Newcastle fans are scratching their heads at the current state of play with regards to FFP given that Chelsea’s spending over the last two transfer windows sails past the £500m mark.
Meanwhile, Newcastle get accused of buying their way to safety last season and now into the European spots. I’m not denying that money was spent, and especially in terms of what Newcastle fans have been used to for the previous 14 years, it was a LOT of money, but it still pales in significance to all the other “top” teams in the league, as well as a good few mid-table teams.
However, the question at the minute is, how are Chelsea able to spend so much when we have to tip-toe around every deal?
Well, the reality of the situation is, Chelsea have a lot more leeway than we do. They’ve consistently finished high in the league, won trophies, and consistently played in European competitions. Their income dwarfs ours. They also had a £1.5bn debt written off by Roman Abramovich as a parting gift, meaning that Todd Boehly was starting from a very strong financial position.
FFP is calculated on a three-year rolling basis, so there is scope for Newcastle to spend big now, but that would pile pressure on for success as we’d need to offset that big spend with revenue, and the best way to do that is to win things. If we spend big and fail to win anything, we’re up the creek. The slow, measured approach the club is taking is absolutely the right play.
All that being said, FFP is a joke. It’s heavily weighted in favour of clubs that are already in a position of power to spend their way out of any trouble. Meanwhile, anyone with designs on success have to toe the line. Additionally, it seems that the bigger the club, the more flexible the rules. We all remember Barcelona in the summer – no money to pay players’ wages, but plenty of money to buy the likes of Robert Lewandowski.
Financial Fair Play is such a misnomer it’s unreal. It either needs scrapping or overhauling so that it’s fair for every club at every level. Obviously, as a fan of the club with the richest owners in the world, I say scrap it so we can go mental!
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