Counting the Costs of COVID-19 on Professional Football Clubs and Their Communities: Financial Database and Qualitative Interviews, 2021-2022

The project has two main research questions:

RQ1 - what is the financial impact of Covid-19 on English professional football clubs so far?
RQ2 - what is the wider impact to the local community focusing on four professional football clubs and football community trusts?

The data collected for the project is broken down below across the two research questions highlighted above and is split between quantitative data (research question 1) and qualitative data (research question 2).

Data collection for RQ1
Quantitative data was extracted from the financial statements of football clubs and the relevant financial data was used to create a bespoke financial database in Microsoft Excel. The data covers all 92 professional football clubs in the EPL and EFL in any given season from 1992/1993 to 2019/2020. At present there are 20 clubs that compete in the EPL and 24 in each of the Championship, League 1, and League 2. Owing to promotion and relegation during the time period analysed, our database covers a total of 112 unique professional football clubs. The financial database contains 28 independent variables in respect of financial and sporting performance that we have defined as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for a football club.

Data collection for RQ2
Qualitative data was sourced from four professional football clubs that are currently competing in League 1 at the time of writing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key individuals at the clubs.
A total of 18 interviews were undertaken across the four clubs. Owing to the Covid-19 situation and various lockdowns and restrictions throughout the project, the majority of interviews (apart from one face-to-face visit) were conducted online using Microsoft Teams. Interviews were recorded and transcribed in Teams and then exported to Quirkos (a specialist qualitative analysis programme) for further thematic analysis. Interview schedules were designed based on job role of the interviewee. For example, interviews with CEOs covered all aspects of the business including finance and strategy whereas interviews with Community Managers focused more on the fans of clubs and wider social impact.<p>Many professional football clubs, particularly in the lower leagues of English football, face financial ruin and are on the brink of collapse. This situation is likely to be exacerbated throughout 2021 owing to the current COVID-19 global pandemic. Consequently, this project aims to analyse the financial impact of COVID-19 on professional football clubs in England and the wider impact on their communities. In the last year, one community has already lost its professional football club (Bury FC) and other communities have been affected by the demise of semi-professional clubs (e.g. Rhyl FC).

The project has three main research questions. First, what is the financial impact of COVID-19 on the professional football clubs? Second, what is the wider economic impact to the local community that a club is placed in given the distinct possibility of matches being played behind closed doors for a considerable amount of time? Thirdly, what are the wider effects on the community in football community trusts and social cohesion?

The project serves to provide a rapid analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on English football's finances. In relation to research question one, the focus will surround the financial situation of professional clubs including issues such as the distribution of wealth and financial disparity between clubs in the English football system that could lead to overspending and potential insolvency. It will also consider the impact of broadcast rights distribution, solidarity payments and parachute payments across the system and provide strategic direction for a collective recovery. The intention is to stimulate discussion, analysis, interest, and research on how football governing bodies can use the opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to reset the financial landscape in the English system. Such discussion provides a more balanced, competitive suite of competitions that collectively tackle financial inequality and put aside self-interest. COVID-19 allows us to revisit existing issues in how football leagues in England are governed. Existing structures have created a significant financial disparity between the professional leagues; a financial disparity that has grown since the formation of the English Premier League (EPL) in 1992/93 and which COVID-19 has laid bare.

Additionally, the pandemic has presented several financial issues that may threaten the sustainability and future of clubs and which are tied to the broader financial performance of clubs. These are the impact on non-playing staff (with regards to redundancies and pay cuts), the impact of having no fans in stadiums (from both a financial and social aspect) and the impact on businesses situated near football stadia that rely on matchday attendances to boost trade. All these issues are intertwined and they remind us that all these football partners are directly involved in the value creation process, and that their voice, influence and legitimacy extends far beyond turning up to a live game once or twice a week. For example, broadcasters are fully aware of their devalued product when there are no spectators sitting in the stands. The symbiotic nature of the relationship between fan, club and the wider community is one in which they co-create a product that is irreducible to either one alone. This biweekly co-created ritual is key to the sustainability of many football clubs, and the entire ecosystem of the sport.
This project will analyse the above issues and present an overview of the financial situation in English professional football in a post-COVID-19 climate. It will offer recommendations for governing bodies and national associations as to how they can collectively work together to secure the long-term financial viability of the entire league structure.</p>

本项目包含两大核心研究问题：
研究问题1（RQ1）：截至目前，新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）对英格兰职业足球俱乐部造成了何种财务影响？
研究问题2（RQ2）：以四家职业足球俱乐部及其足球社区信托基金为研究对象，新冠疫情对当地社区产生了哪些更广范围的影响？

