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Equifax Championship Clubs Data


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London, 9th January 2010 - There almost isn't a day that goes by without news of a football club facing financial difficulty. And, whist the financial woes of some Premiership Clubs are in the press almost daily, the latest research from leading business information provider, Equifax, suggests that the Championship League clubs are a great deal more vulnerable than those in the generally gilded circle of the Premier League.

In the fiercely competitive Championship League, which has no booming television deal and is skewed by the presence of relegated sides with millions of pounds worth of parachute-payments per season, clubs appear to be seriously overspending as they chase the gold of Premier League promotion. It's perhaps, therefore, no surprise that over half the clubs are listed as insolvent by the Equifax ScoreCheck service, including Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City.

However scoring at the top of the ScoreCheck table is Plymouth Argyle, with a credit rating of 85 points. Even though the club is struggling on the pitch, it is to see a boost in its finances with recent news that Joe Plumeri, Willis chairman and chief executive, has invested a six-figure sum in the club.

Interestingly, West Bromwich Albion (WBA) is not only second in the League table, but second in the Equifax ScoreCheck table with 83 points. Derby follows closely behind with 61 points. At the bottom of the ScoreCheck table, Middlesbrough and Blackpool, both score a zero credit rating.

"There's no denying that it's a challenging season for the Championship League" commented Neil Munroe, External Affairs Director, Equifax. "Not only is it seeking a new title sponsor after rejecting an offer from Coca-Cola to extend its deal. But sponsors at Championship level are often more local than the blue-chip companies who associate with Premier League names. And with many of these types of sponsors probably having to juggle finances in their own businesses, money is certainly tight for spending on supporting football, which is likely to have an impact on the clubs' financial status.

"Every business is facing tough times and our latest analysis shows that the business of football isn't immune. A consumer-spending driven business, like retailers the football clubs are likely to continue to struggle in 2010 as consumers keep a close eye on their non-essential spending. And that means more fans could decide splashing out on a season ticket is too much of a luxury. And, of course, if they're not at the football ground there's less chance of them spending on other club items."

EQUIFAX'S CHAMPSIONSHIP LEAGUE SCORECHECK RATINGS TABLE

Derby - 61 - C+

Nottingham Forest - 13 - I

Equifax ScoreCheck

Equifax ScoreCheck delivers a dynamic score for all limited companies based on all the information available. It examines a number of financial indicators, which build a complete picture of a company’s risk status. These include:

Accounts Data

Age of Accounts

Trading Stability

Profitability

Working Capital

Gearing

Legal and Court Information

Guide to ScoreCheck Grades

ScoreCheck calculates risk based upon a scale of 0 to 100; the lower the Score the higher the credit risk.

ScoreCheck Ratings & Grades

95 - 100 A+

85 - 94 A

80 - 84 A-

75 - 79 B+

70 - 74 B

65 - 69 B-

60 - 64 C+

55 - 59 C

50 - 54 C-

45 - 49 D+

40 - 44 D

35 - 39 D-

30 - 34 E+

25 - 29 E

20 – 24 E-

15 - 19 F+

5 - 14 F

0 - 4 F-

ScoreCheck codes

A Very Good Score

B Good Score

C Higher Than Average Score

D Average Score

E Lower Than Average Score

F Low Score

http://www.equifax.co.uk/About-us/Press_releases/2010/POOR_SCORES_FOR_CHAMPIONSHIP_LEAGUE_CLUBS.html

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By the way, the I next to Forest means insolvent.

Insolvency means the inability to pay one's debts as they fall due. Usually used to refer to a business, insolvency refers to the inability of a company to pay off its debts.

So the next time a Forest fan tries to use our debt in there wummery, direct them to this thread or copy and paste the info above. That will soon shut em up.

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Interesting stuff. We're doing well then.

In terms of finances yes, maybe the Americans aint that bad after all. They might not be giving us £6m to spend in the hope it launches us back upto the Premiership, although we won't be heading down the same road as Portsmouth, Palace, Cardiff etc. any time soon.

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In terms of finances yes, maybe the Americans aint that bad after all. They might not be giving us £6m to spend in the hope it launches us back upto the Premiership, although we won't be heading down the same road as Portsmouth, Palace, Cardiff etc. any time soon.

which to be fairt to them, they have never claimed it was gonna be a quick fix, its nice to know there, we not doing to bad for a club, that everytime i go on 606 or other forums, are gonna be in adminstration in a weeks time

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I know it was a little hairy a couple of months back, "Should Clough go now", "Board out" blah blah.....After our little run we could of gone upto 9th in the table with our non-league team, non-league manager and debt.

Maybe we're all a little to impatient at times? maybe we should have a little more faith in the businessmen that run the club?, they didn't come into money by luck. Obviously I could teach em a thing or two about running an Aquatic shop, but it aint on the same scale as a Football Club.

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yep i think we are a little impatient, but that goes hand in hand with alot of people thinking we are a big club

all i ask is we play half decent football, win, lose or draw. with our injurys i think its been harder to take this season.

but you get people in charge of your football club, who are working it as a business, and not with the heart to get glory, i think you are going to be in a nicer position financially. and you cant deny that they do run it like a business, and at the minute they are doing it well, attendences are up, wage bill is down,and there is nearly new sponsers every other month, all in all it is going to work half well for us

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Kind of have to hope they are in it for the long haul and once we're actually making a profit (is that possible?), they will hand Clough or whoever is in charge some cash to start adding real quality to the squad.

What I don't want to see is the Americans getting us financially sound, to then sell us off to the highest Arab bidder that has no idea on how to run a football club, and we end up down the Pompy road.

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