The Stupidest League In World Football

The Sky Bet Championship is sometimes described as the best league in the world, and certainly it is the world's highest standard of second tier football, whilst being far more competitive and unpredictable than the Premier League.
Behind a thrilling facade though, the Championship is broken, as clubs spend wildly beyond their means, debt piles up, and many risk their future in the hope of winning promotion.
In this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at the broken finances of the Championship, the crazy way in which the league's clubs are run, and whether it is a house of cards just waiting to collapse.

[@stenic10]

As a Preston fan I'm looking forward to another season of us having an under the radar start to the season, everyone else suddenly noticing we're 6th around December, a section of our fanbase demanding we spend millions in January but instead signing a young striker on loan who scores enough goals to give us hope of a playoff place, having a run of draws/defeats around late March and finishing about 12th.

[@c.l.visions2581]

A Bristol vs Preston start to the season is arguably the Most championship way to begin 😂

[@diogeneslamp8004]

Can’t decide whether to laugh or to offer you a hug.

[@F1Recap594]

Hope things are more exciting this year. 22nd in December would be nice change for you guys.

[@lordvadertheleftie9703]

Expect a Villa loanee in January. You might even get Cam Archer back for a few months 😂

[@bigmaguire9714]

It is the history of the Preston

[@andreafresca9869]

you guys are lucky, Serie B in Italy still doesn't have a clear schedule because there are 4 teams fighting in court for 2 spots😂 the fixtures say "X" and "Y" instead of the names of the teams involved

[@jonnybyrne989]

I know how indulgent is Alfie here complaining about money an popularity

[@earlofdrumer1851]

Which league is the most corrupted; Italy, Romania, or Bulgaria?

[@mincraftisawsome1234]

@@earlofdrumer1851yes also put England in there too

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@earlofdrumer1851 As an American I want to sit here a laugh my ass off. The Europeans bitch at us constantly for not having pro/rel, etc., while the same time their leagues and clubs are drowning in debt and unable to afford anything. Meanwhile over here in the MLS, which is the same as any European 2nd Division League, the league pulls in $1.55 Billion, has only a minuscule $500 million in debt, and owners that use private equity financing. Whose way of structuring their league works financially better?

[@julesdalli9716]

I never hear good news coming out of the Italian football system. This, plus Serie A having financial issues, plus the national team missing the last 2 world cups (though they did win the Euros)......what on earth is going on over there?

[@JimiCanRead]

The real financial scandal is that Alfie has single handedly built the best football channel on KZbin and he doesn’t even own it

[@HITCSevens]

🥲

[@sanku1999]

Recently learned this. Alfie should broke out since people watch this for him anyway

[@JimiCanRead]

@@sanku1999 he needs more people to sub to his backup channel otherwise it’s quite a big risk

[@saintroddy]

Alfie is HITC's Mbappe. They saw what happened when Irish Guy left and totally tanked Sport's views.

[@seanfray535]

​@@HITCSevens😂😂

[@dvdv8197]

"Broken pipes, broken tools, People bending broken rules" Yeah... That really deserved that Nobel prize for literature. 😳

[@HITCSevens]

If Dylan had been born, wrote Visions of Johanna, and then died with that being all he'd ever written - he'd still deserve the Nobel Prize for Literature.

[@seanocalaghan2225]

Thats a class couplet

[@dvdv8197]

@@HITCSevens clearly struck a nerve there! 😄 I don't see how he deserved it over the likes of Leonard Cohen, for instance.

[@dvdv8197]

@@HITCSevens that is an amazing song, however, don't get me wrong. Great choice. 👍

[@SuperJNG18]

@@dvdv8197Leonard Cohen is great, Bob Dylan is way more important to music history objectively

[@theo7945]

I absolutely LOVE going to watch EFL Championship games and I’m a QPR fan, so that’s saying a lot. Despite us losing SO MUCH, the atmosphere and standard of football on the whole, is enjoyable to be around and it makes the wins even sweeter

[@collydub1987]

I don't think that's the point tho. It can't last

[@MrPercipience]

​@@collydub1987cool story bro

[@romeonantenaina2067]

I go to Huddersfield games quite often, due to my family's support for them, absolutely love them

[@barzun8]

I am a Chelsea fan who is currently (and for the past ten years been) living right next to Queen's Park (I can litterally see the playground out the window while writing this), many of my friends from the neighborhood are die-hard QPR fans, I've been to a few games and they are really exciting to watch, even though they are not particularly in a winning streak.

[@thedamianlillardfan9498]

why you are cheslsea fan despite living near QPR@@barzun8

[@Danishsnufkin]

"Welcome to Blokhus" had me rolling, as it is A: Located in Denmark B: is home to a club that recently was embroiled in so much controversy and chaos (Jammerbugt) that it could compete with quite a few EFL tragedies over the past couple of years

[@joshuakelly6668]

"That might sound a bit technical, what with it being a technical analysis afterall" never change Alfie😂

[@peterryan8472]

Except for Argyle. Not a penny of debt now, will still be zero at the end of the season. Fabulous owners, best manager below the Prem. The other clubs are basically, erm, cheating.

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

Plymouth to the prem!

[@jamesduffy7549]

I'm biased as a Coventry fan but I think there's a huge case for Mark Robins being the best manager below the prem and probably being better than half the ones in it. As for our owners (until very recently) the less said the better.

[@RetroProg]

You can only cheat the numbers for so long, unless you're Real Midrid and Barcelona whose debt is now bigger than the Championship as a whole.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@RetroProg As an American I want to sit here a laugh my ass off. The Europeans bitch at us constantly for not having pro/rel, etc., while the same time their leagues and clubs are drowning in debt and unable to afford anything. Meanwhile over here in the MLS, which is the same as the Champions League, the league pulls in $1.55 Billion, has only a minuscule $500 million in debt, and owners that use private equity financing. Whose way of structuring their league works financially better?

