Implications of relegation to league 1 (Mods can we condense all league 1 threads into one)

[marketharboroughfox]

29 minutes ago, Terraloon said:

If you look both internationally and indeed domestically Chelsea were no where close to the first club to sign players on contracts over 5 years. 
 

What is forgotten that club after club were and have  amortised players fees for periods way in excess of 5 years even if the initial contract was only 5 years. 
 

There actually isn’t any accounting justification in limiting the time depreciation ( amortisation) should be over indeed it negatively impacts every club and by my calculations idc the inability of clubs to in effect reduce a players squad cost by extending the contract post 5 years will start to impact add to that if say you have amortisation costs for an extended contract over 5 years then those costs can’t be amortised for FFP purposes at all.

 

 

I'm struggling to think of another club in this country that was dishing out so many contracts of the best part of a decade in length to be honest.

[SecretPro]

Definitely some people in this thread who work for and are complicit in the running of this club or helping covering up the ineptitude. 

[Terraloon]

9 minutes ago, marketharboroughfox said:

I'm struggling to think of another club in this country that was dishing out so many contracts of the best part of a decade in length to be honest.

There is no doubt in England Chelsea took it to another level but it’s worth looking at how clubs have operated in Europe and it was commonplace for the likes of Real Madrid to do exactly the same. 
 

I read an interesting article which weighed up the positives and negatives of signing players on long contracts and basically it can be argued either way but in the English football not 20 years ago it was rare to offer a player a deal over 3 years but transfer fee inflation altered things to a degree but wage inflation and the cycle that a 3 year contract bought about complicated matters even further. 

 

 

 

[marketharboroughfox]

5 minutes ago, Terraloon said:

There is no doubt in England Chelsea took it to another level but it’s worth looking at how clubs have operated in Europe and it was commonplace for the likes of Real Madrid to do exactly the same. 
 

I read an interesting article which weighed up the positives and negatives of signing players on long contracts and basically it can be argued either way but in the English football not 20 years ago it was rare to offer a player a deal over 3 years but transfer fee inflation altered things to a degree but wage inflation and the cycle that a 3 year contract bought about complicated matters even further. 

 

 

 

That was my point really, and while it happens on the continent for sure, we were talking specifically about FFP rules in this country as they're the ones that impact on us.

[Lesta Legend]

3 hours ago, OwnGoalJames said:

Reading the comments in this thread makes for interesting thoughts.

 

My view is that, however our season ends, we are getting a mass exodus of players (12 players, if you include loans), which leaves an enormous void in the squad to be filled with a transfer budget of ... £?? ... So, at this point now the club should have modelled and mapped out the finances and be looking at who they're going to sign in both situations (staying up, going down). That said if we go down does GR stay or go? If we stay up, same question. 

 

Also in terms of personnel, we have players to get moved on anyway (for a fee if we can)

 

Then some cuts to the running of the club will be essential, because you can't run this Super Club style training facility in League 1. 

 

After that, who knows?  

The club will start planning once the season ends and after top and Jon have returned from their well earned extended break. 
 

Forget about expecting a well thought out plan. 
 

Alas they can’t kick the can down the road now. 
 

 

[fox_favourite]

1 hour ago, SecretPro said:

Definitely some people in this thread who work for and are complicit in the running of this club or helping covering up the ineptitude. 

[john ridley]

Well in afew months all the guesses /rumours etc will  come  home to roost and we'll  know how deep the shit is we are in.Then we'll  see  if Top and Rudkin have put us on the verge  of going out of business. Times running out for them,clocks  ticking. 

[LCFCCHRIS]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpd92pj94yeo

 

Why can't they unearth a king again? 

 

No wonder we're so shit

[AjcW]

If anyone would like to go and see why getting into bed with Macquarie is always a bad idea. I'd suggest hopping on to X and seeing why they're trending and why the UK is about to lose its longest standing and most well known Car Park operator NCP. 

 

They were the owner before the current owner, same as what they did to Thames water  

Edited 17 March by AjcW

[davieG]

Maguire said: “Going down from the Premier League to the Championship meant an immediate hit of around about £70million in broadcast money.

“Plus there would have been a sizable hit from the sponsors, because they're not willing to pay that front of shirt deal. We saw about a £10m decrease between 2023/24 when that happened, going from Premier League to Championship the last time.
“Match day income will hold up, you got more matches. I know they can't increase the season ticket prices, but generally they would have sold season tickets with the intention at the start of this season that Leicester City will be competing at the right end of the division. Clearly that that's not materialised.
‌
“You put those two factors together and you're probably talking about £70-80m reduction.
“Now if they get relegated to League One the money from the Championship deal drops from about £7m to £1m, so there's about a £5-6m reduction there.
‌
“You're on your second year of parachutes, and that's another £10m and I think they will struggle to generate as much money through the turnstiles, selling hospitality and so on.
“No disrespect to anybody in League One, they all deserve to be there but if you've got Fleetwood coming to town, Walsall or Exeter City, those clubs don't generate interest.
“Especially if you've got a Tuesday night match, even if the club's doing well, trying to sell those boxes is very difficult at the old prices.
‌
“The last time, in 2024, the revenue of the City was £105million in the Championship, if they're in League One next season, then I'd probably say it'll be something around about £70m-ish, that's if they do very well – and they were generating over £200million a year in the Premier League.
“So the money will be going down by two-thirds, from the Premier League days – and two thirds could turn into threequarters if they don't have a good season.”
Maguire’s reference to parachute payments includes the fact City would still enjoy a share of the Premier League TV money – even in League One – also depending on whatever deal they have already struck with bankers Macquarie.
‌
Clubs relegated from the Premier League still receive a portion for three seasons, albeit on a sliding scale that reduces from years one to three.
Maguire admits this would certainly help City – but not confer any guarantees: “Luton are in receipt of parachutes this season in League One, which in theory gives them a huge advantage over everybody else, but they're not knocking it out of the park.
"And Sunderland had two years of parachutes in League One when they were owned by Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven and that failed to get them out of League One, even though they also had the biggest attendances in the division that season as well.
‌
“It's a scrappy division. You are the biggest kid on the block, especially with Leicester City, having won the Premier League ten years ago, having success in the Champions League and so on, they will be the one club that everybody wants to have a go at.”
Birmingham found that in 2024/25 but still romped back into the Championship with a record 111 points, they are not likely to ‘do an Ipswich’ with back to back promotions – but they are ninth and have once against invested heavily in the last two windows.

