsea, who were third in the table last week, showed (perhaps depressingly) that fans behaving badly (racism and sexism incidents) do not effect popularity when it comes to putting on followers, but a League Cup win does. Chelsea put on 5,000 fewer fans than Man Utd, but 2,000 more than overall Twitter table topper Arsenal.
Spit spat leaves Cisse and Evans in pool of trouble
March 6 – Newcastle United’s Senegalese striker Papiss Cisse faces a lengthy ban after accepting a charge of spitting at Manchester United defender Jonny Evans in the midweek Premier League fixture.
English FA steps into sexist abuse row as Chelsea fans, again, go toxic
March 6 – England’s Football Association is calling on fans to report sexist abuse after being shown unpleasant scenes of female officials and staff being subjected to obscene chanting – some of it again involving Chelsea supporters.
Liverpool end 7-year financial itch with £1m profit
By Mark Baber
March 3 – Liverpool’s annual accounts for the year ended 31 May 2014 show the club made a pre-tax profit of £900,000 – the first time the club has been in the black for seven years and the reward for a positive style of play, coming second in the Premier League, and the fruits of the Premier League broadcasting deal.
Spurs midfield legend Dave Mackay dies, aged 80
March 3 – Dave Mackay, one of the iconic midfielders of British football whose name will for ever be synonymous with Tottenham Hotspur during the club’s golden era half a century ago, has died at the age of 80.
QPR cut losses to £9.8m, but write off £60m of loans
By Paul Nicholson
March 2 – Queens Park Rangers (QPR) have announced reduced losses of £9.8 million for the year ending May 2014 – the season QPR won promotion back to the English Premier League. The previous year QPR had announced the largest loss ever recorded by an English club – £65.4 million to May 2013 – in the season the club were relegated from the top flight.
Cardiff’s Bluebirds see red with £12m loss after Premier League flight
By David Owen
March 1 – Cardiff City’s Bluebirds may recently have reverted back to their traditional blue home shirts, but when it comes to their accounts they are still in the red. The Welsh club’s brief excursion into the Premier League last season resulted in a near five-fold increase in revenue from £17.3 million to £83.1 million. But, as shown by its recently-published financial statements, not even this was enough to push the club into profit in the year ended 31 May 2014 –
Man Utd continue table topping Twitter run as Palace and Toon Army sink
By Paul Nicholson
February 27 – Manchester United, looking to move back into Champions League qualifying position this weekend, have topped the Premier League table of new Twitter followers for the second week running. Arsenal, third last week, have moved up to second, while Liverpool move up a place to third and Chelsea drop from second to fourth.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes to close 60 shops after biggest ever football loss on record
By Mark Baber
February 27 – Ladbrokes has revealed it plans to close 60 betting shops as it revealed its pre-tax profits for 2014 fell from £68 million to £38 million, partly due to its biggest ever football loss on record of £8.1 million on Boxing Day as punters celebrated the favourites winning in the major games.