[@RetroProg]

@@gregorybiestek3431 Yes, but Europeans don't like your communist idea of sport where nobody fails. You get financed because there is no jeopardy in any of your sports. If you're shit, here have first pick of the next crop of players. You introduce two leagues and relegation and watch the debt spiral. And, hey, at least the winners of the MLS don't declare themselves world champions like some of your 'sports'

[@kevingunning7569]

Brilliant journalism as ever Alfie. Well done.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

The actual football has become incidental to the finances. Most people would be as well watching 22 guys playing the Stock market.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

As an American I want to sit here a laugh my ass off. The Europeans bitch at us constantly for not having pro/rel, etc., while the same time their leagues and clubs are drowning in debt and unable to afford anything. Meanwhile over here in the MLS, which is the same as the Champions League, the league pulls in $1.55 Billion, has only a minuscule $500 million in debt, and owners that use private equity financing. Whose way of structuring their league works financially better?

[@matthewcoombs3282]

@@gregorybiestek3431 I think it is a cultural issue. Americans are honest enough with themselves to understand that professional sport is now a business and needs to be run as businesses with financial discipline. The issue with Soccer in Europe is you had clubs that up untill 30 years been run as sports clubs as representatives of local pride for over 100 years. My local club is over 130 years old. (for instance many clubs in Germany have origins as Works teams, Such as Wolfberg being the works team of Volkswagen). So fans still see them as sporting clubs in a competitive league with promotion and relegation. Owners many of whom at least in the English leagues are now American see them as international sports franchises. There is cultural gulf. The NFL is by some margin the best run and most profitable sporting league in the world. Having a closed franchise system and a draft system keeps the league competitive and open. If you set up a Soccer league now you probably would not want to follow the European model. But we are where we are. Really for me big money has ruined Soccer in my country (UK).

[@stealthiscool]

@@gregorybiestek3431 Because the American system is so much better where the owners basically own the leagues and have all the power; whilst the players get screwed; see the current running back situation in the NFL. Who cares about money and profits when it's at the cost of the human side of things?

[@stealthiscool]

@@matthewcoombs3282 It's funny because following the American model of commercializing the sport and moving to make it more of a business with the advent of Sky Sports in the early 90s (which followed the blueprint that the likes of ESPN set out in America) has led us to this position of clubs spending wildly beyond there means and the sport being held in a chokehold by money.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@stealthiscool YES the USA is very good at making sure we keep things just the way they were in 19th century Victorian England & Robber Baron America! Isn't that what you folks are trying to do creating Singapore on the Thames? Grind all the workers back down into their proper place and have everyone tug their forelocks? The US loves unbridled socialism for owners & unprotected capitalism for the workers.

[@chris_r_yt]

Rotherham United were heralded by financial experts last year as being the smartest run club in the division, because they were the only club that functioned within their financial means. They are mocked, ridiculed and overlooked by almost every other club in the division. Interesting to note that you only show one picture relating to Rotherham United and that's an image to represent all clubs that are favourites for relegation. The narrative being that Rotherham are just naturally too small to compete, rather than the fact that they are working to a sensible financial model whilst surrounded by "big" clubs spending money that they don't have.

[@mtsg3761]

As a Norwich fan this feels exactly how we are treated whenever we get to the prem 😭 get praised for being financially sound/not making net losses/'punching above our weight' but the moment we're in the championship everyone screams how unfair it is that we get parachute payments 🤷

[@christopherbentley7289]

@@mtsg3761 I am a Norwich fan myself, despite being Derbyshire born and bred, but Alfie, in this video, has poined out many issues around the financing of the sport about which I have long felt uncomfortable and I wouldn't get nearly so 'pouring tears' emotional about this treatment as you as I'm evidently made of sterner stuff. My next-door neighbour, who is an ardent Rams fan, doesn't appear to have the same principles regarding the Rams' finances as do I, it being a case of 'however one gets by' to him.

[@neilbiggs1353]

@@christopherbentley7289 I wish the video had called out more of the fans in this - it's so hard to have sympathy for Derby fans when they were cheering on their owner for dodging FFP only year or so before they got in to serious trouble and there are still a number who can join the dots... It feels like every fan wants a Roman Abramovich style owner, with endless subsidy

[@christopherbentley7289]

@@neilbiggs1353 You're dead right there. It must never, ever be 'my club, right or wrong'.

[@guanxvi]

Congratulations on being financially sustainable. Enjoy League One 😂

[@jonsutcliffe8508]

You didn't mention that last year, 2 of the teams who had just been relegated made a complete hash of it and were nowhere near promotion (Norwich & Watford). Only Burnley went up, and although they spent money, that was from transfers as they lost nearly all their team.

[@MrBVapeApe]

Shhhhh you're ruining his story. Lol

[@BHJBHJ424]

Exceptions to every rule

[@ygrbooks]

As always another brilliant analysis - thank you so much. I have always been told that the promotion to the EPL final at Wembley is the most valuable game in sports. No wonder it invites gamblers all around.

[@Tom_Solihull_Fan379]

parachute payments are making this league a bit of a joke as teams like southampton as noted had players ward-prowse, tella, alcaraz, and lavia playing for them against sheffield wednesday. they won that game with 80% of possession. This also happens with other relegated teams like watford norwich and sheff utd who also kept their best players and went back up

[@jameshicks4223]

Wednesday just went up, a team getting relegated from the prem are funnily enough gunna have prem level players. Lavia didn't even play and I'd imagine JWP, Lavia and a few others will be gone by end of the window. Also Tella is a product of the academy and spent last season on loan in the championship.

[@ddlee84]

I think the point he is trying to make, is the team coming up from League 1 doesn't get a massive reward for promotion other than being in that league(around 7.5 million according to Wiki so possibly wrong) and an increase in TV money....there is no (for want of a term) Lift Off Payment from the EFL to help them exist and compete in the Championship and they have to play the slow game of try and stay up...try and stay up....maybe sneak a mid table finish....Mid table....Play off loss....Play off Loss....Automatic promotion(if lucky). Where as the teams coming down from the Premier League get a massive payment to allow them to keep paying for their Premier League players inflated wages which gives them a chance to go right back up at the first time of asking. Where as go back to the 10 year mark with Burnley, Hull and Portsmouth. They sold most of their players before the Championship even kicked off(admittingly for Pompey that was necessary due to bad ownership because the "fit and proper" persons test is a total joke). So basically the team who actually did something and "won" promotion get peanuts(by comparison), while the teams that failed in the premier league get 233million odd between them over 3 seaons. That money could nearly buy every League 2 club....all 24 of them.