[Tommy G]

1 hour ago, AjcW said:

If anyone would like to go and see why getting into bed with Macquarie is always a bad idea. I'd suggest hopping on to X and seeing why they're trending and why the UK is about to lose its longest standing and most well known Car Park operator NCP. 

 

They were the owner before the current owner, same as what they did to Thames water  

They sold it to a new buyer in 2017 and it went downhill, not sure how that's Macquarie's fault?

[AjcW]

17 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

They sold it to a new buyer in 2017 and it went downhill, not sure how that's Macquarie's fault?

They came in, asset stripped and loaded it with unsustainable debt, then sold off to PE.

 

Just a murky world and they're a key player in it.

[Tommy G]

12 minutes ago, AjcW said:

They came in, asset stripped and loaded it with unsustainable debt, then sold off to PE.

 

Just a murky world and they're a key player in it.

Daft of the PE to invest then. 

[CL Fox]

12 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Daft of the PE to invest then. 

Morally questionable from mcquarrie though....and on the same point - daft of the club to do business with them.

[Broof]

On 14/03/2026 at 22:13, Guest Jonboy1999 said:

Sure, the upfront money’s spent, but that just means we’d need a proper financial reset — still not the same as the club collapsing.

Try thinking for yourself rather than posting everything into chatgpt

[Tommy G]

2 minutes ago, CL Fox said:

Morally questionable from mcquarrie though....and on the same point - daft of the club to do business with them.

Yeh, seems like they are the favourite for a lot of premier league and championship clubs 

[AjcW]

32 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Daft of the PE to invest then. 

That's what PE does though, they'll have got out whatever they needed from it and get to leave with creditors owed to. 

[Winstonthedog]

12 hours ago, Lesta Legend said:

The club will start planning once the season ends and after top and Jon have returned from their well earned extended break. 
 

Forget about expecting a well thought out plan. 
 

Alas they can’t kick the can down the road now. 
 

 

Number one on the agenda for the plan for next season is

1 We haven't got a clue .... any ideas ?

2 Ayew and daka ... contract extensions ... many thanks to both for agreeing to sign for another 3 years 

3 defensive options for next year ... okay there are none 

4 Tactics.... are they some sort of mint ?

5 AOB ... okay nothing .... let's down some Chang and pretend everything's okay and we know what we are doing 

[Tommy G]

6 minutes ago, AjcW said:

That's what PE does though, they'll have got out whatever they needed from it and get to leave with creditors owed to. 

I work in private equity and can assure you this isn't what PE does, there will be some cases yes, but PE is designed to buy and build business', grow them over a period of 3-5 years and sell for a sizeable profit - this, in most cases, will involve some form of leverage but a responsible lender will be setting appropriate covenants so it isn't over stretched. 

 

In this case Macquarie sold it for much less than they bought it for so within that fund it would of been a bit of a dud. I'm not sure even Park 24 are PE, haven't looked into it, I just thought they were a listed Japanese entity. 

[MattFox]

1 hour ago, AjcW said:

They came in, asset stripped and loaded it with unsustainable debt, then sold off to PE.

 

Just a murky world and they're a key player in it.

Did the same with Thames water

[Blue ROI]

On 15/03/2026 at 09:15, Katy said:

How utterly depressing all this is. This is our reality if we go down, how can anyone not be really concerned?

Teddy bears,Donuts,chang, nod on the head etc will keep the KPFC clappers in line.

[J. James]

On 14/03/2026 at 21:48, FoxFossil said:

Think the term is 'not a going concern'. Does anyone know if its illegal to continue trading in that situation?

No it's not illegal in the UK.

[davieG]

Now we have the Football Regulator who's role it is to "The IFR's core objectives will be to: protect and promote the financial soundness of regulated football clubs"

 

Have the @Foxes_Trust considered contacting them to ask them to investigate the current and potential financial status of LCFC>

 

[john ridley]

2 hours ago, Tommy G said:

I work in private equity and can assure you this isn't what PE does, there will be some cases yes, but PE is designed to buy and build business', grow them over a period of 3-5 years and sell for a sizeable profit - this, in most cases, will involve some form of leverage but a responsible lender will be setting appropriate covenants so it isn't over stretched. 

 

In this case Macquarie sold it for much less than they bought it for so within that fund it would of been a bit of a dud. I'm not sure even Park 24 are PE, haven't looked into it, I just thought they were a listed Japanese entity. 

Not going so well for Asda or Morrisons,PE never ends well.

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, Blue ROI said:

Teddy bears,Donuts,chang, nod on the head, keep moooooving!