Other club football

Cock.
(Fester's penalty, not Jim).

It was coming. Hull have been wide open second half.

Double cock.
Bye bye 10-1.
The bookies always know. Apparently.

2-1 Leicester. Fuck sake.

Hull in a handcart.

Doubly annoying, it puts Wrexham in the playoffs.

2-2.
Hull of Kintyre...

Always liked Oli McBurnie.
Ahem.

I need someone smarter than me to tell me if this is as bad as it seems to be
Chelsea's complicated finances and massive liability

AI says...

🧠 The core idea
This isn’t just about Chelsea Football Club — it’s about how modern football ownership has shifted from billionaire-funded clubs to complex, debt-driven private equity structures.
At the centre is a £410m loan from Ares Management to Chelsea’s parent company (22 Holdco). But it’s not a normal loan.

💣 The “hidden bomb”: PIK debt
The most important concept here is Payment-in-Kind (PIK):

Chelsea’s owners don’t pay interest in cash

Instead, interest is added to the loan

So the debt grows exponentially over time

👉 Roughly:

Start: ~£410m

By 2033: potentially £850m–£1bn+

This is why the article calls it a “ticking time bomb”. The cost is delayed, not avoided.

🏗️ Why structure it this way?
The ownership (Clearlake/Boehly) put the debt above the football club, in a parent company.
That achieves two things:
1. Avoids financial rules
Rules like Premier League PSR look mainly at the club itself.
So:

The club appears “healthier”

The debt sits elsewhere

1. Protects short-term spending
   Because there are no cash interest payments:

More money can go to transfers, wages, and expansion

It enables aggressive growth (players + multi-club model)

🎯 Why Ares agreed to this
Ares isn’t just lending money — it’s playing a high-risk, high-reward game.
They get:
🔁 Huge interest (12–13%)
Very high returns compared to normal loans
🎟️ Potential ownership (the big one)
Through:

Warrants

Conversion rights

If things go wrong, Ares could:
👉 Convert debt into equity
👉 Take ownership stakes in the club structure

⚖️ The trade-off
This structure creates a massive gamble:
If it works:

Stadium redevelopment succeeds

Revenues grow (TV, commercial, matchday)

Club value skyrockets
➡️ Debt becomes manageable or refinanced

If it fails:

Revenues don’t grow fast enough

No Champions League income, etc.
➡️ Debt explodes
➡️ Ares can take control

🧩 Bigger picture (why this matters beyond Chelsea)
This is being framed as a model for the future of football finance:

Private equity + private credit entering sport

Clubs treated like financial assets

Increasing use of:

leveraged buyouts

hybrid debt/equity instruments

It’s a shift away from:

Roman Abramovich-style ownership
toward:

Wall Street-style structuring

🧭 Bottom line
The article’s main conclusion is:
👉 Chelsea are effectively borrowing heavily from the future
👉 The real cost is deferred until 2033
👉 And Ares holds the leverage if things go wrong

Isn't this the same as the glazers did with Man U

It reads like a student has read all the jargon and splurged it on the page to try and make it impenetrable.

But to be fair I gave up reading it

If Hull now score a winner you can thank me for cashing out on a £3 profit.
Slightly surprised that the cash out was a profit with only 3 minutes left.

The BBC text commentary has quoted the BBC Radio Lestah commentator.
'Boos, apathy and malaise'.
Not sure if that's a Poundshop Earth, Wind and Fire tribute act or 3 of the 4 Fossemen of the apocalypse.

Some beautiful scenes on the telly. Enjoyed that.

Leicester relegated, Coventry champions, Derby virtually guaranteed to miss the playoffs. All on the same glorious evening.

Just needs Marinakis to buy Seagrave this evening

Only if he turns it into something other than a training ground, I don't want our team touching that polluted and cursed ground.