[@jameshicks4223]

@@ddlee84 I'm fully aware pal, I'm a Rotherham fan 😂 I know all too well about not being able to compete financially and I hate parachute payments, but I'm used to it now and it's not gunna change except for the fact teams coming down will get more than the £44mil they get currently.

[@jonsutcliffe8508]

Not sure Southampton will have all those players for long. Norwich & Watford were nowhere near last season. Burnley did it by almost totally replacing their squad.

[@jcardboard]

​@@jameshicks4223in most leagues in the world relegation means losing all your good players. It doesn't really so much in the epl-championship rotating door.

[@gabrielgoes0]

This is insane. I'm Brazilian and follow the Premier League, and, to a lesser extent, English football as a whole, for over a decade, but didn't know any of this. Very informative and interesting video, thanks. I just think, if you're willing to take a suggestion, that you should've made the informations in the video more visual.

[@hmu05366]

You didn’t know this? It’s very well known

[@gabrielgoes0]

@@hmu05366 as I've said, I'm Brazilian and, well, if it was SO well known, we wouldn't be watching this video, now would we?

[@thespcrewroy8716]

@@hmu05366 He is from Brazil English nugget. Why would he know this?

[@davidferguson1785]

This is your best yet Alfie. No fat on this video at all mate, and very well researched. As a Scottish fan there's a certain amount of schedenfreude, but not much. My club (Partick Thistle) has came close to extinction a couple of times and there's a horrible feeling of powerlessness (even before you touch on the grief of having no club) that comes with that. I'm wondering how realistic fan ownership is in England. That's the only way to break up the oligarchy which is infecting English football from top to bottom (and aye, I'm looking at Wrexham too, no matter how likeable Reynolds is) and also the only way of safeguarding their club's future, even if it's as a lower league team for a while.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Dead Blind F**k

[@edwardmorgan5373]

This is why the football regulator is coming in next season: to avoid clubs getting shocking owners and to have money fairly distributed down the English pyramid, all down to grass roots.

[@neilbiggs1353]

Sadly, Scottish football has already been wrecked by the toxic sectarian twins. The league is pretty much a Glasgow derby with everyone else fighting for third place and to avoid relegation, I'm half surprised that the attendances haven't fallen even lower for many of the other clubs. Not sure there is an easy fix though. I don't think the SFA would accept merging in to the English pyramid for example, even if that meant that the Premier League solidarity payments would then be extended to the Scottish Football League clubs, but I wonder if it would be easier for some of the Scottish clubs who are struggling financially (are Hearts still a mess?) if Rangers and Celtic could be promoted to the Premier League leaving a much more even contest? Or would the clubs join the same madness as the English Championship and gamble the clubs future in the hope of a single PL season?... As for fan ownership, have you seen 'Welcome To Wrexham'? Check out the episode where Rob and Ryan are in Wrexham for the first time and they ask fans what they thought of the fan owners the club had previously - you get the archetypal meatheat fan at the pub calling them rubbish because they 'weren't investing'. Too many football fans don't understand the difference between an investment that helps a club grow sustainably, and a subsidy that makes a club look healthy, but instead creates a situation where if an owner stops, the club is in a world of trouble.

[@munmunyee]

@@neilbiggs1353 Rangers and Celtic playing in the Prem would be absolute madness - where do I buy tickets?

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@neilbiggs1353 You may support your community team, but we live in a very capitalistic system. Soccer/ football is the last place where capitalism has not yet come in and destroyed thousands of smaller organizations so that only the huge wealthy & powerful remain. The Arab oil sheiks, Asian Billionaires, & American Tech guys don't care about tradition or community. Once they start to get their claws into the sport it is only a matter of a decade or two before your system is eliminated.

[@gerard4161]

what a treat watching a banger alfie video on a slow weekend. cheers mate love your work

[@cesarcontla3603]

As a finance graduate, your football finance videos are genuinely my favorite in all of youtube. You help everyone understand the impacts of transfers and league table finishes on teams and leagues as a whole. Keep up the good work and analysis Alfie.

[@hmu05366]

It’s not the transfers that are the issue though, it’s the wages. Player wages are absolutely insane. Even Barcelona only a few years ago where spending over 90% of their turnover on player wages. It’s absurd. And English football is the biggest basket case of them all.

[@Keddeadkedemption]

I look forward to your videos every day. Exceptional work as usual. Youre doing great work and absolutely dwarf corporate football media with the quality of your content

[@GamerDrood]

Enjoyed the video, plenty of work evident in the stats compilations and nicely put together with the background images. As a Leeds Utd fan football finances are always top of my personal concerns!

[@dkj4593]

Another great video by Alfie. Keep up the quality content!

[@simone2095]

Then there is Preston and Bristol City had my chuckling!

[@davidparsons97]

It made me laugh and it's pretty accurate, despite Scott and Conway coming though our academy setup. The 13th Place Cup first leg is at Ashton Gate this afternoon.

[@robinj6137]

Would love you both to go up. New clubs in the Premier League who got there, obviously, without ever having Premier League money

[@davidparsons97]

@robinj6137 Both have had unsuccessful attempts in the last 20 years and both have been in League 1 for at least 3 seasons in that time too. I'll never forget the 2008 playoff final.

[@agustinriestra9594]

God, the start of the video was pure gold. Love that you are a fellow Dylan fan Alfie, much love from Buenos Aires

[@danielcasey7069]

Great video as always Alfie, could we see a video on Coventry City going from league two to almost the premier league and breaking their spending record?

[@bigmaguire9714]

One of your best ever videos. Gives a great insight into what's really going on behind the scenes. Keep up the good work Alfie!

[@MrBVapeApe]

Hang on a minute, you've missed a huge caveat with Parachute Payments. No club gets PPs until the end of the season and if the team that's due PP's get promoted, the PPs get distributed across the teams in the EFL instead. So two teams getting promoted at the first time of asking means £88m gets distributed across the EFL.

[@Thegoldenhawkproject]

Surely the argument to be made is that a club with PP on the way would take out a loan with that as the collateral, and if they are promoted they will pay it off with increased rev anyway, if not then they will pay it off over the course of a few seasons?

