Money Money Money

[royalblue]

Linfield are making a mint?

Money, money, money
Blues rolling in it after series of lucrative games

By Stuart McKinley
sportseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

11 June 2005
LINFIELD will start the new season a cool £500,000 better off than they were at the end of the last campaign.

The £105,000 the Blues banked by winning the Setanta Cup last month is just the tip of the iceberg - and the other money will come in without having to play another competitive match.

On top of the prize money from the Setanta Cup victory, Linfield will also receive a share of the gate from the final against Shelbourne.

Their reward from winning the league in 2004 - and subsequent qualification to play in the early rounds of the Champions League - is a windfall of 230,000 Swiss Francs from UEFA, which converts to around £100,000.

The Champions League pot isn't divided up until the competition is concluded and the Blues are expected to receive their money from the 2004-05 tournament any day.

They will net at least a further £100,000 when Rangers play a friendly at Windsor Park next month.

Gate receipts from that match are expected to reach more than double that, but the Scottish Champions will claim half the money as their fee for coming to Belfast.

Under the Blues' rental agreement with the Irish FA for Northern Ireland games, the club receives 15% of the income from home internationals at Windsor Park and after last weekend's friendly with Germany they are expected to pocket £100,000 from television rights alone.

With gate receipts and other money taken into account that figure will rise to at least £150,000.

The half-a-million pounds will mean Linfield can now write-off the £220,00 loss made last year and they can look forward to even more money coming their way.

There are four more international games scheduled before the end of the year and they are all expected to be sell-outs.

Linfield's cash flow

£105,000 For beating Shelbourne in the Setanta Cup final


£100,000


For qualifying for the 2005/6 Champions League


£100,000


Estimated gate receipts from Rangers friendly in July


£150,000


Estimated 'take' from visit of Germany to Windsor Park

What do you think, why cant they go professional with this sort of income.

[jorge]

What do you think, why cant they go professional with this sort of income.[/QUOTE]
Maybe but for how long because their in the irish league.

[A face]

They seem to be in a good situation alright !!

I would have thought they were very near to fulltime pro already ?? It is onw sure way for staking claim to the top of the table alright though (going pro) and also would give better chance of success in Europe too !!

Whatever they do, they should be investing anyway.

[dcfcsteve]

That's a good healthy income, and their crowds are certainly no worse than your average EL Premier side, so can't see why they couldn't afford to go pro if the likes of Drogheda can.

The one black cloud on the horizon is if/when a new national stadium for the north opens That's many years away yet, but will remove a very large sum of Linfield's current income when it does happen.

[A face]

Is the irish league progressive .... beyond limitations, funding and the likes ... is the league progressive .... its seems like it is just a small pond so not alot of fish about .... but are the clubs (attitude) progressive ??

[SIZE=1]Being honest, it doesn't seem so but i could be totally wrong[/SIZE]

[pete]

They probably don't need to go fulltime to win the IL. Maybe a lot of their current squad woulodn't be interested in fulltime football?

[Macy]

If they have any sense, they won't follow the eL full time folly. Silly money for average players is all Full Time football means.

If they can be there or thereabouts part time why would they? Christ, as per another thread, they could start by matching the part time training in the eL....

[Poor Student]

With income from Windsor and everything how did they lose 220k pounds the previous year?

[pete]

If they have any sense, they won't follow the eL full time folly. Silly money for average players is all Full Time football means.

Part-time players probably get better money than fulltimers anyway when add their fulltime job wages. I see little difference between playing junior football & IL part-time football besdies the cash.

[Macy]

Part-time players probably get better money than fulltimers anyway when add their fulltime job wages.

Exactly why full time players get way way over the odds in the eL. Clubs have to match their joint income. All players in the eL get over the odds, but the theory of full time wages being made up by the tax credits is only a theory (since all deals done on net pay).

[Lux Interior]

When Glens return to pre-season, the players will train four nights/week and play friendlies to get into some sort of pristine shape for the ECLQs.

They will also have to manage a sensible diet.

This will reduce to three before settling at two for the remainder of the season.

Junior footballers turn up for training, arse about and then hit the bar afterwards.

There is a substantial difference in levels of fitness and skill between the top IPL (part-time) sides and - even - the sides in the First Division.

[superfrank]

Coleraine-Showgrounds rent
Sad story.

[deadman]

if they have such sizeable debts to write off it doesn't sound like they'll have too much money to play around with ... they'll probably only have enough to get their house in order.

wasn't david jeffrey's part-time role due to financial difficulties?

and aren't shels struggling financially this year despite all the talk of their financial strenght not so long ago? it seems to be hand to mouth stuff