本项目所收集的数据将围绕上述两大研究问题展开分类，分为定量数据（对应研究问题1）与定性数据（对应研究问题2）。

### 研究问题1的数据收集
定量数据提取自各足球俱乐部的财务报表，相关财务数据被用于在微软Excel（Microsoft Excel）中搭建定制化财务数据库。该数据集涵盖了1992/1993赛季至2019/2020赛季期间，英格兰足球超级联赛（English Premier League，简称EPL）与英格兰足球联赛（English Football League，简称EFL）的全部92家职业足球俱乐部。当前，英超联赛共有20支参赛俱乐部，英冠、英甲、英乙联赛每级各有24支参赛俱乐部。由于研究周期内存在俱乐部升降级情况，本数据库共覆盖112家不同的职业足球俱乐部。该财务数据库包含28项独立变量，均为我们定义的足球俱乐部关键绩效指标（Key Performance Indicators，简称KPIs），涉及财务与竞技表现两大维度。

### 研究问题2的数据收集
定性数据来源于四家目前在撰写本文时正征战英甲联赛的职业足球俱乐部。研究团队对俱乐部的核心工作人员开展了半结构化访谈。
四家俱乐部共完成18次访谈。受新冠疫情及项目周期内各类封控与限制措施影响，除1次线下访谈外，其余大部分访谈均通过微软Teams（Microsoft Teams）线上完成。访谈内容被录制并在Teams中完成转录，随后导出至定性分析专业软件Quirkos中，以开展进一步的主题分析。访谈提纲根据受访者的岗位角色进行设计。例如，针对首席执行官（CEO）的访谈涵盖俱乐部运营的所有方面，包括财务与战略；而针对社区经理的访谈则更多聚焦于俱乐部球迷群体与更广范围的社会影响。

许多职业足球俱乐部，尤其是英格兰足球低级别联赛的俱乐部，正面临财务破产的困境，濒临解散。受当前全球新冠疫情影响，这一状况在2021年可能进一步恶化。因此，本项目旨在分析新冠疫情对英格兰职业足球俱乐部的财务影响，以及其对俱乐部所在社区的更广范围影响。在过去一年中，已有一个社区失去了其职业足球俱乐部（贝里足球俱乐部，Bury FC），其他社区也因半职业俱乐部的解散受到波及（例如雷克瑟姆足球俱乐部，Rhyl FC）。

本项目包含三大核心研究问题：其一，新冠疫情对职业足球俱乐部造成了何种财务影响？其二，考虑到赛事在相当长一段时间内空场进行的可能性极高，俱乐部所在的当地社区将受到哪些更广范围的经济影响？其三，足球社区信托基金与社会凝聚力方面会受到哪些更广范围的社区影响？

本项目旨在快速分析新冠疫情对英格兰足球财务状况的影响。针对研究问题1，研究将聚焦职业俱乐部的财务状况，包括英格兰足球体系内俱乐部之间的财富分配与财务差距问题——此类差距可能导致俱乐部过度支出，乃至最终破产。研究还将考量转播权分配、团结金与降级保障金在整个体系内的影响，并为行业集体复苏提供战略方向。本项目的初衷是推动相关讨论、分析与研究，探讨足球管理机构如何借助新冠疫情带来的契机，重塑英格兰足球体系的财务格局。此类讨论将催生更均衡、更具竞争力的赛事体系，共同应对财务不平等问题，摒弃个体私利。新冠疫情让我们得以重新审视英格兰足球联赛现有治理体系中存在的长期问题。现有治理结构已在职业联赛之间造成了显著的财务差距，这一差距自1992/1993赛季英格兰足球超级联赛（EPL）成立以来持续扩大，而新冠疫情则将这一差距暴露无遗。

此外，疫情还带来了若干可能威胁俱乐部生存与未来发展的财务问题，这些问题与俱乐部整体财务表现紧密相关。具体包括：对非竞技工作人员的影响（涉及裁员与降薪）、球场空场带来的影响（从财务与社会两个维度），以及对依赖比赛日观赛人数拉动营收的球场周边商户的影响。所有这些问题相互交织，让我们意识到，所有足球相关合作伙伴均深度参与价值创造过程，其话语权、影响力与合法性远不止于每周到场观看一两次现场比赛。例如，当看台空无观众时，转播方清楚其赛事产品的价值已被大幅贬值。球迷、俱乐部与更广社区之间的关系具有共生属性：三者共同创造的赛事产品无法被单独拆分至任何一方。这种每两周一次的共同参与仪式，是众多足球俱乐部乃至整个足球运动生态系统可持续发展的关键所在。

本项目将对上述问题展开分析，并概述后新冠疫情时代英格兰职业足球的财务状况。研究将为足球管理机构与全国性协会提供建议，探讨各方如何协同合作，保障整个联赛体系的长期财务可持续性。