[@jorgefranco7465]

Another great video, mate. Very informative. Cheers! Have a nice one.

[@Yitianyishouhaoge]

17：42 Thanks for the Singapore mention, would love a video about Singapore soon, love from Singapore 🇸🇬❤

[@Yitianyishouhaoge]

Lion city sailors is a good topic, first privatised Singapore club yet couldn't even make it to be the best team in Singapore 🇸🇬

[@xixXxxXxix]

I used to look forward to opening videos of yours when I saw an upload. Far too often now I get to the end and look at the upload length to see how long I've wasted listening to you say a lot of words but say nothing. The channel has seemingly devolved in to bitter feeling rants about vague overarching ideas like *ooh money bad*, peppered with language like "hegemony" with absolutely no discussion or investigation in to comparisons and solutions. - What do the 10 next biggest Leagues in terms of revenue pay to their relegated Clubs? - What's the difference between those Leagues' percentage of relegated Clubs & their subsequent re-Promotions in comparison to the Premier League/Championship? - Is the rate of Club's going out of business similar or different in the Comparison Leagues to the Premier League/Championship? - Even expand that to the Top 100 Leagues in the World to get a more in-depth comparison and analysis. - Based empirically on the results where do parachute payments rank on their effectiveness? - Offer up solutions or tweaks that could be made and explain why they'd work better & what the potential pitfalls are. All of these points are just scratching the surface on how you could have made this video be actually worthwhile to watch. Saying over 25 minutes that "parachute payment bad because it makes other Clubs spend more & ignores their personal Club choice and all the benefits of parachute payments to try and make a personal opinion sound like a fact" is not.

[@WHlTELINES]

💯💯💯

[@Paixaou]

thought I was alone in thinking this....saw someone say 'great journalism' - eh?🤔

[@alastairbrewster4274]

Interesting points but I think Alfie has never said money is bad , that’s your exaggerated take on this , if you don’t like his viewpoint I’d question why you continue to watch ? But I personally think it’s good that you have a different view and would be interested to hear your counter arguments?

[@tarvivor]

"That's enough money to convince Jordan Henderson to sell his soul to the devil." - Quote of the year.

[@odity2076]

Welp you’ve smashed the algorithm with this one, and a great video to back it up so well done

[@montanaprime]

Honestly, I love your narration voice Alfie, it is 1 of a kind

[@jameshicks4223]

Great video, but could you do another video on teams that are in the championship but aren't living beyond their means like Rotherham, who are one of the only clubs not in debt.

[@gavvowest]

I think your videos are fantastically inciteful and I appreciate seeing your well researched viewpoints. As a Norwich fan I felt personally attacked, obviously. gg. thanks Adam Idah :)

[@Erikali26]

One of your best videos in my opinion. Your cunning narrative seemed to peak in this one. I loved it! Poor Championship.

[@T.E.S.S.]

Alfie's been working up to this one for a while. Brilliant, unflinching stuff.

[@jcardboard]

When I've played this division in football manager the complete lack of prize money boggles my mind. No idea how teams are meant to progress sensibly and gradually, there's no reward for doing anything other than gambling on promotion.

[@Kimera794]

💯

[@constablekennedy7705]

This is a Certified Hood Classic ⚽️

[@googleusergoogleuser1025]

So much for Golden Bollocks. Nice one. Enjoyed it 👍

[@lutonboy8104]

This is why I hope Lutons promotion last season from Championship might be a sign that you don't have to spend millions but have the right players with right attitude. Hopefully if we stay up in premier league other clubs may follow suit

[@falconeshield]

Luton already lost the first 2 games. Fairytale ended before starting

[@oliverleonard7730]

I don't think they'll stay up but I hope they do - the real problem is Everton if they go down they could implode.

[@gipgap4]

Luton are bringing a knife to a gun fight.

[@Tachoute]

😂😂​@@gipgap4

[@michaelsalovaara567]

Thanks for this. As a Wigan fan in Japan, I’ve been frustrated by the seemingly revolving door of ownership combined with apparent mismanagement. I became a fan when they won promotion to the Premiership. My British friends were fans of the big 6 clubs, wanting to join the conversation I chose Wigan. And I’m glad I did. Beating City in the FA was and is a highlight. Your video helps to explain some of the difficulties Wigan has endured these recent years. I would appreciate you doing a similar analysis of Wigan and their financial situation.

[@theopinionator6313]

I'm a Wigan fan too and it's mental what we've been through. Every club needs to look at Luton and realise that sustainability is key.

[@forstuffwow7145]

Wild that we got random blokes in japan While city has none

[@Isleofskye]

As a Japanese fan in Wigan,I agree.

[@neilbiggs1353]

@@theopinionator6313 Every FAN needs to start giving a damn about the financials - it's hard to solely criticise the ownership when you look at how fans use the term 'investment'. Everton fans assaulted one of their own board members, but look at the money that has been thrown at that club? You'd hear them say stuff like the club isn't being invested in while the owner was fighting for them to have a brand new stadium! I've long since lost any sympathy for fans whose clubs are put in administration, especially as you can often find things like Derby fans celebrating their chairman's ability to avoid FFP sanctions only a season or two previously! There needs to be a realisation that clubs should be a sustainable business first and foremost, and then the debate can be moved on to how can we try to improve the competitive balance of clubs. I know it's sacrilege for many fans, but I'd be interested to see if they could seed the 3rd and 4th rounds of the FA Cup so all the big clubs had home games against the lower league ones, letting those clubs get a cash infusion via the gate receipts. I figure you'd still get a few underdog stories

[@ajoax88]

​​@@forstuffwow7145City doesn't even have fans in manchester 😂.

[@trident8480]

Anyone who plays football manager knows how crazy the parachute payments are when you get a small team promoted you just have too get in the prem get the 80m tv rights and get relegated and repeat for 2-3 seasons

[@Stonka1]

If you play this.on mute its just photos of random players and managers faces staring at you for 10 seconds at a time

[@marctestarossa]

The issue is the same everywhere in Europe: The first league is overly expensive/lucrative (depending on your perspective). For any team it's a huge blow to be relegated from the first league. And most clubs are in debt. That's why they fall in the first place. Then they go down to second league, get far less money from licenses, go deeper into debt, need to sell the most valuable players, weakening the roster even further and if they don't immediately go back up into first league the very next season, they are in deep trouble.

