Welcome to Where's The Money Gone?
The podcast that takes you inside the football boardroom.
Hi there - and welcome to the ‘Where’s The Money Gone?’ from the podcast that takes you inside the football boardroom.
I first became interested in how football clubs were run in the mid 1980s when I started (what I think was) the UK’s first general football fanzine ‘Off The Ball’.
As a fan and journalist, I’ve maintained that journalistic interest ever since. I presented a sports consumer show for the BBC called ‘Sportshop’ in the early 2000s and have made various documentaries about football ownership.
I’ve finally set some of these stories down in a book called ‘Where’s The Money Gone?’ which is due to be published by Byline Books in the autumn.
In the meantime, I’ve also developed the ‘Where’s The Money Gone?’ podcast with Charlie Methven, a former director of both Charlton Athletic and Sunderland, and currently Chief Executive of Mount Pleasant FC in Jamaica.
Charlie’s supporting experiences began at Oxford United’s Manor Ground, where he ended up rattling buckets to raise funds to keep the club alive in the aftermath of Robert Maxwell’s financially incontinent ownership.
As a West Brom season ticket holder, I’ve also seen my own club flirt with disaster during the hapless reign of Guochuan Lai.
This substack will reflect on England’s new football Regulator, explore the best and worst of football ownership, along with changes to football’s global power structures and the fanzine culture from which I was - and am - proud to belong.
Welcome along.