Is Your Club Losing Money?

Across the world of top-level football, we’re bombarded with reports of clubs drowning in debt and hemorrhaging money—yet somehow they still manage to bankroll bloated payrolls and splash out millions every transfer window. So what’s really going on? Are private owners genuinely footing the bill out of love for the game, sacrificing personal wealth to keep supporters happy? Should we applaud them as benevolent patrons of the people—or is there something deeper, murkier, and more strategic hidden behind the accountant’s spreadsheet?

When billionaire owners declare that they are losing money we should be careful to not take their claims at face value. Losing money can often be an ownership tactic, for a number of reasons:

1. Accounting Losses ≠ Actual Losses

We must be aware that accounting losses do not always mean actual losses for the owner. Losses can be used to:

• Reduce tax liability
• Appear poor to fans (to justify lack of spending from tightwad owners)
• Mask wealth extraction (owners pulling money out while books show losses)
• Comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) by spreading costs creatively

Meanwhile, shirt sponsorships, real estate deals, or owner-related companies might be earning hidden profits off the club, but they won’t show up in the club’s income statement.

2. Financial Fair Play Loopholes

Under UEFA and domestic FFP rules, clubs must limit losses over a rolling period (e.g. €60M over 3 years). To comply — or appear to comply — clubs use tricks like:

• Inflated commercial deals (e.g. state-sponsored sponsorships)
• Off-book spending (via parent companies or third parties)
• Related-party transactions (like paying rent to a stadium owned by the same owner)
• Loans and interest write-offs (owners lend money instead of injecting equity)

Through strategies like these the club “loses” money, but the ecosystem around it is profitable — especially for the owner.

3. Asset Stripping / Rent Seeking

Some owners run clubs like financial machines rather than community institutions:

• Sell stadium naming rights to their own companies
• Take management fees or consulting fees
• Buy real estate near the club (gentrification strategy)
• Use the club for branding, tourism, or soft power (as in Gulf-state ownership)

The club itself may show annual deficits — but the network of entities around it is profitable.

4. Fan Pacification and Wage Restraint

“Sorry, we just don’t have the money” is often used to:

• Justify not investing in the squad
• Keeping wages low
• Avoiding scrutiny over dividends or debt service

This creates a false sense of scarcity, especially in clubs with loyal, working-class fanbases. They’re sold austerity — while private investors cash in quietly.

5. Debt Disguised as Investment

Some clubs show losses because they are deeply in debt — but that debt is often:

• To the owners themselves
• Structured so that it reduces tax
• Offloaded onto holding companies if things go bad

If the club is sold later, the debt can be dumped or written off. This makes club losses a short-term smokescreen.

To summarize, here are the tactics often used by clubs to disguise their financials:

So what can be done about the pervasive problem of shady financial dealings that plague the top tiers of global football? For starters, we need to face a hard truth: privately owned clubs operate under a veil of secrecy that publicly owned teams simply can't match. Legal structures favor the wealthy, granting them the "right" to treat football clubs as "private property" shielded from public scrutiny. But when a club serves as the beating heart of a community, this logic collapses. Fans deserve transparency, not corporate smokescreens!

That’s why one of the most powerful things we can do is back fan-owned clubs—teams that operate in the open and are accountable to their communities, not to billionaire boardrooms. Why do we keep pouring our hard-earned money into the pockets of the elites and their vanity projects? Enough is enough. It’s time to wake up and stop enriching the very class that exploits us!

We need to also call out mainstream corporate sports media. Yes they report whenever a club is sanctioned or cited for financial violations but they rarely dare to dig deeper. They are for the most part bootlickers whose job is to keep the spectacle rolling forward, to spotlight the drama while ignoring the rigged system behind it, and to keep the profits flowing for their masters. So that leaves independent media, everyday podcasters and youtubers, and bloggers like me, to shine the light of truth into the shady cesspool of profits and exploitation.