[@queenzoroark]

Brasileirão Série B and EFL Championship are the most competitive leagues in the world, change my mind.

[@guguy00]

"Oh a new HITC Sevens video I wonder if Alfie would mention Bob Dylan and at what time... ah." That should be a new record of zero seconds Alfie!

[@1draigon]

I think right now the parachute payments are about 300 million over 5 years It’s INSANE

[@joeheaton7607]

With the new season quickly approaching g it would be a great time to do a video I've been requesting for ages.. worst debuts ever. You could mention what happened in their debut match followed by if it had a detrimental impact on their time at the club or even their career. Jaoa Félix stands out at Chelsea. Thanks as always for the great video

[@alexleighton7587]

Joao Felix getting a straight red😅

[@oscar6890]

Jonathan woodgate for Real Madrid.

[@roryslaine7896]

​@@oscar6890Lmao, didn't he score an own goal and get sent off after like 20 minutes? I know Woodgate was a pretty solid defender on the odd occasion when he wasn't injured but I could never understand that signing. Teams like Newcastle and Tottenham were definitely his ceiling.

[@Shades-of-76]

As a Celtic fan a couple of calamitous/infamous debuts spring to mind and unfortunately I was at both 🤬😂 1. Clyde v Celtic, R3 Cup, Jan 06 Roy Keane made his debut against lower league side but that isn’t the story. We had Chinese CB debutant Du Wei and it wasn’t positive. Looked like he won his opportunity in a raffle. 2-0 down at the break, he was hooked at HT never to feature again. 2. Hibs v Celtic, League Aug 1997 Opening game of season, new signing debutant a certain Henrik Larsson came on as 2nd half sub and caused Hibs winning goal. I suppose he recovered ok enough from it 😂

[@roryslaine7896]

@@Shades-of-76 😂 I can just imagine Roy Keane in the dressing room after that game...

[@meatballg8655]

Preston North End, the Aston Villa of the championship. No one ever expects to see them at the top of the table, no one expects to see them at the bottom of the table, they just sort of exists in a weird limbo world where they’re too shit to push for promotion/europe, but they’re also not shit enough to get relegated

[@NoPantsWilkins]

Villa are in Europe. They’re also been relegated. A better comparison in recent history would’ve been Everton.

[@kdburner7356]

@@NoPantsWilkins spot on

[@winneryeahmate]

Everton will be joining you soon, I'm afraid. Definitely shit enough to be relegated.

[@oliverleonard7730]

@@NoPantsWilkins or Post Roman Chelsea.

[@jmorrison230582]

You've got to be a bit careful with the analysis of the teams that got promoted without parachutes. e.g. some of their wage costs will have probably been (large) bonuses for getting promoted. It may not be accurate to say that those teams would have been toiling financially if they hadn't promotion, because they wouldn't have had to pay those bonuses.

[@neilbiggs1353]

I'd still argue that those bonuses are incredibly stupid. Instead of banking the money to help you spend in the transfer market, it puts a club in the hole for the start of the next season. But then, it's football, and what would it be without reckless spending...

[@dannymlpl]

Another top video mate. Any chance you can do 7 implications of the new World Club Cup in 2025, what it will mean to FIFA in their cold war with Uefa, the prize money, television rights, player welfare fitness etc. Thanks again for all the great content.

[@godsaidtoabraham]

Hey HITC thanks for forcibly inserting Dylan in the intro, cheers from a dylan fan

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

For the freshly relegated clubs: "financial restraint would only result in a less competitive and more uneven division." I don't understand this at all. Would it be possible for these parachute payments, instead of only going to the three clubs that are relegated, to be shared between all of the league's teams? (This arrangement heavily favors those clubs to succeed and be promoted obviously.) Sorry if that is a dumb and/or naïve question, but would it not level the playing field and avoid the inequality that seems to be such a problem? While also reducing the debt of all the clubs at least by a little bit? Thank you for the video!

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

It's possible, but not plausible. It would mean a restructuring of how those payments are distributed in the first place, and that power lies with the current Prem teams

[@andrasszabo1570]

That's how it used to work until 1992. All 92 Football League clubs used to share all TV income. That's why English football was far less dominated by a couple of teams unlike most football leagues. That's why the Premier League was formed and broke away from the FL in the first place, to keep all income and fuck everyone else. They've added the trickle-down economics of parachute payments only for their own interests, as mentioned in the video. To re-introduce revenue-sharing would be an admission that the Premier League isn't the best thing that's ever happened to English football. But since it's basically the brand, they can't do anything close to this. But for the fans revenue-sharing again would be far better, as it would produce a more unpredictable, exciting division. And as seen in the North American sports leagues, on the long run sharing and regulating is also better for the owners instead of just sinking money into clubs until they run out of Ł, patience, or both.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

As an American I want to sit here a laugh my ass off. The Europeans bitch at us constantly for not having pro/rel, etc., while the same time their leagues and clubs are drowning in debt and unable to afford anything. Meanwhile over here in the MLS, which is the same as the Champions League, the league pulls in $1.55 Billion, has only a minuscule $500 million in debt, and owners that use private equity financing. Whose way of structuring their league works financially better?

[@joeisnothome]

@@gregorybiestek3431 that's because Americans don't want to take the risk that benefits the viewer

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@joeisnothome That is true, but it also makes good financial sense, and the one thing that is drilled into every American from the day they enter school is capitalism. We look at EVERYTHING in terms of money. That is why we are laughing at Elon Musk, not because he is a conservative, but because he is losing money the way he is running Twitter. That's also why we laughed at soccer for so many years because numerous attempts lost money.

[@nn8742]

Unpredictable as taking a car journey with Kaitlin Jenner 😂😂😂

[@mattwall3267]

Great analysis, I’m convinced, cut the cord on parachute payments!! 💸

[@Endeva09]

West Brom fan here, I look forwards each season to being bottom 5 after 5 games, being top 5 by Christmas, hovering around 7th-10th between February and April, then sometimes making it into the playoffs and losing, and sometimes getting promoted to instantly get relegated again the following season.

