Just curious.

[KateLMead]

We never hear where all the millions go as a result of ticket sold for football matches. Thousands attend these games, not sure what the tickets cost or where the money paid for them by fans goes.

[cruiser2]

Not in my back pocket

[Rodo]

Doesn't it pay Wayne Rooney's wages sort of thing?

[KateLMead]

Going crazy. !!! Sent you a message... However have a great day....

[Rodo]

Got it thank you.

[KateLMead]

Just read that David Nicholson, responsible for the hospitals 1,200 deaths wishes to join the New Press regulator,
We must be mad!!!! Police take early retirement, get a nice fat golden handshake and pension, within three. months rejoin as advisors and other positions. In my opinion Nicholson should be behind bars along with the other cohorts abusing the system.
He was chauffeur driven to his mistress an absolute disgrace and failure REWARDED for his shocking dishonesty.
The trouble is these wastes of space Know Too Much and are protected regardless of their crimes.

[Workingman]

Gate receipts are spent on providing first class facilities for the customers. These include: dining and refreshments; toileting and ablutions; comfortable seating; an uninterrupted view, in fact, all the home comforts a supporter could wish for. See The Ostrich for details (he has a dossier).

[TheOstrich]

Gate receipts are spent on providing first class facilities for the customers. These include: dining and refreshments; toileting and ablutions; comfortable seating; an uninterrupted view, in fact, all the home comforts a supporter could wish for. See The Ostrich for details (he has a dossier).

Well yes, he said wryly - WM's irony is certainly not wasted here ....

Aston Villa lost £51.8m in the year to 31/05/2013 (source: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/f ... ss-6759930 )

The biggest overheads are players and staff wages, security / policing, and general administration. But also included are the fees for buying and selling players, so the annual results can depend entirely on what dealings there are in the transfer market.

Ticket prices these days fluctuate wildly depending on the attractiveness of the game, but in the Premiership. Adult tickets for Aston Villa vs Stoke City (which is a fairly run of the mill game) next Sunday range from £23 (worst seats) to £42 (best seats). Not that you'd get me paying that sort of money.

I watch non-league soccer and rugby union. Last Saturday I paid £7 (concession - over 60) to watch Leamington vs Barrow in the Conference North, which is two steps below League Division 2.

It finished 1-1, and was quite entertaining, but why on earth Leamington started with two 5-foot something strikers playing against Barrow's pair of 6'5" central defenders - and then did nothing but pump high balls up into the penalty area - well, that's another story! Anyway, full adult admission was £10. At this level, players are paid, but the principal club overheads are more like transport and ground maintenance. Without voluntary help, many non league clubs couldn't survive.

Now I say £7, but by the time you've added in a programme (£2.50), a team sheet (10p), the 50/50 raffle (£1), drinks in the bar (£1.90 for a J2O), halftime chips with an excellent tikka curry sauce and a cola (another £1.90) - that's £14.40. Clubs at this level rely for funds on the clubhouse bar as much as the gate money. But they are proper community clubs, with plenty of things going on during the week, kids football, comedy nights, so on. Facilities at the New Windmill ground aren't bad, and Leamington have secured grants to enable them to invest £110k in new modular buildings and stands this summer.

Rugby union, at the National 3 Midlands level (as another example), charge on average £5 for admission and a programme, and it's pretty clear the majority of their income comes through the bar!! Facilities outside the clubhouse are negligible, drop a level to Midlands 1 West and the pitch is a quagmire with spectators standing on the grass. My (old) shoes are still recovering from a visit to Berkswell and Balsall RUFC recently, I'm still trying to remove the mud!!

Finally, a cautionary tale. Several years ago (2003), a soccer club in the Conference North called Vauxhall Motors and based in Ellesmere Port, had a very good run in the FA Cup, including beating Queens Park Rangers. They made a lot of money from gate receipts, television and prize money. But they have been living off that ever since, and this year, the money finally run out. They can no longer afford the costs of playing at Conference North level (Step 2) and have announced their intention to resign at the end of the season and reform at Step 7 in the West Cheshire League.

You can also point your finger at any number of non-league clubs where "rich" men who have the money (but know diddley-squat about running a football club) buy up a local club and announce plans for a new stadium and rapid promotion up the soccer pyramid. And eventually the rich man loses interest, the money runs out, bills are unpaid, and the taxman forecloses on them. The club goes bust and out of existence. I'll not name names but there's currently at least two well-known non-league clubs out there who may well go bust this summer.