2 When Tottenham Hotspur became the first English Football League club with a stock exchange listing

(in 1983), the issue prospectus said: ‘The Directors intend to ensure that the Club remains one of the leading football clubs in the country. They will seek to increase the Group’s income by improving the return from existing assets and by establishing new sources of revenue in the leisure field.’

a Research the strategies followed by Tottenham Hotspur plc since 1983. Do you believe that the interests of a plc and a professional football club are compatible or, inevitably, conflicting?

b Which other clubs have followed Tottenham?

Have they chosen similar or different strategies?

How have they performed as businesses?

c Do you think the announcement – quickly rescinded – in 2021 by six Premier League clubs to participate in a new European league run by the clubs themselves confirmed how significant the profit motive had become in a game that

(arguably naïve) fans believe is about sporting competition and entertainment?