[@robt4390]

Wigan were ultimately docked 6 points last season (the latter three a few weeks after the conclusion). They’ve also been docked 8 points for this season. They are an interesting study. Basically, two occasions on which “affluent” foreign owners have scarpered within six months of winning EFL1.

[@johnwhittaker311]

One was during covid and the rumour is he had a bet on us to be relegated. When it looked like that wouldn’t happen he put us in administration (also he was from Hong Kong and it was around the time of the Chinese Super League abandonment so I reckon that had something to do with it as well. Come on Alfie, we deserve a video of our own). The second time round we don’t actually know how wealthy they were, just that they were Bahrainis. I think they were just naïve to how expensive being competitive in the championship would be. The owner (who we never heard from ever) decided it was too expensive and stopped sending us money

[@robt4390]

@@johnwhittaker311 Yet both sets of owners splashed a bit of cash at the start of the season they bolted - as if they wanted to create an impression they were giving it a go. I always figured the fact the attendance figures never improved after promotion soured things for them (perhaps thinking “they aren’t bothered, so no one will really care if we leave them in the shit”). The first lot (IEC) secretly put the club up for sale four weeks after they took over - so couldn’t find a buyer in two years. They also started loaning money to the club from around this point, rather than simply investing funds (as if it would give them a stronger argument for recouping any losses when they inevitably sold up). When they bolted, the club was passed on to a dummy company (called “Next Leader Fund”), then the patsy at the head of the dummy company put them in administration. Fishy as all hell. Covid was like their opportunity to bolt with the waters muddied, not the reason.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@johnwhittaker311 You may support your community team, but we live in a very capitalistic system. Soccer/ football is the last place where capitalism has not yet come in and destroyed thousands of smaller organizations so that only the huge wealthy & powerful remain. The Arab oil sheiks, Asian Billionaires, & American Tech guys don't care about tradition or community. Once they start to get their claws into the sport it is only a matter of a decade or two before your pyramid system is broken forever & eliminated.

[@santinopaone-hoyland]

Completely agree with the vid, brilliant as always. But when we went up in 2019, the losses we made were due to promotion bonuses for the players, which turned out to be huge. Had we not gone up, our losses would've been minimal.

[@johnwhittaker311]

It’s difficult. You make the case for reducing or removing completely parachute payments but I think they’re necessary for clubs to still be able to pay the high earners they could afford in the premier league but can’t offload when relegated. Perhaps there should be a rule that it’s only to be used to pay players from their premier league squad, not any new incomings. Also, as a Wigan fan, I think our situation both times was a bit different to what you suggest in the video when you lump us with other teams facing difficulty.

[@neilbiggs1353]

The Wigan situation wasn't that different, the club were spending a ridiculous amount in excess of their earnings on wages. IIRC it was 147%. There have been others that are far worse, but it does feel very similar to what is happening at Bolton for example

[@davidwachira5606]

Great work 👍👍👍i hope you do a documentary on why Liverpool FC boos the national anthem

[@omrxblah4572]

3:31 let's just talk about how absurdly beautiful these lads are

[@billyjepson313]

I think this must be the fastest Bob Dylan induction we have ever had on the people channel

[@KierenCutler]

Really informative video, Only point I'd make is Aston Villa were a Premier league club in the 19/20 season so unsure how their losses could be the highest in the division?

[@marknewbold2583]

Sold their ground to themselves

[@fitzcharles33]

It sounds like they need a format similar to the MLS. A salary cap with the Beckham rule to curb the outrageous spending these teams do. Maybe instead of receiving a parachute payment on relegation, they get a payment on promotion to help the new teams compete better in the EPL.

[@robert.257]

Money has killed football. Before the 90's countries outside the top 5 leagues of England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France could on many occasions reach a European final, Cup Winners Cup or Uefa Cup. I think Real football fans enjoyed that. Now it is mostly the top 5 leagues l mentioned who compete in the finals. I will end by saying I really enjoyed this video.

[@stevenbeck5746]

No it is NOT money that has killed football, it is the GREED that follows the money. The players are professionals and obviously get paid for their services. There is competition for those players who are seen as the best so money is a part of a professional sport. But clubs get greedy, players agents get greedy and of course those clubs that make the most money can splash the cash on the best players therefore giving themselves a distinct advantage. Players in teams that get relegated need to drop their wage expectations. Club owners need to stop dreaming that they will win everything if they buy buy buy. Fans need to lower their expectations of glory. The EPL, EFL and other bodies need to set up Financial rules and guidelines for clubs and POLICE those rules. Even though clubs may cheat those rules they will have to be pretty creative to do it.

[@robert.257]

Money /Greed it's the same thing. How can anyone justify a player being paid £500,000 a week. Top players who played in the decades gone past had to find a job when their careers ended.

[@stevenbeck5746]

@@robert.257 No mate it is not the same thing. And there is no point comparing then and now. Players being paid 1/2 million pounds is the fault of the agents and the club and anyway how many players actually get that? Very very few. So how about keeping the conversation sensible instead of going off the deep end.

[@robert.257]

I am afraid we will have too agree to disagree on this.

[@stevenbeck5746]

@@robert.257 Ok Do you have a job and earn money? Does that make you greedy?

[@exeterjedi6730]

Plymouth Argyle are back in the Championship after about 13 years. We're one of the smallest clubs in it. I don't know what's going to happen but I can only hope for mid table security and obscurity rather than another bankruptcy.

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

Your club should spend like saudi clubs and bring mbappe for a season. That will ensure promotion

[@jontalbot1]

You have the smallest budget in the division and it is hard to defy gravity. I am an Ipswich fan and we lost £20m last year. What l cannot understand is our owners. They are a pension fund for Californian firemen. As far as l can see the strategy is get to the PL and sell on. If that doesn’t work, sell the ground although who they imagine will want it l don’t know. Very glad my pension is not invested in this way. ‘High risk’ doesn’t get near to how bad an investment strategy this is

[@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716]

@@jontalbot1 pretty sure if you lost 20 million pounds you couldn't afford internet. Stop thinking a football club is a part of yourself, a football club is just a for profit company, they are no different than walmart

[@jontalbot1]

@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 Your comment makes no sense and l do not understand why you are needlessly aggressive. It’s a fact Plymouth have the smallest budget in the league and it makes things difficult for you. I am not gloating about it. Football clubs are completely different from Walmart. Owners, players, managers all come and go. Ultimately they belong to the fans. When clubs go under the fans resurrect them. If Walmart go bust, that’s it. The owners of football clubs sustain losses they would never do in a conventional business. They get caught up like fans. Very few make money like the Glazers.

