Eight Hundred and Nineteenth Capital Era

Although the outside world has mixed reputations, all European club operators must admit that UEFA's [UEFA Financial Fair Play Act] promulgated by UEFA in 2010 has completely changed European football.

Many people's impression of this bill is the balance of payments and late payment fees, but in fact it stipulates more detailed regulations.

For example, in the balance of income and expenditure, UEFA has very clearly stipulated that starting from 2014, the salary expenditure of each team shall not be higher than 70% of the club's income.

This clause is very important.

In August of this year, Spain's [Economist] conducted a survey of 20 La Liga teams, and the only La Liga team that could achieve this ratio was Real Madrid.

At that time, a total of 200 players in La Liga and La Liga were owed wages, up to 52 million euros, and a strike was launched, which forced La Liga to be postponed.

The media also counted the finances of the 20 La Liga clubs in the 2009/10 season. The total income was 1.61 billion euros, but the total expenditure was as high as 1.823 billion, that is to say, the loss reached more than 200 million euros.

This is the fourth consecutive season of losses in La Liga.

And here, apart from Real Madrid's ability to control their salary at 70% of their income, even Barcelona can't do it.

According to data from Deloitte Accounting Firm, in the 2009/10 season, Barcelona’s revenue was 415 million euros, the second European club after Real Madrid to reach the 400 million mark, but its pre-tax salary and bonus expenses exceeded 300 million euros , the proportion reached 77%.

In other words, Barcelona has exceeded UEFA's warning line.

[Economist] said that two years have passed, although Barcelona has been working hard to increase income and reduce expenditure. After Russell took office, he has made drastic layoffs in various aspects such as administration, La Masia and the first team, but there are still losses. The renewal of the contracts of many core players such as Messi, Iniesta and Harvey has made Barcelona's salary ratio not decrease but increase.

This is actually a very tricky problem.

If players are kept, the salary pressure will definitely be greater after the contract is renewed, but if the players are sold, the competitiveness of the team will be affected, and how to deal with it is a problem.

In this regard, Real Madrid can be regarded as a model student. Florentino is just right in terms of salary control, and always keeps the team within a reasonable range.

Gao Shen told Su Qing and Lucas that they must learn from Real Madrid in terms of finances.

Once the warning line is exceeded,

Sell ​​it!

Of course, the situation of Leeds United has not been so bad.

Su Qing's ratio is too large, more because of the exclusion of transfer income.

If the team's transfer income is added in, then Leeds United's ratio is actually quite good.

But in European football, few people will refer to player sales when evaluating the financial health of clubs, because everyone knows that it is a one-time transaction.

"The Point Guard Is Here"

Previously, when Gao Shen was in the City of London, he had heard a lot of interesting things about “pitting” foreign owners from the bankers. For example, some teams would sell players for several years in a row in order to show their financial status. Then use methods such as loan or free transfer of veterans to make up for the team's competitiveness.

In this way, the team's performance is good, and the ranking is safe from relegation, but the financial situation is surprisingly good, it is like an old hen that lays golden eggs, and the eyes of all those investors shine.

Think about it, if you can make a profit and have good results, then it is simply a high-quality asset.

What the hell, who said professional football can't make money?

As soon as you buy it, you gotta fall into the pit!

The loaned players have gone back, and the veterans are not in good shape year after year. If they want to stay in relegation, all right, let's spend money!

Over the years, I don't know how many investors have been "trapped" by this set of tactics.

But people who really understand football, who will see you transfer and sell?

Even a team like Ajax has no way to guarantee that they can sell people like this every year.

Because it's not realistic.

In the circle, you can actually look at another indicator, which is the proportion of game-related income in the club's total income.

This is a bit like the income ratio between Ronaldo and Messi.

For superstars at their level, their salary income actually only accounts for a very small part of their total income, some may even be less than 30%, and their real income still comes from commercial sponsorship.

By the same token, the bigger and richer the club, the lower the proportion of game-related income. In the so-called troika, the proportion of game day income is the lowest, and the proportion of broadcast rights and commercial operations is higher.

But in low-level leagues, especially leagues like the British Championship, don't even think about it, most of the income is game-related.

Of course, in the big era of capital games, never underestimate those smart players.

Because the Premier League has a so-called parachute protection policy, it is easy to have some lifts.

Take advantage of the huge income gap and operating cost gap between the British Championship and the Premier League to obtain huge benefits.

For example, in the English Championship, if you want to play in the Premier League, as long as the business is ideal, the cost is about 30 to 40 million pounds.