Here at Offside Empire, in addition to offering a score for Ownership, Culture, and Solidarity (our Power to the People ranking), we will also provide a FIT ranking. This stands for Financial Integrity and Transparency, and here is how it will break down:

1. Excellent - “Clear books, open books.”

• Club publishes full annual financial reports, ideally audited and publicly available.
• Fan shareholders or trusts have access to board-level financial data.
• No evidence of offshore entities, self-dealing, or hidden debts.
• Ownership is fully disclosed and not layered through opaque holding companies.
• Demonstrates ethical sourcing of income and clear reinvestment into community and football.

2. Good - “Mostly open, but could do better.”

• Financial statements are published or summarized, but may be delayed or lack detail.
• Ownership is clear but not always forthcoming with breakdowns (e.g., player wages, agent fees).
• Income sources are mostly ethical, but some commercial partnerships lack clarity.
• No major scandals, but fans or watchdogs sometimes need to pressure for disclosure.
• Some related-party transactions may exist, but not exploitative.

3. Questionable - “Selective truth, corporate polish.”

• Financials are not regularly published, or shared only with select investors.
• Ownership may involve offshore entities or shell companies with unclear beneficiaries.
• Known use of tax avoidance strategies, self-dealing, or inflated sponsorships.
• Fans are often told the club is losing money, while owners profit indirectly.
• Creative accounting to meet FFP while hiding spending (e.g., amortization tricks, third-party funding).

4. Poor - “Numbers don’t add up. Fans left in the dark.”

• Financial documents are hidden, inconsistent, or misleading.
• Frequent ownership changes or use of complex offshore structures.
• Evidence of asset stripping, inflated management fees, or funneling money to related entities.
• Fans and journalists have exposed shady dealings, but accountability is absent.
• May ignore financial regulations, delay taxes, or accrue unsustainable debt.

5. Horrible - “Shrouded in secrecy, financial red flags, authorities are concerned.”

• Known involvement in fraud, money laundering, match-fixing, or criminal funding.
• Club ownership and finances are deliberately opaque, potentially connected to organized crime, autocratic states, or kleptocrats.
• Revenue and spending patterns make no footballing sense.
• Club is used as a political tool or financial laundromat, with fabricated sponsorships and paper transfers.
• May be under sanction, legal investigation, or facing collapse due to illicit practices.

At the heart of every club are the fans—the lifeblood of the game, the ones who show up in the rain, sing in the stands, and pass their love of football down through generations. They deserve respect—not condescension or manipulation. Yet too often, fans are treated as little more than consumers to be exploited, misled, and drained of their time and their cash. The FIT ranking exists to push back against that. It’s a tool to expose the dirty money behind the beautiful game, and to reward those clubs that compete honestly.

If clubs want our support, they should earn it—not with slogans and slick PR, but with transparency, accountability, and genuine respect for the communities and neighborhoods that sustain them.

My name is Peter Goodgame and I'm the founder of Offside Empire. Yes, it's my real name. My whole life it has caused people to do a double-take to which I've always responded, "Yes, Goodgame, like football is a good game."

I love football! It's like a religion to me and to billions of other humans around the world. But just like institutional religion the game has its problems. So me and my messiah complex are here to help! 😆

I’ve launched this blog as a platform to explore football’s relationship to Empire and to spotlight the clubs that stand out by doing things the right way. I’m also building a comprehensive database of major clubs and leagues around the world. Never mind the EPL and MLS, we're starting with the top tiers in Ireland and Scotland, and England’s League One. Special shoutout to Bohemian FC, Motherwell FC, and AFC Wimbledon, three standout examples of fan-owned football done right! These clubs and others like them deserve our admiration and support.

Our next goal is to launch a simple app that will serve as a quick reference and a truthful guide for football fans around the world. You can support our cause by subscribing to the blog, following @offsideempire on X or BlueSky, or by reaching out to me through DM or email at pdgoodgame@gmail.com.

Football is the people's game, and we're taking it back!