[@gregorybiestek3431]

@@jontalbot1 You may support your community team, but we live in a very capitalistic system. Soccer/ football is the last place where capitalism has not yet come in and destroyed thousands of smaller organizations so that only the huge wealthy & powerful remain. The Arab oil sheiks, Asian Billionaires, & American Tech guys don't care about tradition or community. Once they start to get their claws into the sport it is only a matter of a decade or two before your pyramid system is broken forever & eliminated.

[@withnail70]

🎉 Good taste in music, Alfie 😊

[@bramhallbill]

I had no idea. Good lid off thanks

[@Louisejames23]

Loved the analogy between broken Britain & the Championship, inspired work 😊❤

[@zetenytoth5404]

As I hungarian I can confirm... That I'd love if Singapore was attached to us

[@neilbiggs1353]

I feel like most European countries outside of Germany you can make similar claims for - How much of France's economy is due to Paris, or how much of Spain is dependent upon Madrid?

[@skichyyy]

absolutely loved the intro😂💀

[@beatlegreg07]

There's a Bob Dylan song for every HITC video.

[@Akuonyeonu]

Football finance in general is so unsustainable

[@motorsportfan86]

Same applys for Germanys Tier 3 League, Most Clubs spends also far more Money, they had to climb Up to at least, the Second Bundesliga and its also crippeling the League a Lot.

[@anselbryant5186]

Thank you alfie. I shall watch as I fall asleep tonight

[@Bwaddington]

Great video, honestly, what a great informative eye opening video, i knew it was bad but this puts it into perspective. #PUSB

[@rohithraman6488]

What are your thoughts on the EFL play offs? Cause many people believe it should be scrapped but personally for me I love the drama that unfolds in it

[@drunkenhobo8020]

Who thinks it should be scrapped? It gave basically everyone from 10th upwards something to play for until the final game last season. Getting rid of it would greatly increase the number of pointless midtable clashes at the end of a season.

[@ramwinter2622]

@@drunkenhobo8020 The majority of supporters who say that, are probably Gen Z.

[@gurururuwarararara8164]

Ngl, the only time I pay any sort of real attention to the championship, is during those play-offs. They're massive clashes with so much on the line, there's so much drama and euphoria at the end when a finalist is crowned

[@rohithraman6488]

@@drunkenhobo8020 Exactly my point, I love the play offs, I've seen comments from fans who were around before play offs and they said that by April lots of games were dead rubbers and there would be low attendances and teams treating games like testimonials

[@drunkenhobo8020]

@@rohithraman6488 I follow Scottish football more than English and can definitely tell you that play-offs were a massive boost to our second-tier (and even the top tier). Way too often you'd have one team run away with the league, leaving probably 6/10 clubs playing for nothing for much of the season. Compare that to last season and right up until the penultimate game there was only one team in the entire league that had nothing to play for. 6 had a shot at promotion, 3 were in danger of relegation.

[@bjdmcvxd7542]

As a Reading fan this is brilliant. The reason we've had so many problems is because we tried to make the premier league with ridiculous salaries for the league and it was totally unsustainable. The league is so unfair with the parachute payments

[@callumatkins6891]

Exactly! scrap parachute payments and the league becomes more stable

[@arya6085]

​@@callumatkins6891that will mean promoted teams can take no risks with salaries in the PL and will struggle badly to stay up.

[@kleonura127]

@@callumatkins6891 but then relegation would be terrible. A relegated club would lose all the players that they were able to afford in the prem

[@hareecionelson5875]

i remember when hull portsmouth and Burnley were in the prem, i used to collect Match Attacks trading cards in primary school

[@millo1710]

as a wednesday fan who has seen us battle it out with these teams 8 or so years ago, it just feels absurd that southampton can reject £35mill bids for players and we have to struggle around with embargo’s and points deductions. Parachute payments are not fair play and it’s getting to a point now where i never see us getting close to promotion

[@Jingullbells]

Norwich were champions in 18/19 without parachute payments? Also showing our stadium when talking about financial insecurity when our whole model is about not spending outside of our means and being financially secure is odd tbh

[@villek3722]

Without Pukki Norwich would have never been promoted

[@Jingullbells]

@@villek3722 and he was signed on a free transfer what’s your point?

[@stephenhodgson3506]

Leeds did the same the season after.

[@jamesr5827]

​@villek3722 what's your point? You could make that argument about many clubs over the years. Ignorant comment

[@villek3722]

@@jamesr5827 my point is that Pukki is Norwichs goat

[@CEOGames]

The problem is that if you give them more money, they'll just spend more on players. Sadly, it might just have to be that the teams themselves have to spend reasonably and wait for karma to come around for those who won't.

[@jyynarpalisenniemi6242]

English football has karma coming it’s way anyway. Most arrogant country on earth, ruining other top European leagues as well.

[@rainbowthegod]

We need a detailed video on the saudi pro league and division 1 (saud 2nd tier) league and history on each. Make it a 2 hour film alfie.

[@dj858]

when you came out with there are 10 or 12 clubs that think they can get promoted 10 or 12 that think they are probably getting demoted and then there are Bristol city and Preston i nearly pissed myself, im a Bristol city fan and i couldn't agree more every season we spend in the championship is a complete mystery to us as to how well or bad are season will be with no real way of telling where we will end up

[@joeldurr2714]

You bring up valid points. I do have a selfish counterpoint though. As Leicester City fan, we've been pushing for European football the last few seasons and upgraded our player salaries accordingly. We missed out on Europe in 2012-2022 then that plus the financial impact of COVID hurt our bottom line and we couldn't afford new players. That was only 1 reason why we got relegated and there was many others. Now that we are though, we have players on salaries of a team in Europa League challenging for Champions league in the EFL championship. Without parachute payments my club may be at risk of folding. Again I agree it is not fair and teams like Hull get the short end. The best solution is to bring the Championship closer to Prem broadcasting but without that it seems like and either or. You either risk the Prem teams getting relegated like Leicester folding or Championship teams pushing beyond their means. Either way it sucks...