This is an approximate value, including player, coach salaries, etc.

As long as it is properly managed, the salary can generally reflect the level and competitiveness of a team.

But in the Premier League, it is more than 100 million pounds per year.

After being promoted to the Premier League, many teams don't buy players or spend money, and just play for one season. After relegation, relying on the parachute protection policy, they can get along extremely well in the English Championship.

And there is about a net profit of about 100 million pounds.

If the team is relatively young, after a year of training in the Premier League, it will be relegated to the British Championship, it will still be a big deal, even if a certain young player in the team is spotted by the Premier League team and sold, That's another ten or twenty million pounds.

And the existence of the parachute protection policy ensures that even if these Premier League teams fall back to the British Championship, with the 20 million pounds of parachute funds, they can play better than other British Championship teams and have more opportunities Return to the Premier League.

So, to a certain extent, running a club is not about making money, it depends on how you want to make money.

For Gao Shen and Leeds United, the most unfavorable thing is to be a lifter. He earns a few small goals every year. If he is mixed to a certain level, if someone is willing to take over, then he will take the opportunity to sell it and get a lot of money back.

But this is obviously not a lofty pursuit.

If Gao Shen really wanted to make money, he wouldn't be operating like this at all.

For example, he will not invest so much money to transform the club, to attract all kinds of talents, so that the salary of Leeds United's employees is even higher than that of the players.

The reason why he did this was because he wanted to lay a foundation!

After taking over Leeds United, Gao Shen has been making arrangements.

From the training base to the big data center to the methodology department to the scouting system, all of these are in the long-term layout.

If it’s really for making money, then Gao Shen doesn’t need to do this. He should use his connections to rent players from major teams. High cash out.

With his connections, is it difficult to do this?

...

"By the way, how is the progress of our documentary?" Gao Shen asked with concern.

He still attaches great importance to this documentary.

When Leeds United first proposed to make a documentary, Gao Shen and Lucas quickly contacted friends from the British TV Channel 4. The content of this TV station has always been known for its experimental, innovative and innovative content. Trend, is currently focusing on the Internet and mobile phone business.

When Gao Shen and Lucas put forward the idea, Channel 4 immediately seized the opportunity and immediately cooperated with Leeds United. Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary Director Louis Osmond.

This female director works closely with Channel 4, but she is very low-key, and many people don’t even know her, but in the field of documentaries, her ability is beyond doubt, and her works are very storytelling, and they are all about men.

As a woman, she can always deconstruct a man and the world behind him with her unique perspective and delicacy.

For example, "The Call of Silence", which she won the International Emmy Award, is adapted from the best-selling book of the same name, following climber Joe Simpson to challenge the North Slope of Mount Eiger, which has killed more than 60 people.

Gao Shen and Su Qing specially watched this documentary and were deeply impressed. They talked with Louise Osmond again and found that she was also very interested in this shooting plan, because there is nothing more exciting than football The story of the surging man.

The entire Leeds United team also supported Osmond's filming very much. Her team even entered the dressing room before the match between Leeds United and Manchester United, which shows the strength of Leeds United's support for her.

The first episode of the entire documentary begins with the derby match between Leeds United and Manchester United.

This game is a natural plot, very dramatic and quite infectious, especially Leeds in those days.

In those days, Osmond led her team through the streets of Leeds, went deep into the crowd of fans of all walks of life, and took many very interesting pictures.

According to her, she not only wants to record this game, but also introduces the football culture of Leeds United to everyone, and why these fans still follow the bankrupt Leeds United after so many years. team.

Ultimately, she hopes to illustrate the inextricable connection between football and community in the UK.

After all, he is a director who has won an International Emmy Award. This ambition is really extraordinary.

And this documentary has already been named, it is called "Elam Road".

"After playing Manchester United, they have been busy shooting recently, saying that they want to tell the story of this journey to the Super League, as well as the history and history of Leeds United from the perspectives of fans, players, and club operators. Football culture, a lot of material was shot.”

Lucas was also excited when he mentioned this.

At first, it was an idea proposed by Gao Shen, but after it was promoted, especially after the documentary masters like Osmond were invited to shoot, the situation was completely different.

The investment is within the budget of the club, and it is in cooperation with Channel 4, but the whole level is completely different.

"I contacted Channel 4 and they decided to broadcast the first episode [Rose Derby] on Boxing Day after Christmas. At that time, we will also synchronize on online platforms, including in China."

Gao Shen nodded, he was full of expectations for this.