[@neilbiggs1353]

There is a quiet tragedy of Leicester that I don't think enough people are talking about. It's a club that has one of the best sports stories in decades, achieved a level of success that some big clubs haven't come close to, but none of it translated in to any kind of growth in revenue off the pitch. If I recall correctly, their shirt sponsorship deal was still around the £4m per season mark compared to £25-£30m for the top clubs. To be honest, I think something needs to be done about the Champion's League and soon - that is driving so many clubs like Everton and Aston Villa to spend dangerously, and it feels like the money is slowly calcifying many leagues around Europe so that only a few clubs can compete. The Premier league TV deal has done a fair bit to keep it feeling competitive, but even that is well in the process of fracturing

[@oliverleonard7730]

The solution is combine the 2nd tier with top flight like they do in Germany and Spain so make the Championship into Premier League 2 rather than it being part of the EFL.

[@coyh1493]

And then there’s Preston and Bristol City 😂😂😂 The accounts for Luton’s last two seasons have included no significant player sales, which for a club of our size is exceptional, but I still think that the losses will be relatively small, and as the gamble of promotion paid off, don’t expect ridiculous spending in the Premiership. 🧡🧡🎩🎩

[@Kimera794]

That's without including promotion bonuses in the equation. You include those and the balance sheets will report non-negligeable losses... even though PL money will easily sponge them and therefore will have no consequences.

[@falconeshield]

I'm loving the Hatters despite their bad start, but my sub club will always be Brighton. Still, no Leicester coming stm

[@judeprojects5744]

"Broken pipes, Broken tools, People bending broken rules" Thats a line from baggy trousers by madness isn't it?

[@bradleydearnley7364]

remember being a huddersfield fan and thinking parachute payments being so unfair and then we got relegated from the prem and didn’t see a single penny from parachute payments and i wonder. if the parachute pavements were just about covering the wages of some of the players. left over

[@bradleydearnley7364]

payments *

[@kiroolioneaver8532]

I mean the flipside is what you have in North American sports where, despite revenue sharing, you have teams that are reluctant to spend money on payroll (cough, Oakland A's, cough) and then end up relocating anyways (cough, Oakland A's, cough) because there's no incentive to win and no peril if you lose lol

[@hurtigheinz3790]

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Highest standard of second tier football anyhwere in the world? That's what our 2. Bundesliga claims to be!

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

The Championship is easily a higher quality league German football is tactically archaic

[@hurtigheinz3790]

@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117 Archaic? Thanks for your qualified opinion. I guess you don't want to talk about attendances, right? 2. Bundesliga is 6th highest in Europe. 1-5 are all 1st division leagues with 1.Bundesliga being number one ;)

[@indiekiddrugpatrol3117]

@@hurtigheinz3790 Germany has a population of nearly 30 million more people than England, congratulations on getting marginally more fans in a much more populated nation. The Championship is still a higher standard league.

[@hurtigheinz3790]

@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117 What's the averange attendance in England's 2nd division? And I doubt that it's a higher standard league.

[@Uaeboravisma]

Oh i love the mark connigan clips

[@Anitadump232]

Can we get an episode based on the Gibraltar 2nd division some seriously dodgyness going on as u well know 😊

[@megatmudzaffar]

Gibraltar has a second tier?

[@kenny_.E]

​@@megatmudzaffarGibraltar had a football league to begin with?

[@oliverleonard7730]

Yes Lincoln Red Imps play Champions League Qualifiers@@kenny_.E

[@JeffNuts21]

Greatest footballer by birth month

[@EhabAlatipi]

You could added 3 more minutes to the video to suggest more details on the solution! But I think there should be a better distribution of wealth across the league system, and utilizing the shared competitions like the FA and Leauge Cups.

[@txbill2512]

Love the Everton pics at the most applicable content discussing relegation. If we don't get our shit together, we'll be in need of those payments this season. That said, I agree with the premise.

[@saltmerchant749]

Massive rewards that only a few can get, that everyone bankrupts themselves to try and achieve. EFL Championship is the greatest metaphor for capitalism conceivable.

[@shawklan27]

Describes Norwich city

[@k4yser]

You don't understand what capitalism means. What you describe and the metaphor accurately describes are the paying odds on a roulette table and if you seriously think a "that's what capitalism is" - reply would be clever, save your breathe. It's not. I'm tired of KZbin socialist kids, who don't understand what they are complaining about.

[@saltmerchant749]

@@k4yser It is entirely accurate to state that capitalist systems have a winner take all slant that requires many to fail in order for the few to succeed and that those few who do succeed are invariably those with greater resources to begin with.

[@drunkenhobo8020]

I don't know, the EPL is probably an even greater metaphor - the only way to be rich and at the top is to already be unfathomably rich.

[@philippmeier3363]

​@k4yser I like how you sound all high and mighty but simultaneously give exactly zero arguments. Life's pretty easy if you simply declare everyone else stupid and refuse to elaborate, isn't it?

[@OfficialFingazMC]

If Mark Corrigan agrees, so do I!!!

[@grahamsmith5975]

As a Watford fan I’m looking very much forward to another season of signing more managers than players. I’m thinking 6-7 managers this season

[@MrCrimsonbolt]

I was listening to Everything is Broken for the first time in years just the other day. Strange that Alfie would mention it today

[@tomfrankham329]

Wake up

[@Natdaprat]

Lol at that dig at Preston/Bristol.

[@davidparsons97]

Hardly a dig. It's a pretty honest assessment, as a Bristol City fan. We spend a few weeks in the top 6 or bottom 3 at the beginning, then drop into the middle with mild glimpses of fear or hope that come to nothing, for better or worse. If we lose both Conway and Scott, it'll be a blow, but it won't be hugely detrimental unless injuries come in like an Intercity train upon failed points.

[@xavier1752]

Lad respect us, we’re going up